‘The Canberra Times’ stated that the Macquarie Point development will be nominated as a major project under legislation allowing an independent expert panel to assess the masterplan, rather than the local Council.

The Tasmanian Planning Commission used the same process to approve the Bridgewater Bridge project (Tasmania’s largest ever transport infrastructure project).

A new arts, entertainment, and sporting precinct with a stadium at its core will be an important multipurpose entertainment venue which will provide significant economic, health, social, and community benefits not just for Hobart but for the whole State of Tasmania (island State of Australia).

The Macquarie Point is a 9.3-hectare site near Hobart’s waterfront and the central business district (CBD). In 2021, the Macquarie Point Development Corporation announced the successful tenderer for the development of part of the site into visitor and residential accommodation.

Hobart (Australia)-based the Tasmanian Planning Commission is an independent statutory authority that reviews, advises on and determines a range of land use and development matters.

‘The Canberra Times’ further stated that the State Development Minister Guy Barnett said the process took politics out of the decision-making process and allowed projects to be assessed on their own merits – “Tasmanians can be assured that if declared a major project that there would be an independent process that is rigorous and which provides genuine opportunities for community engagement.”

The Government says the process still allows for public input and the Planning Minister will consult with a range of interested parties.

The controversial stadium development will get a $240 million funding injection from the Federal Government, while the Tasmanian Government will pitch in $375 million.

The remainder will come from the AFL and commercial land sales.

Melbourne (Australia)-based the Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent and only fully professional competition of Australian Rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition from the Victorian Football Association, with its inaugural season in 1897.

Opponents of the development argue the choice of site is poor and the money would be better spent on housing amid a growing number of homeless people and financially stretched households in the island State.
 

Roof Canned

‘Fox Sports Australia’ stated that previous plans submitted to a State Government inquiry suggested that a fixed roof was to be part of the proposed structure, but the roof has now been canned from the final design.

‘Fox Sports Australia’ quoted WIN News Tasmania’s Brent Costelloe as stating, “We’re going to have around a 23,000-seat stadium … I’m not sure it’s going to have a roof, that’s the other mail I have which could be interesting. We heard recently that you can’t play Test cricket under a roof, that’s part of the International Cricket Council (ICC) rules. We’re going to have to play Test cricket at this venue to make it viable. They were talking about a Perspex permanent roof at one point, a retractable roof is going to cost you $300 million more. Again, why do we need a roof? I think part of the beauty of the footy in the middle of Winter is going and getting rugged up and keeping warm. It’d be a nice luxury, but do we need it? We’ve got one stadium in Australia with a roof, the 53,359-capacity Marvel Stadium in Docklands, so not sure it’s required, to be honest.”

The Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff and predecessor Peter Gutwein both made it clear their support was contingent on the venue being suitable for more than just football.

A Tasmanian Parliamentary inquiry into the process around the stadium unpacked the issue, with Cricket Tasmania head honcho Dominic Baker telling the inquiry that the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) conditions for international cricket were “pretty clearly outlined”.

Dubai (UAE)-based the International Cricket Council (ICC) is the global governing body of cricket. It was founded as the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1909 by representatives from Australia, England and South Africa. It was renamed as the International Cricket Conference in 1965, and took up its current name in 1987.

Baker also told the inquiry that an alternative expansion of Hobart’s Blundstone Arena, in the residential Eastern suburb of Bellerive, was not feasible owing to the impact on nearby homes.

The inquiry in the month of March heard that the roof concept was devised by the State Government, and was not a precondition set by the AFL on support for a proposed stadium.

Kim Evans, Secretary of the Department of State Growth, told the inquiry that the roof idea was first floated by the former Premier of Tasmania, Peter Gutwein – “We saw that as a particularly important differentiator of our stadium from other stadiums in the country, particularly when you start to think about it in the broader context in terms of the other uses, including concerts and including the sorts of conference and other events. It makes sense that we have a stadium so, we have deliberately focused on a stadium with a roof.”

The State Liberal Government has pledged $375 million towards a new stadium while the State Labor Opposition and State Greens oppose the plan on the basis of cost.

Critics of the stadium argue that the 20,000-capacity Bellerive Oval in Bellerive and Launceston’s 19,500-capacity York Park are currently fit for purpose, and that a new stadium is an unnecessary cost in the context of Tasmania’s ongoing cost-of-living crisis.

Continue to follow Coliseum for latest updates on venues business news. Coliseum is dedicated towards building the best global community of sports and entertainment venue executives and professionals creating better and more profitable venues.

Become a member of the only Global Sports Venue Alliance and connect with stadiums, arenas and experts from around the world. Apply for membership at coliseum-online.com/alliance and make use of the 365Coliseum Business.

The post Hobart Stadium plans to be fast-tracked appeared first on Coliseum.

An authority on the subject of sustainable construction, Thomas Hermeking joined PFEIFER in 2006 after gaining 15 years of experience working on major projects for general contractors. He has been involved in numerous high-profile projects of PFEIFER Structures.
 

Sustainable Construction

Sustainable construction means building with renewable and recyclable resources and materials. During construction projects, care must be taken to reduce waste and energy consumption where possible and protect the natural environment around the site.
 

Sustainable Construction Primary Goal

• To decrease the industry’s impact on the environment by utilizing sustainable construction procedures, practising energy efficiency and harnessing Green technology.

PFEIFER

Memmingen (Germany)-based PFEIFER is an internationally operative group of companies. Its business purpose leads it along the value creation chain of rope and lifting technology, connecting and lifting systems and cable structures – directly to customers’ application tasks.
 

PFEIFER At A Glance

• Subsidiaries in 19 countries;
• Certified productions in four countries;
• 1,700 employees worldwide;
• Family business since 1579; and
• 470 million euro annual turnover.

