What I learnt from the FIBA Venue Guide project
I am very proud to have been part of team to produce the FIBA Venue Guide, which was launched at the IAKS Congress in Cologne last month. The international basketball federation’s guide aims to put basketball at heart of multi-sport arenas. FIBA’s established EVC (Equipment and Venue Centre) commissioned the project and I acted as editor and co-author.
With Jasmine Long of FIBA’s EVC in Cologne at the launch of the FIBA Venue Guide
Coming from a background in football stadiums, it was interesting to learn more about indoor arenas and the sport of basketball. There are many similarities between the two types of venues, such as getting things right at the planning stage and the importance of considering operations from the early stages. However, there are also number of notable differences.
Starting with the similarities, both arena and stadium projects need to start with a clear vision of their intended purpose. Both must also meet the needs of their key users rather simply following a generic multi-use blueprint. This latter approach is rarely successful and often leads to compromising the needs of its long-term users. Attempting to cram too many users into an area can result in damage to the basketball court surface or result in the compromising installation wall-mounted baskets rather than the preferred free-standing units. Similarly, athletics tracks in stadiums can cause issues with sightlines and adversely affect the atmosphere.
The field of play is the centre-piece of both arenas and stadiums. Learning about the evolution of basketball flooring from its sprung, hard-wood origins to modern moveable and synthetic solutions has been fascinating. It’s every bit as important as choosing and maintaining the right turf in a stadium environment. Both the FIBA Venue Guide and FIFA Stadiums Guidelines take the trouble to detail the various options for the field of play surface and provide the pros and cons of each.
Whilst both FIBA and FIFA are major competition rights-holders, which come with some demanding hosting requirements, they are both keen to emphasise the principles of ensuring venues are fit for long-term legacy use and not disproportionately influenced by the needs of one-off competition requirements. Both arenas and stadiums need to be adaptable and use overlay (temporary installations) to meet some tournament requirements. That said, it is also worth emphasising that there are aspects that can be factored into the base design which can help to facilitate such venue adaptation e.g., facilitating trunking capacity and additional power outlets around the field of play or ensuring that there is sufficient space within and around the venue to accommodate temporary structures.
However, a number of key differences between arenas and stadiums struck me during the project. Arenas are usually much more flexible in terms of the events that can be accommodated and are used more frequently than stadiums. In some cases, this can be to such an extent that arenas have four to six times the number of major event days (excluding MICE) when compared to stadiums. Although pitch technology which allows playing surfaces to be switched (such as that installed at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium) have developed in recent years, this is still relatively cumbersome when compared to arenas which can transition from basketball to other sports, such as ice hockey, and then back again to other events such as concerts, literally overnight. Moveable flooring, moveable seating and screening different seating areas helps to achieve this. By emphasising these multi-use aspects, rather than ignoring non-basketball usage, the FIBA Venue Guide encourages arena projects which are more sustainable in concept.
Indeed, we are still waiting for the stadium counterpart to the Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, which is cited as a case study in the guide and was recently awarded zero-carbon certification by the International Living Futures Institute. Stadiums and football still have a good way to go on this topic to reach this level of sustainable best practice. Whilst clubs such as Real Betis, Forest Green Rovers and Irish club Bohemians have done some great work, we are still awaiting a solid sustainable best-practice benchmark from amongst the bigger clubs and their venues.
Courtside seating and integrated scoring systems at the National Basketball Performance Centre, Manchester
Courtside seating is seemingly unique to basketball. It has become a tradition and is used to host VIPs and commercial partners. I can’t imagine many stadium safety officers getting comfortable with spectators (even VIPs) positioned a few inches away from the players in action. Recent debates have focussed on how to ensure stronger separation of spectators from the pitchside following an increase in unsavoury incidents in stadiums.
If anything, arenas and the sport of basketball have more readily embraced technology when compared to stadiums and football. Fully FIBA-approved court flooring can be provided as a LED glass floor product with the floor acting as a dynamic screen which can change branding and even sports marking in seconds. Basketball is generally more stats-driven and its scoring systems are now fully integrated within arenas. The ability to facilitate player and ball data tracking is also increasingly important and factored into arena designs.
Growing up and living in the north of England, I had not previously had a huge exposure to basketball. However, as a result of the project, I now think that it is one of the few team sports that could potentially challenge football’s global reach. There aren’t many parts of the world where basketball does not have a real presence. Its players have star presence, it’s exciting and although its followers are passionate, it has yet to display the level of tribalism that can be a double-edged sword in football stadiums.
FIBA’s 3x3 World Championships in Antwerp, 2022
The FIBA Venue Guide also covers outdoor basketball facilities, in-part to complement the growth of the 3x3 form of the game. This is definitely one to watch- it’s fast, action-packed, bite-sized and uses integrated infotainment to help it appeal to younger audiences. I’m pretty sure that It will support the continued growth of basketball. This in turn should ensure a healthy future for those arenas that put basketball at the heart of their operations.
Other sports, besides football, could learn a great deal from FIBA’s approach- and not least from their new Venue Guide which I heartily recommend.
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