When you watch televised soccer, you may not immediately think about the significance of innovation in the stadium.
Watching the game in person, though, brings an entirely new dimension to the game. The stadium itself has just as much significance as exciting moves on the field.
Here are some of the best innovations for building a new arena.
TVs Everywhere
Even when you're watching a game in person it is nice to have a screen all to yourself. If you land nosebleed seats, then your view will be severely limited anyway.
Trying to identify the players and make sense of every play from far away is hard on people with even the best of eyesight. Having TVs either mounted along the stands where everyone can watch in unison is not far-fetched.
Individually mounted to the backs seats would be a much larger investment, but it would also give every visitor a clear view no matter who is sitting in front of them or how far away they are sitting.
Aside from the stands, though, visitors to the stadium need to be able to use the bathroom or visit the concession stands without worrying about missing out on the action.
Strategically placed screen. up and down the hallways, in the lobbies, and even in the bathrooms can prevent that tragedy for the fans.
Multifunction Domes
Stadium domes are more than just a shield against midday sun and inclement weather.
The retractable stadium dome is enough of a modern marvel, but if you add an integrated solar power system to the mix, you can turn a stadium dome into a massive boost to your stadium's power efficiency.
Having a self-contained source of subsidiary electricity can help to offset some of the energy costs of daily operations.
It can also serve as an additional source of power to fuel experimentation with various technologies designed to improve the visitor experience, like jumbo screens or even personal TV screens in the seats, without causing a massive increase in the stadium's drain on the power grid.
Concessions With a View
Going to the concession stand is notorious for missing plays.
Instead of building concession areas on the outer rim of the stadium, building them into viewing decks overlooking the field of play could allow both the workers and visitors a live view of the action rather than relying on watching the live broadcast on a TV or their smartphones.
Plus, with the ever-rising prices of concessions, treating the concessionaires as a type of luxury experience like the VIP booths might be the best in terms of the overall design.
You can always have the basic concessions of water and light snacks delivered to visitors in the stands, but the concession areas could be treated as VIP dining experiences all to themselves.
Wi-Fi Access
With the widespread interconnectivity of social media and many fans betting on fantasy sports leagues, most visitors will want to stay connected.
They could use mobile data all throughout the game, but if the stadium provides wifi access to visitors it can garner higher favor with the fans. Anything you can add to the overall stadium experience that can bring the visitors closer together will strengthen the fanbase community.
Not every visitor will be looking at the game all of the time anyway, so giving them wifi access also gives you the opportunity to expand your marketing reach through the consumer data trade.
Many vendors will also likely be interested in new avenues for targeted marketing campaigns to connected users, and most users freely exchange personal data for convenient internet access.
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There are always new innovations cropping up, and some of these are already in play at several stadiums. The key to great innovation at any new soccer stadium finding new ways to improve the total experience of coming to the game in person.
From comfort to food, these steps and more can transform a project for a new stadium into a project for a total community center.