 
Thomas Hermeking, Head of Preconstruction, PFEIFER, Germany, in an interaction with ‘Coliseum’ dissects what sustainable construction is all about – RE-THINK, RE-NEW, RE-USE – and while doing so gets into the ‘roof’ of the matter.

Thomas Hermeking shot off by providing a brief background about PFEIFER – “It is a medium-sized group of companies acting worldwide – being established in the United States, China and also in the Gulf region but naturally still circling around Europe. This year we celebrate 444 years of family business.”

He swears by the huge success story of the company as he says, “So one can be sure when one’s next structure goes up, PFEIFER will still be there.”
 

Success Story

Bearing testimony to the company’s success story as he put in, “Our structural history starts in the early ’70s with the 69,250-capacity Munich Olympic Stadium in Munich, Germany for the Olympics and will not end with our largest ever project – the roof on the 70,240-capacity SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, US.

Hermeking informed that a lot of “change elements” are there while going about with a project on refurbishing a stadium or a stadium roof.
 

New Stadium Roof

• Tenants – expectations change;
• Sports associations – requirements change;
• Spectators – habits change;
• Owners – business develops; and
• Architects – design change.

 
He added, “People and associations are responsible for the above changes. For the owners, their business develops, their business model change, so they require changes over time. The expectations of a tenant change – what they want from the owner are a moving target. Sports associations keep updating. For example, FIFA updates their catalog of requirements every other year and this also has an impact on the roofs. As far as the spectators are concerned, their habits change and the design firm responsible for the design also wants changes and has to integrate other needs and requirements.”
 

RE-THINK

• London Stadium, UK

The 80,000-capacity London Stadium (formerly and also known as the Olympic Stadium and the Stadium at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park) is a multipurpose outdoor stadium at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in the Stratford district of London, UK. It is located in the Lower Lea Valley, six miles (10 km) east of Central London. The stadium was constructed specifically for the 2012 Summer Olympics and the 2012 Summer Paralympics, serving as the track-and-field venue and as the site of their opening and closing ceremonies. Following the Games, it was renovated for multipurpose use, and it now serves primarily as the home of the Premier League club West Ham United F.C.

Continued Hermeking, “The London Stadium opened in 2012 for the Olympics and the Paralympic Games and it was done according to the regulations of the Olympic Games organization. The legacy was actually the plan to transform it to an athletic stadium after the Olympic Games and dismantling a lot of elements and leave it as it is for multiple uses. This all changed when a possible tenant appeared on the surface – the Premier League team West Ham United F.C. – and they brought with them a lot of requirements and one of them being they are active in UEFA Championships.”
 

Tailor-made for West Ham United

• The roof of the stadium was done as per the needs of the Olympic Games and was not wide enough. It had to be redone to suit West Ham needs leading to the dismantling of the steel structure;
• Dismantling of the old roof starting with the floodlight towers;
• Dismantling of the steel structure gantries and walkways parts elements and the membrane panels were taken down; and
• The whole cable net was dismantled and was lowered in a very controlled way and the cables rolled.

RE-THINK!

• A new roof structure was put up with a new cable net;
• Floodlights: Re-used floodlight towers: Went to the mill;
• Gantries: Partly re-used/recycled;
• Fabric: Went to the PVC processing plant for recycling;
• Cables and node points: Went to the mill; and
• Compression ring reinforced in situ.

 
He pointed out, “If we consider sustainability, what has been Re-Used or recycled. The floodlights have been Re-Used so we took them down with utmost caution so that they did not get damaged in the entire exercise and could be Re-Used together with a primary structure of them. The rest of the towers went to the mill. The gantries also were partly Re-Used in a new structure and the rest of it was recycled. The polyvinyl chloride (PVC) fabric went to a recycling plant and the cable nets also went to the mill. So, in a way, recycled but not Re-Used. The compression ring stayed in place but needed quite a lot of effort in reinforcement.”
 

Lifespan

Hermeking said that the London Stadium roof was the “shortest ever lifespan for a roof structure – four years only before it was done anew and the new roof now has already seven years lifespan.”
 

RE-NEW

• BC Place Stadium, Vancouver, Canada

The 54,405-capacity BC Place is a multipurpose stadium in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Located to the North side of False Creek, it is owned and operated by the BC Pavilion Corporation (PavCo), a Crown corporation of the province.
 

Re-newing a Roof Structure

• Opened in 1983 as the world’s largest airdome.

 
He informed, “The old roof was done back in 1983 and it was used for Soccer Bowl (1983) and afterwards for an Expo in 1986 and then for the North American Soccer League and the Canadian Football League.”
 

Snow Damage

• Heavy snowfall led to a tear and finally the roof collapsed in 2007 – “The snowfall was too heavy and too concentrated and the structure could not take the snow onslaught. It was repaired temporarily and used until the start of the renovation in 2010 but had to be RE-NEW!”
• Reopened in 2010 as an all-season open-air arena with movable inner roof – “The new system consists of a cable net roof covered by membrane on arches and the requirements for the use was that the arena could be closed so that the inner roof can be opened and closed. However, it remains closed because of the climate and the inner roof can be blown up to withstand heavy snowfalls.”

Lifespan

The lifespan had been quite long – 27 years for the structure. The new lifespan is already 17 years.
 

RE-USE

• Mercedes-Benz Arena in Stuttgart, Germany

The 60,441-capacity Mercedes-Benz Arena is a stadium located in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, and is home to the German Bundesliga club VfB Stuttgart. Before 1993, it was called the Neckarstadion, named after the nearby river Neckar and between 1993 and July 2008 it was called Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion.

• Reopened after refurbishment in 1993 with the venue boasting a new roof; and
• It was used for the Track and Field World Championship.

