Fan Experience in the Concourse

The fan experience starts way before the game begins, and modern venues are getting creative when designing environments for fans to enjoy before, during and after the main event. Today, we’re going to focus on an area that’s transformed immensely in response to growing fan entertainment expectations: concourses.

With the highest amount of concentrated foot traffic in most venues, concourses grant the greatest opportunity to tell visitors the story of your venue in the first 10 steps. They’re the place where fans can get a peek of the playing field, get amped up finding their seats before the game and where they celebrate the win with their fellow fans after the game. How do venues use this space to create a better fan experience?

Many use concourses to tell a story through immersive spaces, surrounding fans with visually striking interior design and connecting with audiences through bold digital content.  A few key examples of unique, engaging concourses are Madison Square Garden, New Yankee Stadium, Xcel Energy Center and Marlins Park.

Madison Square Garden

The grand entrance to Madison Square Garden in Manhattan reflects the prestige of this iconic venue with bright lighting and high open ceilings. The open concourse area also features an LED display on the ceiling which shows forced perspective content of team-branded skyscrapers, echoing the architecture of the city outside the venue.

New Yankee Stadium

In the Bronx, the Great Hall in New Yankee Stadium features an open-air concourse area that pays homage to the baseball history on large overhead banners that show 20 past and present Yankee players, accented by Yankees team logos. The concourse also features a wayfinding LED ribbon display that guides fans to their seats with content designed with a cityscape background to reflect the urban environment surrounding the ballpark.

Xcel Energy Center

Xcel Energy Center in Minnesota, otherwise known as “the state of hockey”, highlights a connection to local roots by showcasing jerseys from every boys and girls high school hockey team in the state. The concourse strikes a masterful balance between rustic design and modern amenities. This space mixes wooden interior design elements reminiscent of gaming lodge vacation locales around the state, with LED displays that showcase the team brand and reflect the hometown aesthetic in bright, bold colors.

Marlins Park

The concourse at Marlins Park reflects the energetic atmosphere of Miami through its design.  A mix of enclosed areas and natural lighting provided by big open windows provides a dynamic sense of place throughout the venue, alternating between connecting with the beautiful weather outside and connecting to the team in gathering places that open up to the playing field. Fans can also enjoy an integrated venue-wide LED and LCD network that shows a constant rotation of vibrant content to connect with fans as they enter the stadium, wait in line at concessions and throughout the rest of the concourse.

A Growing Trend

Along with connecting the venue to the surrounding city, concourses also can also connect fans with the game even when they can’t see the action. Many other sports venues enhance concourses with digital display networks, including flat-panel screens, LED message displays, LED video screens, and even numeric scoreboards.   These networks show highlight reels, advertisements and timely entertainment information to provide an even better game day experience for every sports fan.