As one of the oldest and most successful football clubs in world football, Arsenal has always led the development of football, fan culture, commercial operation of professional sports clubs and stadium development and construction through innovative and sustainable development strategies according to its own development needs. Arcadis, which also has a long history, was fortunate to participate in its "revitalization plan" in the 90s, successfully creating a classic case of urban renewal driven by the sports industry.
Arsenal is arguably one of the oldest Premier League teams, even dating back to the Premier League in 1888. In 1886, a group of workers in a weapons factory called the "Royal Arsenal" in the Woolwich area of southeast London founded a football club and named it after its location, "Dial Square". In the following years, the club also used names such as "Royal Arsenal" and "Woolwich Arsenal" until 1913, when it was converted into a professional club and moved into Highbury Stadium, officially changing its name to Arsenal. Arsenal originally means "arsenal" in English, and "arsenal" has been widely known by fans and is still used today.
The original address and original name of the Arsenal Club was "Dial Square"
With a century-old history, Arsenal Club has always been in accordance with its own development needs, adhering to the concept of long-term and sustainable development, leading the development of football, fan culture, and even the commercial operation and stadium development and construction of professional sports clubs, becoming the only team in England's top football league that has never been relegated. Arsenal led the table in the Premier League 22/23 season, which ended last month, but unfortunately missed out on the title, but equalled its last seven seasons (runners-up in 2015-2016). It is believed that in the near future, the "arsenal" will once again top the Premier League.
Back in the 1990s, although the 38,500-seat Highbury Stadium was already world-renowned, the Arsenal club realised that to compete with those elite European clubs, a larger, more modern stadium was needed so that revenue could be increased by increasing capacity and reception space. As a result, the club began planning to build a world-class football stadium for the Arsenal, which it named Arsenal on the Move.
Highbury Stadium, which was the home of Arsenal in '93
To ensure the success of such an extremely important project, the Arsenal Club invited the 100-year-old Arcadis Arcadis team (including the acquisition and integration of EC Harris and AYH) to participate in the "revitalization plan" that will help it match or even surpass many elite European clubs in the future.
The Arsenal on the Move project was officially launched in early 2000, with the first issue being site selection. After considering factors such as the ease of transportation, the presence of fans in the surrounding area, the severity of the impact on the surrounding area, and the availability of access to the newly built Wembley Stadium, the club decided to remain connected to the area with which it has been deeply connected for more than 90 years. In the end, the new stadium of the "Arsenal" was determined to be in the Ashburton area of London, less than a 10-minute walk from the original Highbury Stadium.
The new course is located on a 17-acre, triangular plot of land with rail lines running east and west and Queensland Avenue to the south. This not only provides convenient travel conditions for nearly seventy percent of Arsenal fans who arrive at Highbury Stadium by public transport, but also conforms to the Arsenal Club's relatively advanced concept of green, low-carbon and sustainable development at that time.
However, this is not just a stadium relocation/new construction project, but a highly complex urban renewal project. The site of the new stadium is an unsatisfactory and complex surrounding area, including more than 80 warehouses, industrial enterprises and a large community waste recycling center. The first thing to solve was to obtain complex planning permits, acquire privately owned industrial land for warehousing, and build a new waste disposal center to the south of the stadium in accordance with the government's requirements to free up construction land for the new stadium. Secondly, until the new stadium is put into use, Highbury Stadium will still serve as Arsenal's home match venue, and its future will be developed into a multi-format and livable Highbury Square. These preparations have to be carried out without affecting Arsenal's home games, which is a huge challenge.
Emirates Stadium is at the top and Highbury Square is below
The Emirates Stadium is the first stadium project in the Premier League to introduce a project financing operation model, and there is no precedent to follow. This requires Arcadis' integrated management consultant team and professional teams from different fields to explore and repeatedly calculate to help Arsenal Club formulate the best execution plan, ensure that the design meets the operational objectives, and the development and construction controllability (cost, schedule, quality, etc.) can ensure that the funds for the construction of the venue are secured, and can guarantee a predictable return for investors through future operating income. Not only did you need to consider how to increase the club's revenue for 19 home matchdays, but more importantly, you need to make efficient use of non-matchday venue facilities to continue to generate significant revenue.
Arcadis' consulting team extends from pre-feasibility studies and project development planning, project management, cost and commercial management at the initial stage of the project to other related consultancy services such as technical consultants for banking consortiums. After almost 2 years, Arcadis helped Arsenal Group successfully secure a £260 million senior loan from a consortium of banks, with a 14-year commercial fixed interest rate on senior debt through the course development project company set up for the project. In addition, Arsenal Club signed a £42 million stadium naming rights agreement with Emirates in 2004, and the new stadium was named Emirates Stadium.
Approved by the Government in 2001, the planning and design of the Emirates Stadium was officially launched in 2002. The new course is designed to be oriented north-south, which avoids the impact of direct sunlight and diffuse reflection on athletes to the greatest extent, which is conducive to players' play. Convenient transportation planning enhances the accessibility of the stadium, complete parking facilities can meet the needs of fans traveling by car, and good landscape design adds life to the new stadium.