Roof Work

There were several steps that the stadium and the roof went through to be Re-Used and for continued use:

• The additional inner roof was changed to a pure soccer arena in 2011.
• The roof was extended to cover more people or basically all spectators in 2011;
• The membrane on the top of the roof was changed because the material had reached its end of lifespan – “The membrane change of the main roof was done in 2017 during the Summer break in between the games;
• Corrosion protection of the supporting steel structure – “We did some maintenance work as regards the corrosion protection of the steel.”;
• The existing cable net structure was untouched;
• Dismantling of the old membrane – “We took down the old one in a step process and installed a new PVC membrane.”; and
• The old PVC membrane was downcycled.

Lifespan

“The lifespan was considerable but not too long – 24 years and now the new roof is already six years.
 

Conclusions

• Roof structures are getting more complex and iconic;
• Complex structures need high performance materials;
• High performance materials for roofs already have lifespans of minimum 20 years and are improving;
• Lifespans of roofs are getting shorter because of changing needs;
• Define purpose = lifespan;
• Build to purpose not to wishful thinking;
• Construct for deconstruction;
• High quality materials need to be recyclable; and
• Improve recycling loops for all kinds of used material.

Sum-up

Hermeking concluded by asserting, “Stadiums have to be iconic, they have to fit in the place. So, they are engineered in a complex way sometimes to be wider, longer, and lighter so they need high performance materials. These high performance materials are giving lifespans of in the region of 40 to 50 years. At the same time, the projects change after a very much shorter time. So, we all have to come together and define what is necessary, what is the purpose, how long will the lifespan be, and built to this purpose. We need to deconstruct and dismantle in a very efficient and controlled way. And all our high materials need to be recyclable.”

Thomas Hermeking and his team at PFEIFER are working with the primary goal of decreasing the industry’s impact on the environment by utilizing sustainable construction procedures, practicing energy efficiency and harnessing Green technology and hence they swear by the mantra – RE-THINK, RE-NEW, RE-USE. The company is indeed going places and have their mark imprinted on the roof of one of the most spectacular stadia on the planet – the SoFi Stadium.

Continue to follow Coliseum for latest updates on venues business news. Coliseum is dedicated towards building the best global community of sports and entertainment venue executives and professionals creating better and more profitable venues.

Become a member of the only Global Sports Venue Alliance and connect with stadiums, arenas and experts from around the world. Apply for membership at coliseum-online.com/alliance and make use of the 365Coliseum Business.

The post Sustainable construction through PFEIFER prism appeared first on Coliseum.

‘ATP’ stated that this significant officiating update follows several seasons during which a combination of ELC Live, ELC Review and on-court line judges has been used at the ATP Tour events. The move is set to optimize accuracy and consistency across tournaments, match courts and surfaces, for players competing in both the main draw and qualifying events. The decision was supported by extensive research conducted by ATP across tennis stakeholders, including fans, which identified accuracy and consistency as the most important factors in assessing different line-calling systems.

London (UK)-based the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) is the governing body of the men’s professional tennis circuits – the ATP Tour, the ATP Challenger Tour and the ATP Champions Tour. It was formed in September 1972.

The ATP Tour is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for men organized by the Association of Tennis Professionals. The second-tier tour is the ATP Challenger Tour and the third-tier is the ITF Men’s World Tennis Tour. The equivalent women’s organization is the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) Tour.

The ATP Challenger Tour, known until the end of 2008 as the ATP Challenger Series, is a series of international men’s professional tennis tournaments. The Challenger Tour events are the second-highest tier of tennis competition, behind the ATP Tour.

The ATP Champions Tour is a men’s tennis tour intended for former tennis professionals, who have since retired from mainstream professional tennis touring (The ATP). The Tour brings together many of the greatest tennis players in history for nostalgic, competitive and entertaining tournaments in Cities around the world.

The ITF Men’s World Tennis Tour (formerly ITF Men’s Circuit) is a series of professional tennis tournaments held around the world that are organized by the International Tennis Federation. The tour represents the lowest rung of the men’s professional tennis ladder. The ITF tournaments are incorporated into the ATP rankings, enabling young professionals to progress on to the ATP Challenger Tour and ultimately the full ATP Tour. Nearly every professional player has spent some time on the ITF Men’s World Tennis Tour.

St. Petersburg (US)-based the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) is the principal organizing body of women’s professional tennis. It governs the WTA Tour which is the worldwide professional tennis tour for women and was founded to create a better future for women’s tennis.

‘ATP’ further stated that the all-court ELC Live coverage will also deliver comprehensive player and ball tracking across the whole Tour, leading to an unprecedented level of data for player-performance analysis and the development of new statistics in the game in collaboration with the Tennis Data Innovations (TDI) (a specialist commercial vehicle to manage data and streaming assets across the ATP Tour and ATP Challenger Tour), in addition to future commercialization opportunities.

Said Andrea Gaudenzi, ATP Chairman, “This is a landmark moment for our sport, and not one we’ve reached without careful consideration. Tradition is core to tennis and the line judges have played an important part in the game over the years. That said, we have a responsibility to embrace innovation and new technologies. Our sport deserves the most accurate form of officiating and we’re delighted to be able to deliver this across our whole Tour from 2025.”

The ELC Live was first trialed at the Next Gen ATP Finals in 2017 in Milan (Italy) as part of a raft of ambitious technological innovations, several of which have gone on to be implemented on the main Tour. In recent years, the system has been available for tournaments on a voluntary basis, becoming widely adopted since the COVID-19 pandemic.

The multiple suppliers are currently approved to provide ELC Live technology on hard court and on grass, while the final testing is underway for clay. It is anticipated that multiple different suppliers will be approved across the various court surfaces from 2025.

Continue to follow Coliseum for latest updates on venues business news. Coliseum is dedicated towards building the best global community of sports and entertainment venue executives and professionals creating better and more profitable venues.

Become a member of the only Global Sports Venue Alliance and connect with stadiums, arenas and experts from around the world. Apply for membership at coliseum-online.com/alliance and make use of the 365Coliseum Business.

