01 cover sbi 152.indd - FIFA/CIES International University Network

SPORTS EVENT MANAGEMENT
AWARDS 2009
EVENT OVERLAY & FACILITIES
GOLD: GL Events and Oasys Innovations for the FIFA Confederations Cup South Africa
JOINT SILVER: Nova International Ltd for the BUPA Great City Games Manchester
JOINT SILVER: NÜSSLI (Schweiz) AG for the Sony Ericsson WTA Championships
THE FIFA Confederations
Cup is the warm-up
competition for the 2010
World Cup which will be
staged in South Africa just a
few months from now.
The GL Events-Oasys
Consortium supplied overlay -
the equipment and temporary
structures required to equip a
venue to successfully meet the
requirements of special events
- at the four competition
stadiums in Johannesburg,
Pretoria, Rustenburg and
Bloemfontein. Officials at the
companies described the
project as a huge challenge
on a number of fronts.
Significantly, it was the
first time that a company was
appointed as an exclusive
overlay supplier on a major
international football event
Distance also created
challenges as the South
African venues are a long way
from major event markets
world-wide, where overlay
commodities are usually
stocked. Overcoming this
demanded good organisational
and logistic skills.
With only 13 weeks
between appointment of
the preferred bidder and the
final hand-over, time was a
major factor.
The project benefitted
the local economy thanks to
the appointment of 70 local
suppliers, the hire of some
500 local staff for the setting
stage of the project and the
purchase of rental of around
two thirds of the necessary
equipment. In addition,
the consortium worked
not only for the Organising
Committee, but also for
other clients such as Match
Hospitality, Match Ticketing,
Sponsors and Host Cities.
The project involved
site preparation including
groundwork, the supply of
27,000sqm of temporary
structures; 5,000sqm of
scaffolding structures;
170 modular containers;
100 storage containers;
60 temporary toilet
facilities; electrical power
distribution: over 10,000m of
cabling; 6,500m of cabling
pathways; 1,500 distribution
boxes, 8,000 plugs; four
audio and simultaneous
translation systems for
press conference rooms
34,500sqm of internal
and emergency lighting
22,000sqm of fire alarm
systems.
In addition the heating
and ventilation requirements
were for 100 floor standing
and 15 roof top units while
2.5 kilometres of internal
partitioning, 26,700sqm of
floor covering and 14,000
pieces of furniture were
supplied and installed.
Field of play and other
Action from the FIFA Confederations Cup final - Getty Images Sport
equipment included 24
goals, 20 team shelters,
corner flags, 40 flag-hanging
systems and 70 flagpoles
together with the fit-out of
25 TV and presenters studios
50 camera platforms 600
press desks and commentary
positions.
The entire project was
delivered by a team of 50
staff drawn from across
Europe and Hong Kong as
well as South Africa, together
with 10 main sub-contractors
and some 70 suppliers.
Equipment was delivered
from the UK, Hong Kong
and France by sea freight in
an operation involving 175
containers - 85 from France
and 90 from Hong Kong.
EVENT SERVICES
Gold: Creative Technology Limited for the European PGA Tour
Silver: Gameday Management Group for the Super Bowl XLIII
Bronze: Aesthetics Models and Events Ltd for Major Sporting Events in 2009
CREATIVE TECHNOLOGY
took Gold in the Sports Crowd
sponsored Award for its
innovative work on behalf of
European Tour Productions
on ‘The Race To Dubai’, the
$10 million season-long
competition which replaced
the European Tour Order of
Merit. The company’s work
provides a tournamentspecific
video and data feed
which allows huge crowds
spread around golf courses, in
press centres and hospitality
areas to follow and be fully
engaged in the action.
While tournament television
has become a regular feature
of major championships,
every event leading up to the
season-ending Dubai World
Championship at Jumeirah
Golf Estates in Dubai provided
enhanced coverage through
the innovative visuals provided
by Creative Technology.
Creative Technology
developed a bespoke realtime
production system that
combines live information
from broadcasters, pre
-recorded material and
highlights with real time
graphics and scores updated
from the event results
system. This signal was then
distributed to a network of
TVs and large format video
screens installed in key areas
around the course.
Where required the network
can be expanded to include
the clubhouse and/or oncourse
hotels.
The content production
system allows for real time
recording of all four days of
each golf tournament, with
a dedicated playout server
to store and schedule clips,
commercials and highlights
packages produced on a
separate edit system. This
content is combined with a
locally generated graphic
wrapper, providing a live
scoring and results panel
which is updated from the
central scoring database. The
wrapper also incorporates
tour and local sponsor logos
and a real time clock.
The signal distribution
system, perhaps the most
challenging element of the
package, is built around
a ruggedised military
specification fibre system
allowing fast and reliable
installation of a bi-directional
IPTV Network. Multiple HD
Paul Sanders and Steve Purkess of Creative Technology with Kevin Roberts (left)
and Glenn Kirton representing Award sponsors Sports Crowd - Action Images
channels can be delivered to
any suitable display device
including televisions, LED
displays and projection
equipment. Every display can
be individually controlled and
monitored from the head end
and all critical components
are UPS protected to ensure
the network is maintained in
the unlikely event of localised
power failure. The displays
themselves vary between
each tournament on ‘The
Race to Dubai ‘series, but
typically include an 18m2
LED screen packaged in
a purpose-built and fully
branded mobile trailer unit
and up to 100 HD televisions
deployed throughout the
hospitality and tournament
management facilities. All of
this equipment is installed,
operated and removed on a
weekly basis for the duration
of the European Tour - a
logistical challenge in itself.
44 SportBusiness International • No. 152 • 12.09