Date: Wed 8th September, 2010
Venue: The Point, Lancashire County Cricket Club, Talbot Road, Old Trafford, M16 0PX
Number of Guests Attended: 100
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The third annual Business of Sport Summit, held in the new Point building at Lancashire County Cricket Club, was opened by a passionate keynote speech from Paul Fletcher.
Drawing on decades of experience of stadium development – from Huddersfield Town, to the Reebok in Bolton and some time on Wembley in London – he launched a stinging attack on football stadia designers and called for greater respect for fans in the development of new grounds.
He said that after legacy and community, revenue was the most important consideration for any club looking at redevelopment plans. “I don’t care if it looks pretty; I want it to work,” he told the audience. “If you ask the fans what Anfield or Old Trafford looks like on the outside, I doubt they’d be able to tell you. But they know what it looks like on the inside, which is what matters.”
He added: “The stadia of tomorrow need to be state of the heart, not state of the art. They need to be somewhere the fans can go, enjoy the game and get a reasonably priced cup of coffee.”
Gavin Elliott, chairman of BDP’s Manchester Studio, said architects shouldn’t set out to build icons and that commercial plans should dictate the outcome. “If a stadium has been built and becomes a white elephant, then that is more the fault of the business plan rather than the architect,” he said.
Fletcher outlined plans underway at Burnley to drive increased revenues through the club, including his patented StadiArena concept. The design creates a mini arena at either end of the ground by using aircraft hangar door technology to separate it from the pitch. The space can then be used for small-scale concerts, products launches and potentially televising away games.
Dan Jones, a partner in Deloitte’s sports business group, said football clubs needed to become smarter at driving new revenue streams and managing their stadium plans. “It’s important to use the asset – you’ve got control over it. The business plan is the most important thing. In the past clubs have nice drawings before they even have a business plan.”
The event was attended by 100 sports and businesses professionals from across the region. Further speakers included rugby chief executives Tony Colquitt and Mick Hogan, and David Shuttleworth from English Lacrosse, who debated the importance of community engagement; and there were also presentations on sports marketing from Ear to the Ground’s Steve Smith and Richard Aldiss from McCann Manchester.