The post ATP announce Tourwide adoption of ELC Live appeared first on Coliseum.

‘AFL’ stated that in a meeting of the AFL Commission held recently where all Commissioners were present the AFL Commission resolved to award a licence based on conditions to a Tasmanian club – a decision that will finally make AFL competitions truly national.

Melbourne (Australia)-based the Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent and only fully professional competition of Australian Rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition from the Victorian Football Association, with its inaugural season held in 1897.

Melbourne Docklands (Australia)-based the AFL Commission is the governing body of the Australian Football League Limited, its subsidiaries and controlled entities. Richard Goyder has been Chairman since April 4^th, 2017, replacing Mike Fitzpatrick. It was formed in 1985 as the VFL Commission, and gained its current name in 1990.

‘AFL’ further stated that the AFL Chief Executive Gillon McLachlan made the announcement in Hobart after receiving the support and endorsement of the Presidents and Chairs of all 18 AFL clubs and unanimous support of all members of the AFL Commission – awarding the 19^th licence to play in the AFL and AFL Women’s (AFLW) competitions to Tasmania.

AFL Women’s is Australia’s national semi-professional Australian Rules football league for female players. The first season of the league in February and March 2017 had eight teams. The league expanded to 10 teams in the 2019 season, 14 teams in 2020 and 18 teams in 2022.

The AFL signed binding commitments with the Tasmanian Government that committed to delivering on those conditions, including partnering with the Federal Government for the construction of a 23,000-seat roofed stadium at Macquarie Point (parking lot in Hobart, Australia).

The AFL men’s team is expected to enter the competition in the 2028 Toyota Premiership Season, with a proposed timeline for a women’s team entry into the National Australia Bank Limited (NAB) AFLW Competition to be worked through shortly.

Maintained McLachlan, “There are big days and there are really big days. For our national game of Australian Rules football and for the State of Tasmania this feels really big. Historic. Big for football, big for Tasmanians, big for all AFL supporters. It is an important and historic day, for football in Tasmania, for football in Australia, for footy supporters all around the country. We are here to ensure a foundation football State, filled with believers, supporters and gravel rash grit, get the opportunity to unite their State and unite behind a single cause.”

McLachlan added that Tasmania being awarded the 19^th AFL licence is also the culmination of a lot of work by so many people – “I want to firstly thank the Premier of Tasmania, Jeremy Rockliff, and his Government for their vision, their dogged commitment and their investment, both financially and emotionally in football. Thank you Premier. It is also important to acknowledge the former Tasmanian Premier Peter Gutwein who refused to take ‘No’ for an answer – a baton he clearly passed on to Premier Rockliff. To the Deputy Prime Minister of Australia, Richard Marles, and to the Prime Minister of Australia, Anthony Albanese, for your support of a project that not only creates the opportunity for a new football club but also the opportunity to bring to life a vision for an urban renewal project that will not only change a sport but change a City, and change a State.”

McLachlan further added, “Thank you Premier Rockliff and Prime Minister Albanese for having the conviction and the determination to make this happen and also for the confidence that our sport can and will deliver on our promises to drive economic activity, tourism and pride. To the members of the Tasmanian Taskforce who took passion aplenty and mixed it with the support of 90,000 football-loving Tasmanians, a clinical business case and a refusal to let this moment in time pass. And to my own team, led by Executives Travis Auld and Sam Graham who had set 11 workstreams that needed to be approved before the 19^th licence could be issued and who have worked assiduously to get the job done. And to the 18 AFL clubs and the AFL Commission who have walked every step of this journey and ensured that the outcome is one that is not only good for Tasmania but good for our national game and every one of our supporters.”

Remarked Rockliff, “This is a proud and groundbreaking moment in our history – put simply, Tasmania will never be the same again. After more than a century, the AFL will finally be complete and recognized as a truly national competition. We have fought hard to deliver this and I couldn’t be prouder to deliver our own team, which will take the field in our own colors, and sing our own song. For everyone who has backed us and Believed – thank you for sticking with us, as we’ve brought this home. Tasmania’s time has come.”

With the establishment of the 19^th licence the AFL and Tasmanian Government will now work to establish a Club Nominations Committee and will select a Club Chair and Board of Directors.

Details of the club’s Training and Administration base will also be worked through in the coming months.

AFL Tasmania will launch its Futures Report including the future structure of State and Community football.

Later in the year, a community campaign will be launched to select the brand of the new club including Name, Logo, Guernsey, and song.

Concluded McLachlan, “It’s been a journey, but I am so happy to say we have reached the summit. A 19^th club in Tasmania. For Tasmania. Uniting Tasmania.”

Continue to follow Coliseum for latest updates on venues business news. Coliseum is dedicated towards building the best global community of sports and entertainment venue executives and professionals creating better and more profitable venues.

Become a member of the only Global Sports Venue Alliance and connect with stadiums, arenas and experts from around the world. Apply for membership at coliseum-online.com/alliance and make use of the 365Coliseum Business.

The post Tasmania finally finds a place in the AFL sun appeared first on Coliseum.

‘College Football Playoff’ stated that the new dates are the next step in the transition to a 12-team playoff format set to begin in 2024.

Irving (US)-based the College Football Playoff (CFP) is an annual postseason knockout invitational tournament to determine a national champion for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, the highest level of college football competition in the United States.

Indianapolis (US)-based the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student-athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.
 

The new schedule will be as follows:

2024 Season

First Round (On-Campus)

• December 20^th, 2024: One Game (evening); and
• December 21^st, 2024: Three Games (early afternoon, late afternoon and evening).

Quarterfinals

• December 31^st, 2024: Vrbo Fiesta Bowl (evening); and
• January 1^st, 2025: Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl (early afternoon), Rose Bowl Game (late afternoon) and AllState Sugar Bowl (evening).

