Design Trends in Stadiums and Arenas

1
Design Trends in Stadiums and Arenas

• Chapter 27

2
Funding

• Cost of building a new stadium/arena hundreds
  of millions of dollars
• Orlando Magic 480 million
• Pittsburgh Penguins 290 million
• Yankee Stadium and Cowboys Stadium Over 1
  billion
• By 2012, nearly every American sports team will
  be playing in a facility that is 20 years old or
  less

3
Funding

• In order to generate revenue, stadium owners
• turn to
• Luxury suites
• Naming rights
• Personal seat licenses

4
Luxury Suites

• Small, private rooms fitting 10-20 people
• Multi-year contracts
• Crucial to financing new facility gives huge
  competitive advantage
• Found in the MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL, NCAA, PGA, LPGA,
  Kentucky Derby
• Four major leagues brought in 1 billion from
  luxury suite revenues (1997)

5
Naming Rights

• Agreement between stadium owner and large
  corporation to connect brand name or logo to the
  facility
• Increased number of stadiums/arenas being built
  has dramatically increased the financial
  magnitude of naming rights
• Indiana Pacers Conseco Field House 2 million
  per year until 2019
• Indianapolis Colts Lucas Oil 6.1 million per
  year for 20 years

6
Personal Seating Licenses (PSLs)

• PSLs are to individuals what luxury suites are to
  corporations
• Allow purchaser to buy season tickets in special
  seating areas (bigger seats, more leg room, wait
  staff)
• Opportunity to pre-sell seats in advance of
  construction of the facility
• Often referred to as SBLs (stadium builder
  licenses) convey that is going towards the
  construction of the stadium rather than in the
  owners pocket

7
Need for Multi-Use Design

• No longer just a place to watch a sporting event
  total entertainment experience
• Need to be able to host multiple events
• U.S. Cellular Arena (Home of the Milw. Bucks)
  Beatles Tribute Show
• Seen in intercollegiate sport football stadiums
  being used for soccer, lacrosse, track field
• Ability to accommodate multiple events and
  activities more

8
Innovations in Materials and Methods of
Construction

• Less support pillars and posts that interfere
  with spectator sight lines
• Tension fabric structures, air-supported fabric
  structures, cable domes, and wooden domes
• Retractable roof stadiums control temperature
  and amount of sun/shade

9
Trends in Indoor Playing Surfaces

• Retractable roofs and domes call for playing
  surfaces needing little sunlight
• Began with artificial turf
• Very hard
• Increased opportunity for injury
• Friction burns
• Professional sports and college athletic
  departments turning to synthetic turf

10
Synthetic Turf

• Much softer to fall on
• Lower injury rate
• Filled with ground rubber particles or sometimes
  sand
• FieldTurf is most popular
• Lucas Oil Stadium (Colts)
• Memorial Stadium (Sycamores)
• Preferred design for the NFL and MLB

11
Fabric Structures

• Teflon coated fiberglass or polyester material
  being used to build physical education,
  recreation, and athletic facilities
• Stronger than steel and less expensive
• Not affected by cold or heat
• Less construction time
• Less maintenance
• Longer life span

12
Fabric Structures

• Three Types
• Tension structures
• Stretch fabric between rigid supports and/or
  steel cables
• Used when free and open access from the sides is
  desired
• Air-supported structures
• Sealed buildings that (through the use of fans)
  maintain a positive internal air pressure that
  supports the roof
• Used when column-free spans greater than 150 ft.
  are desired
• Cable domes
• Uses a complex network of cables and supports to
  suspend and hold up fabric roof
• Used when there is no need for expensive
  energy-consuming fans and little monitoring of
  the facility

13
Wooden Domes

• Spherical wooden structures
• Easier to build
• Lower initial cost
• Less construction time
• Good insulation and acoustical properties