Course plan ©HOK
Stadium renderings ©HOK
The roof design of the stadium not only takes into account the shield of the spectators from the wind and rain, reducing the impact of wind on the technical performance of the players, but also ensures that the shape does not affect the fans' sight of the game. In addition, the lower design of the north and south sides of the Emirates Course allows for better lighting, allowing the natural grass of the course to grow well, and the quality of the grass is crucial to a course.
The turf at Emirates Stadium has long been regarded as one of the best pitches in the world, with a length of 105 metres and a width of 68 metres (total area of 113 metres × 76 metres), making it one of the largest pitch grasses in the Premier League. In addition, Emirates Stadium has adopted a revolutionary turf maintenance system that has long appeared to be a grass grown in the summer.
Only excellent service quality and high efficiency can ensure the efficient operation of multiple catering outlets and restaurants. According to Arsenal FC, the Emirates Stadium on matchday is capable of providing a beer/drink to at least 30,000 fans within 15 minutes of half-time, while also providing affordable hospitality for fans with premium seats at the club level. The floor-to-ceiling façade glass façade allows some of the bars at Emirates Stadium to have perfect views of London.
In addition to football matches, the completed Emirates Stadium can also provide a venue for different events. On March 27, 2008, the stadium hosted the summit meeting between British Prime Minister Gordon and French President Nicolas Sarkozy; On May 30, 2008, Bruce Springsteen and E-Street held their first concert at Emirates Stadium; On June 7, 2009, the stadium hosted a summer music festival featuring stars such as Lionel Richie, Leona Lewis and Blue. In June 2012, the famous British band Coldplay held 3 concerts at Emirates Stadium; In addition, Emirates Stadium has hosted rugby matches.
British band Coldplay performed live at Emirates Stadium in 2012
The Emirates Stadium was completed in July 2006 at a total construction cost of £430 million (including surrounding infrastructure, of which £288 million was built). When completed, Emirates Stadium will have 60,355 seats, nearly 22,000 more fans per game than Highbury Stadium. In addition, the financial performance after completion is also in line with a 20-year financial model for the investment and development of the stadium established during the project planning stage. In its first year of operation, the Emirates Stadium averaged attendance of over 59,700 and earned around £3.1 million per matchday and over £90 million on matchday throughout the year, more than double the previous Highbury Stadium period. Arsenal's annual revenue also grew from £137 million in 2006 to £201 million in 2007. In the 2021-2022 season, 15 years after the opening of the Emirates Stadium, Arsenal's annual revenue has soared to £370 million, making it truly one of the most profitable professional sports clubs in the Premier League and the world.
Overview of the main business formats of the project completion
Highbury Stadium before the renovation
The renovated Highbury Stadium is an upscale community
Arsenal on the Move is an extremely complex urban renewal project involving more than 40 consultants and more than 1,000 contracts to not only create a new world-class stadium for the Arsenal, but also to transform the entire area into a high-end, livable residential community. From the feasibility study at the beginning of the project to the final project delivery, Arcadis acted as a team of integrated management consultants throughout the whole process to assist Arsenal Club to scientifically plan and manage the entire project, and finally completed the project earlier than expected, below the overall project budget, and successfully contributed to the sustainable development of the club.
Arcadis Arcadis Part of the Professional Football Stadium Experience - Home stadium of the five largest teams in the Premier League
There are three main profit models for professional football clubs and their revenue sources: commercial development, matchday revenue, and television broadcast revenue. Studies have found that among the top 20 clubs on the Football Fortune List, matchday revenue accounts for 40%, broadcast revenue accounts for 43%, and commercial revenue accounts for 17%. According to the report "2022 China Football Club Industry Analysis Report - Industry Scale and Development Trend Forecast", the matchday revenue of Chinese Super League teams in China's top football leagues accounts for only 6% (mainly ticket revenue), and the gap is obvious.
The stadium is an important vehicle for the club to nurture fan culture and enhance the sense of belonging of the team, and it is also an important source of sustainable revenue generation for the club through its business operations on matchday and non-matchday. Compared to European clubs, most of which have their own stadiums, only 5 of the 16 teams in the Chinese Super League have their own professional stadiums, and the rest need to rely on leases, and most of these leased stadiums are government-funded multi-purpose stadiums. Whether it is a stadium built by the club or leased, China's professional football venues are obviously far from the traditional European football powers in terms of the number, scale of venues, facilities, commercial development and operation, and there is a long way to go. Encouragingly, we are witnessing that China is entering an era of professional football stadiums, with more than 10 currently planned and built.
Built in 1999, Shanghai Hongkou Football Stadium is known as the first professional football stadium in China
1. Always put fans and supporters at the heart of everything we do
2. Thoughtful planning up front is critical to the success of later operations
3. Venues and facilities must be designed to be simple, yet flexible, versatile and meet sustainability goals
4. Develop a realistic project development and delivery plan
5. Establish a construction, development and operation team with relevant experience, comprehensive management and multi-professional comprehensive capabilities
Thanks to Arcadis Arcadis for authorizing sharing
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