Semifinals

• January 9^th, 2025: Capital One Orange Bowl (evening); and
• January 10^th, 2025: Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic (evening).

CFP National Championship

• January 20^th, 2025: At the 71,000-capacity Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia;

2025 Season

First Round (On-campus

• December 19^th, 2025: One Game (evening); and
• December 20^th, 2025: Three Games (early afternoon, late afternoon and evening).

Quarterfinals

• December 31^st, 2025: Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic (evening); and
• January 1^st, 2026: Capital One Orange Bowl (early afternoon), Rose Bowl Game (late afternoon) and AllState Sugar Bowl (evening).

Semifinals

• January 8^th, 2026: Vrbo Fiesta Bowl (evening); and
• January 9^th, 2026: Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl (evening).

CFP National Championship

• January 19^th, 2026: At the 65,326-capacity Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida.

 
Exact kickoff time for each game will be announced later.

Shared Bill Hancock, Executive Director of the College Football Playoff (CFP), “We are pleased to be able to announce these game dates today (May 2^nd). We appreciate the efforts of all the parties involved in finalizing this schedule. This is the next significant step in bringing clarity to the launch of the 12-team playoff format in 2024. We still have a lot of work ahead of us, but this is an important milestone along the way.”

‘College Football Playoff’ further stated that on September 2^nd, 2022, the CFP Board of Managers originally voted to expand the current four-team playoff into a 12-team playoff beginning with the 2026 season. Following additional discussions, it was then announced on December 1^st, 2022, that the expanded playoff format would begin with the 2024 season.

The field of 12 teams will comprise the six Conference champions ranked highest by the selection committee (no minimum ranking requirement), plus the six highest-ranked other teams. The ranking of the teams will continue to be done by a selection committee whose size, composition and method of selection will remain substantially unchanged from the current arrangement. The four highest-ranked Conference champions will be seeded one through four and each will receive a first-round bye. The other eight teams will play in the first round with the higher seeds hosting the lower seeds either on campus or at other sites designated by the higher-seeded institution.

Continue to follow Coliseum for latest updates on venues business news. Coliseum is dedicated towards building the best global community of sports and entertainment venue executives and professionals creating better and more profitable venues.

Become a member of the only Global Sports Venue Alliance and connect with stadiums, arenas and experts from around the world. Apply for membership at coliseum-online.com/alliance and make use of the 365Coliseum Business.

The post CFP 12-team playoff game dates announced appeared first on Coliseum.

‘Arena Group’ stated that the deal, which will see the company continue to operate under the name of Stadium Solutions, marks a major expansion of Arena’s presence in the United Kingdom and Europe stadia market.

UK-based the Arena Group’s distinctive high standard of product and service delivery has become revered and sought after, and is known as the ‘Arena Standard’, resulting in longstanding relationships with some of the most prestigious events in the world. From the iconic to the intimate, the Arena Standard is never compromised.

Stadium Solutions, based in West Sussex (UK), has been operating since 1994 and specializes in building seated spectator stands, covered standing terraces, turnstiles and turnstile buildings, and dugouts.

‘Arena Group’ further stated that it has delivered projects at football stadiums and training grounds across the United Kingdom, including the Premier League teams Aston Villa F.C., Brighton & Hove Albion F.C., the Northern Premier League team Cambridge City F.C., and the EFL League Two team Salford City F.C.

Said Tom Evans, head honcho of Arena UK & Europe, “We’re delighted to have acquired Stadium Solutions. It’s a company with a fantastic track record for permanent stadia and seating solutions and one we’ve admired for a long time. This is an exciting moment for Arena, and we’re looking forward to the opportunities which lay ahead.”

Stated Terry Smith, Arena’s Managing Director of Global Seating, said: “The Arena has already established itself in the stadia market, with a number of high-profile clients, but this acquisition gives us the opportunity to both cement and increase our presence. As well as its existing client base, Stadium Solutions also brings new opportunities for Arena including in-house manufacturing capabilities and new products.”

Added Phill Harris, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Founder of Stadium Solutions, “This is a deal which makes perfect sense to both us and the Arena Group. Our interests and ambitions align perfectly and, working together, we can look to become a major player in both the permanent and temporary stadia markets. I’m very proud of everything we have achieved as a company and now, as part of the Arena Group, I’m excited about this next chapter in our story.”

Continue to follow Coliseum for latest updates on venues business news. Coliseum is dedicated towards building the best global community of sports and entertainment venue executives and professionals creating better and more profitable venues.

Become a member of the only Global Sports Venue Alliance and connect with stadiums, arenas and experts from around the world. Apply for membership at coliseum-online.com/alliance and make use of the 365Coliseum Business.

The post Arena bring under umbrella Stadium Solutions appeared first on Coliseum.

T-Mobile US, Inc. is America’s supercharged Un-carrier, delivering an advanced 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) and transformative nationwide 5G network that will offer reliable connectivity for all. T-Mobile’s customers benefit from its unmatched combination of value and quality, unwavering obsession with offering them the best possible service experience and undisputable drive for disruption that creates competition and innovation in wireless and beyond. Based in Bellevue, Washington (US), T-Mobile provides services through its subsidiaries and operates its flagship brands, T-Mobile, Metro by T-Mobile, and Sprint.
 

Why It Matters

‘T-Mobile’ stated that since 2012, the T-Mobile Accelerator program has worked with nearly 100 different startups, developers and innovators to support and introduce emerging technologies that transform the way consumers live and businesses operate.
 

Who It’s For

Anyone looking to experience next-level games, races, concerts or matches with the latest 5G solutions.

T-Mobile kicked off the 2023 T-Mobile Accelerator program, focused on startups, developers and entrepreneurs building immersive fan experiences while watching their favorite sports team or attending an event. Over 70 companies from around the world applied and T-Mobile chose nine to further develop their technologies.

