Future stadium and arena construction
market worth US$125.5bn
A new report has been published
that reveals the value of future
stadium and arena construction
projects in the pipeline stands at
US$125.5bn. The analysis tracked
by the Construction Intelligence
Center (CIC) and released by HTF
Market Intelligence comprises
numerous projects related to major sporting events such as the forthcoming
Summer Olympic Games 2020 in Tokyo, the Winter Olympics 2022 in Beijing
and the FIFA World Cup in Qatar in 2022.
The report also lists the top countries in order of project values. In terms
of the project pipeline value, the Americas account for the highest share with
US$54.9bn, equivalent to 41% of the total global value of stadia and arena
projects. This is due to the maturity of the market and the large investment
from professional and amateur sporting leagues. Asia-Paci c is in second place,
with projects valuing US$31.8bn with the growth of the Chinese Super League,
while India continues to invest in stadia for its Indian Premier League cricket.
Europe has projects valued at US$25.6bn, while the Middle East and Africa has
a project pipeline of US$13bn.
First-of-its-kind standing seat
system announced for the UK
A UK rst has been announced for
a sports venue in Telford, UK.
At Telford Athletics Stadium, its
grandstand is to become the rst
in the country to have a seating
system that increases capacity
when used for standing.
The rail seats to be installed
will enable a capacity increase of
80% when used in standing mode.
To be supplied by Ferco Seating
from nearby Shrewsbury, this
style of seating has been installed
previously by the company at Celtic
FC and Shrewsbury Town, where
the ratio of standing fans to seats is
1:1. Now, for the rst time in Britain,
the ratio in Telford will be 1.8:1.
This will be achieved by having an
intermediate step along each row,
thus enabling spectators to stand in
two lines between the end-to-end
barriers formed by the rail seats.
“At soccer stadia like these,
the key to being able to increase
capacity in this way is tting rail
seats that take up as little space as
possible. If when closed the seats
are just 50mm deep, then wherever
regulations allow creating extra
capacity in this way is very doable,”
said Ferco Seating’s managing
director, Michael Burnett.
Turf Talk
SIS Pitches donates
artifi cial turf fi eld to
Kick4Life FC project
A sporting development project
in Lesotho, South Africa, has been
revealed that will include the
building of a 1,500 seat facility
in Maseru, which is said to be
the world’s rst stadium built for
social change. Turf specialists SIS
Pitches has announced it will
supply and install an 11-a-side
arti cial pitch to the cause.
Led by the Kick4Life
organization, the Stadium of
Life will be designed pro bono
by architects and will include a
range of facilities dedicated to
enhancing the health, education
and employment prospects of
disadvantaged young people in
Lesotho. The Stadium of Life will
include in-built HIV testing and
counselling units, with education
facilities, a cultural village and
indigenous trees and shrubs
integrated within the stands. It
will also be a home for Kick4Life's
women's and men's team which
play in the top ight divisions of
football in Lesotho.
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DID YOU KNOW?
At Super Bowl LIV, held at Hard Rock
Stadium in Miami, a record 26.42TB of
data was transferred within the venue,
this is comprised of 11.1TB before kicko
and 15.32 after kicko . This usage is an
increase of 9.9% from last year’s NFL
Championship game.
What makes this figure even more
staggering is that it was achieved at
a smaller capacity stadium than Super
Bowl LIII at Mercedes-Benz Stadium
with 10,000 fewer fans in attendance.
Since Super Bowl XLVIII in 2014, Wi-Fi
usage has increased by eight times
and in addition to this, new
communications technology such
as 5G, is allowing fans to stream and
share more on the move and each user
consumed an average of 595.6MB of
data during this year’s game.
The five most used social media
apps used by fans at the game were
Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Bitmoji
and Snapchat. Results show Instagram
was the top driver of Wi-Fi usage.
For more of the latest news, features, videos and industry opinion visit www.stadia-magazine.com
The Stadium of
Life in Lethoso,
South Africa
www.stadia-magazine.com March 2020 07
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