Arsenal's state of the art Stadium

When Arsenal opened the doors to its Emirates (sponsor) Stadium in July 2006 it was rightly hailed as a standard-bearer for football stadia across the globe. However, in one area it is firmly putting its foot forward into a new age of technology and the Barclays (sponsor) Premiership club's managing director, Keith Edelman, believes that all new major developments will follow in its footsteps. The 60,000-capacity, £390 million Emirates Stadium is the first high-definition (HD) streaming stadium in the world and Edelman stated that the fan experience was a key factor in choosing the new technology.
"One of the things we said when we built the stadium was that we wanted it to be a great experience and we wanted to make sure it utilised the leading edge of technology at every front," he said. Sony Professional Solutions, with system integrator Venue Solutions, worked closely with Arsenal to create a digital content package to keep fans entertained. In addition, stadium facilities such as the press room and cinema and conference rooms were equipped with Sony technology. A total of 450 LCD screens in the general concourse, club areas and executive boxes are able to present tailored content to fans. This encourages fans to spend longer at the stadium to watch the match and other entertainment on Arsenal TV, the club's very own channel.
Edelman said: "We decided that high-definition was going to be the way of the future. We also wanted to go right from the front-end to the back-end, which is the delivery of the product on the screens. Why did we choose HD and digital signage? Well, it keeps fans in the stadium for longer and we think it's a very important part of the fans' experience at the match. We open 90 minutes before kick-off and have had people asking us to open earlier. They want to have a beer and watch the previews and interviews on Arsenal TV." There are also plans to utilise Sony's portable gaming console, the PSP, inside the stadium. Supporters could receive exclusive video content from Arsenal TV before games and even the likes of statistics and highlights during games themselves.
Meanwhile the stadium has helped to give Arsenal a "good set of figures" for the club's half-year financial results, according to Edelman. Arsenal's parent holding company this week announced its results for the six months up to 30 November 2006. Although they showed an overall loss of £6.2 million, pre-tax profits before net finance charges are up year on year from £14.3 million to £19.6 million. Group turnover increased from £57 million to £100.8 million, with the north London club attributing the rise partly to increased gate revenue. Arsenal incurred one-off 'exceptional costs' of £21.4 million relating to the refinance of all of the group's stadium-related debt.