‘T-Mobile’ further stated that for decades, people have gone to matches, concerts and other events with little innovation to enhance the experience beyond simply watching. Imagine a stadium filled with 5G-enabled drones capturing never-before-seen camera angles, first-person cameras letting thousands of fans experience what athletes are seeing in realtime, augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) experiences or 5G connected robots delivering concessions throughout a venue. The Un-carrier believes the technologies developed by this year’s Accelerator participants paired with T-Mobile 5G will fundamentally change the way fans engage with sports and other events.

Informed John Saw, Executive Vice-President (EVP) and Chief Technology Officer, T-Mobile, “We created the Accelerator program to give innovators a platform to bring their ideas to life using our technologies. By leveraging T-Mobile 5G, this year’s group will have all the tools and support they need to expand their solutions and bring spectators at any event brand new immersive experiences.”
 

Participants in this year’s program include:

• APP CATS LLC (Minneapolis, Minnesota) – APP CATS’ CrowdSOLUTIONS creates unique opportunities to interact with fans through its 5G-enabled live streaming platform, audience surveying tools and fan engagement rewards, which are all available as turn-key plug-ins or as a custom standalone platform;
• CUE Audio (Denver, Colorado) – CUE Audio develops fan-first technology that uses in-venue speakers and fans’ mobile devices to routinely synchronize crowds of all sizes to capture the world’s largest simultaneous selfies, choreograph spectacular cellphone light shows, host multiplayer trivia games and more;
• FansXR (Las Vegas, Nevada) – FansXR delivers an Xtended reality (XR) streaming platform using augmented AR, XR and 360-degree video distributed to any digital device or Metaverse portal powered by 5G and edge compute technology. For sports and events, FansXR geolocates athletes in stadiums offering an augmented reality overview of performance stats, game data and more;
• ForwARdgame (Berlin, Germany) – Since 2017, forwARdgame leverages the newest technologies to infuse the real world with virtual experiences and let people freely play in AR by physical activity;
• Immersal (Helsinki, Finland) – Immersal’s Visual Positioning (VPS) technology can convert any City, venue or area into a spatial map that can support a variety of AR experiences, commercial functions and can be used by autonomous vehicles and robots servicing the area;
• MeetMo (Los Angeles, California) – MeetMo is a cloud-native platform connecting devices, people and ideas to facilitate realtime collaboration;
• Mindfly (Tel Aviv, Israel) – MindFly is a fully automated First-Person-View (FPV) solution that allows fans see, hear and feel exactly what pro sports players and referees do during official games, exhibition games and behind-the-scenes training. Mindfly also captures, processes and distributes post-game highlights to social platforms and replays for live TV;
• PixelFly (Minneapolis, Minnesota) – PixelFly specializes in live First Person View (FPV) drone coverage for broadcast events and marketing activations leveraging custom drones developed in partnership with brands featuring the latest technology to deliver footage and experiences that aren’t possible with traditional, existing drone platforms; and
• Ydrive (Seattle, Washington) – Ydrive empowers everyone to capture the world in photorealistic 3D with just a few smartphone images. Its AI platform generates lifelike digital twins and 3D maps, complete with stunning visuals, semantic understanding and rich metadata. Compatible with popular 3D applications, Ydrive is perfect for content creation, immersive gaming, movie production, architectural preservation, real estate, robotics, and more.

 
Since T-Mobile was the first in the United States to launch nationwide 5G in 2019, the T-Mobile Accelerator has worked with more than 30 startups specifically to drive 5G innovation and adoption across a variety of industries. Previous Accelerator participants include: Prisms VR, Beem, Stops, VictoryXR, Mawari, formsense, and more.

T-Mobile is the leader in 5G, delivering United States largest, fastest and most awarded 5G network. The Un-carrier’s 5G network covers 325 million people across 1.9 million square miles – more than AT&T and Verizon combined. 265 million people nationwide are covered by T-Mobile’s superfast Ultra Capacity 5G, and the Un-carrier plans to reach 300 million people with Ultra Capacity this year – nearly everyone in the country.

Continue to follow Coliseum for latest updates on venues business news. Coliseum is dedicated towards building the best global community of sports and entertainment venue executives and professionals creating better and more profitable venues.

Become a member of the only Global Sports Venue Alliance and connect with stadiums, arenas and experts from around the world. Apply for membership at coliseum-online.com/alliance and make use of the 365Coliseum Business.

The post T-Mobile bid to ‘Accelerate’ spectator action appeared first on Coliseum.

‘BURO HAPPOLD’ stated that Barone will be a member of Buro Happold’s executive and global leadership teams and ensure the business operates as efficiently and effectively as possible. Enabling Buro Happold to deliver against strategy while managing risk and growing reach, impact, and client outcome. All the while ensuring health and safety, quality and climate response is kept front and center. The role plays to Barone’s career strengths, continuing to build on his successful roles in the infrastructure, consulting and software sectors, including at AECOM and Balfour Beatty Services.

Bath (UK)-based Buro Happold Limited is a British professional services firm that provides engineering consultancy, design, planning, project management, and consulting services for buildings, infrastructure and the environment.

Dallas (US)-based AECOM is an American multinational infrastructure consulting firm. AECOM has approximately 51,000 employees, and is number 157 on the 2019 Fortune 500 list. The company’s official name from 1990 to 2015 was AECOM Technology Corporation, and is now AECOM.

London (UK)-based Balfour Beatty is one of the world’s leading fixed rail infrastructure contractors, delivering major multidisciplinary projects, trackwork, electrification and power supply, specialist plant, track systems, and components and maintenance services.

‘BURO HAPPOLD’ further stated that with over 30 years’ experience across the United Kingdom, Europe and the Middle East, Barone excels at addressing clients’ most challenging needs, including implementing new service offerings in ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance), energy and digital. In his previous position as the Chief Growth Officer at AECOM, Barone had primary responsibility for driving all aspects of growth across the organization.

Environmental, social, and corporate governance, also known as environmental, social, governance, is a framework designed to be embedded into an organization’s strategy that considers the needs and ways in which to generate value for all organizational stakeholders.

Commenting on his appointment, Barone said, “I’m looking forward to building on existing successes at Buro Happold, extending our highly collaborative culture by infusing rigor and pace to target setting and decision-making. The changing market and technology environment mandates that our operations proactively drive carbon reduction and digital innovation in order to tackle our clients’ biggest challenges. We will maximize the potential of our exceptional teams to strengthen our unique capabilities and market offering.”

Added Oliver Plunkett, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at Buro Happold, “It’s a pleasure to welcome Marc to Buro Happold, with his substantial credentials that will help drive our organizational growth in line with our 1-3-6 strategy and the positive impact we have on people, places and the planet. His skills and experience align perfectly with our aims to continue to grow our offer in Europe, the United States and elsewhere across the world, as well as broadening our established and premium position in the United Kingdom.”

For more than 45 years, Buro Happold has been involved in some of the most iconic projects across the globe including Singapore’s Jewel Changi Airport, Museum of the Future in Dubai, The High Line in New York, the 62,850-capacity Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London (UK), the Battersea Power Station in London, the Varso Tower in Warsaw (Poland), and the SAP Arena in Munich (Germany).

Continue to follow Coliseum for latest updates on venues business news. Coliseum is dedicated towards building the best global community of sports and entertainment venue executives and professionals creating better and more profitable venues.

Become a member of the only Global Sports Venue Alliance and connect with stadiums, arenas and experts from around the world. Apply for membership at coliseum-online.com/alliance and make use of the 365Coliseum Business.

The post Barone boost to Buro Happold business appeared first on Coliseum.

‘Wimbledon’ quoted Ian Hewitt, Chairman of All England Club, as stating, “We look forward with real excitement to The Championships and are pleased that early indications are of very strong interest in attending Wimbledon this year. Our Wimbledon Public Ballot received an unprecedented number of applications and following difficulties with international travel during the last two years, we are seeing renewed levels of interest from overseas applicants.”

The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club (AELTC), also known as the All England Club, based at Church Road, Wimbledon, London, England (UK), is a private members’ club. It is best known as the venue for the Wimbledon Championships, the only Grand Slam tennis event still held on grass.

The Wimbledon Championships, commonly known simply as Wimbledon, is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and is widely regarded as the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London (UK), since 1877 and is played on outdoor grass courts, with retractable roofs over the two main courts since 2019.
 

Operations and Schedule

‘Wimbledon’ stated that the AELTC remain committed to continuing to invest in the improvement of the facilities at the Qualifying Competition. This year, a new 700-seat Show Court has been constructed in a more central location at the venue, which has also seen the creation of relocated practice courts, and an increase in overall daily spectator capacity to 3,000. Players will be able to enjoy the newly refurbished dressing rooms and gym, while there will be a Wimbledon Shop kiosk onsite for the first time. Tickets for the Qualifying Competition will go on sale at the beginning of June at £15 each.

Ticketholders will be able to enjoy the enhancements made in the Southern Village, the section of the Grounds running between No.2 Court and the Rosewater Pavilion. This space will have a big screen set up showing live tennis with deck chairs and weather shade, in addition to an improved food and drink offering alongside the traditional Official Partner activation spaces. A new entry gate will be opened in this space to ease the flow of spectators into the Grounds.
 

Environment Positive

The AELTC commitment to becoming Environment Positive by 2030 remains in sight and it is pleased to introduce a number of initiatives to help reach its sustainability ambitions. The most noticeable change will be on court. Working alongside evian, Wimbledon’s Official Partner for the last 15 years, the AELTC is pleased to confirm the next step in its sustainability journey together is the pilot of an on-court refillable water solution, which will offer evian water for the players. As part of this, the AELTC will be providing players with reusable bottles that they can refill during their time at The Championships. More details of the solution will be shared ahead of the event.

Around the Grounds, the AELTC has connected its renewable electricity supply to facilities in The Queue, allowing to accelerate the phase out of generators used during The Championships. In the area of food and drink, the food menus for all guest groups will have low CO₂ dishes highlighted to help guests make environment-positive choices if they wish.

The AELTC will again host its Environment Positive Panel on July 6^th, and take the opportunity to highlight this theme throughout the day.
 

The Championships: Investing for the Future

Strategic investment into AELTC facilities continues to be an integral part of the All England Club’s ambition to be at the pinnacle of the sport, while also delivering benefit to the local community.
 

Media Pavilion

Player interviews for this year will take place in a new purpose-built facility, the Media Pavilion, which sits atop the Broadcast Centre. The centerpiece of the facility is the Media Theatre, which seats more than 100, and features an LED video wall. The Pavilion includes a further seven interview rooms and two levels of bookable positions for the broadcast rights holders.
 

Indoor Tennis Centre

The recently constructed Indoor Tennis Centre on Somerset Road (Birmingham, UK) is home to six indoor hard courts and six outdoor clay courts, dressing rooms, social and meeting spaces, and the underground car park which is the hub of The Championships’ courtesy car operation, provided by Jaguar. Players and their teams will enjoy a new arrival experience this year, with the completion of the tunnel underneath Somerset Road connecting them directly to the competitors’ facilities in the Millennium Building.
 

Millennium Building

The Millennium Building is now more than 20 years old and in need of refurbishment. During the next five years the AELTC intend to transform this building to significantly improve the facilities on offer for the three important guest groups housed there: Players, media and Members. More details about the plans will be available in the lead up to The Championships.
 

Community Tennis Centre, Raynes Park

The Phase Three of development at the Community Tennis Centre is nearing completion. The 16 grass courts will provide players with additional practice facilities before and during The Championships. It is anticipated the new two-story Clubhouse will open in Autumn, including changing and therapy rooms, a café and multiuse function room. The full range of facilities will be used by players preparing for The Championships in future years, but equally, will provide significant benefit to the many thousands of community members who use the Community Tennis Centre throughout the year.
 

AELTC Wimbledon Park Project

The AELTC proposals for the Wimbledon Park Project are currently before the Merton and Wandsworth Councils and are awaiting a Planning Committee date. The ambitions for the project are two-fold: A once-in-a-generation opportunity to safeguard The Championships for the future, as well as creating year-round benefits for the local community, including significantly increasing access to green space with a major new park for London.

The proposals will allow the AELTC to maintain its position as one of the finest sporting venues in the world. Central to the proposals are bringing the Qualifying Competition on site, improving practice facilities for the competitors, opening a quality new Show Court, and enhancing the experience for spectators at the event.

Since submitting our application in July 2021, the AELTC have engaged extensively with the local community, including hosting guided tours of the proposed new community parkland in recent months now that golf has ceased on the land. In addition to the new 23-acre community park, benefits will also include: Desilting the Wimbledon Park lake for its health, biodiversity and enjoyment for future generations, construction of a boardwalk around the lake, nature trails alongside many other environmental and social benefits, and the extension of the community tennis programs to provide access to the grass courts for the local community.

Continue to follow Coliseum for latest updates on venues business news. Coliseum is dedicated towards building the best global community of sports and entertainment venue executives and professionals creating better and more profitable venues.

Become a member of the only Global Sports Venue Alliance and connect with stadiums, arenas and experts from around the world. Apply for membership at coliseum-online.com/alliance and make use of the 365Coliseum Business.

The post AELTC strategic investments in facilities appeared first on Coliseum.

‘penny-del.org’ stated that it is only the second time that the 7,000 mark has been reached in Europe. As the best club in the PENNY DEL (Deutsche Eishockey Liga – German Ice Hockey League), the ice hockey club Kölner Haie (Germany) occupies a strong second place in Europe.

SC Bern is an ice hockey team based in Bern, Switzerland. They play in the National League, the top tier of the Swiss hockey league system. For the 18th year in a row, the club boasted the highest attendance of fans as an ice hockey team in Europe for the 2018-2019 regular seasons, averaging 16,290 spectators.

The PostFinance-Arena is an indoor arena in Bern, Switzerland. It is primarily used for ice hockey and is the home arena of SC Bern. It was opened in October 1967 and currently accommodates 17,031 supporters.

The National League is a professional ice hockey league in Switzerland and is the top tier of the Swiss league system. Prior to the 2017-2018 seasons, the league was known as National League A. During the 2018-2019 seasons, the league had an average of 6,949 spectators per game which is the highest among European leagues.

The Deutsche Eishockey Liga or DEL is a German professional ice hockey league and the highest division in German ice hockey. Founded in 1994, it was formed as a replacement for the Eishockey-Bundesliga and became the new top-tier league in Germany as a result.

The Kölner Haie is an ice hockey club based in Cologne, Germany that plays in the professional Deutsche Eishockey Liga. The team was one of the founding members of the DEL. The Kölner Haie play their home games at the Lanxess Arena, which opened in 1998, located in district Deutz.

The Lanxess Arena is an indoor arena, in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is known as the 18,500-capacity home of the Kölner Haie. The arena opened in 1998 and can accommodate 20,000 people for concerts. With its capacity of 18,500, it is the largest ice hockey arena outside North America.

‘penny-del.org’ further stated that Switzerland continues to dominate the annual attendance rankings among European men’s ice hockey clubs and leagues. With an average of 14,750 spectators, SC Bern is in the top spot. While the 2021-2022 seasons were still subject to some pandemic-related restrictions, the 2022-2023 seasons saw an almost complete rebound in European ice hockey. The Swiss National League came close to equaling its own European league record of 7,074 from 2019-2020, but the 7,005 average is the second best ever for a European ice hockey league and also only the second time a league in Europe has exceeded the 7,000 mark.

The last time a club other than Bern topped the attendance table was the Kölner Haie in 2001 (11,529 spectators). With an average of 13,901 spectators in the recently concluded 2022-2023 seasons, German Coach Uwe Krupp’s team has occupied a strong second place in Europe. The league average in PENNY DEL is 6,000 spectators.

Two other German clubs are also above the 10,000 mark. Despite a very difficult season on the ice, the professional ice hockey team Eisbären Berlin (Germany) with an average of 11,278 spectators in the 17,000-capacity Mercedes-Benz Arena in Berlin and the professional ice hockey team based in Mannheim (Germany) – Adler Mannheim – with 10,225 spectators in the 15,000-capacity SAP Arena in Mannheim – boast a loyal fan following.

The four-time Champions Hockey League winner, the Swedish professional ice hockey club Frölunda HC based in Gothenburg (Sweden) just missed the 10,000 mark with an average of 9,908 spectators in the 12,044-capacity Scandinavium. It is the 33^rd time in the last 34 seasons that Frölunda boasts the maximum numbers of fan attendance as an ice hockey club in Sweden.

The Czech ice hockey team HC Sparta Prague set a new club record with 10,837 spectators in the 18,000-capacity O2 Arena in Prague, Czechia, which is also an all-time high for a Tipsport Extraliga (the highest-level ice hockey league in the Czech Republic) club.

Continue to follow Coliseum for latest updates on venues business news. Coliseum is dedicated towards building the best global community of sports and entertainment venue executives and professionals creating better and more profitable venues.

Become a member of the only Global Sports Venue Alliance and connect with stadiums, arenas and experts from around the world. Apply for membership at coliseum-online.com/alliance and make use of the 365Coliseum Business.

The post SC Bern on-the-trot highest fan presence appeared first on Coliseum.