Plan for the fans: how to magnify the audience and impact of sporting events

Lesson #1:  seize the opportunity 

First, a little history. Back when FIFA launched its FIFA FAN FESTIVAL™ concept at the 2006 World Cup in Germany, they correctly anticipated that many more fans than there were tickets available would take advantage of the ease of travel in continental Europe, to cheer on their side and experience the matches. Over the last four editions of the FIFA World Cup™ this element has become recognized as the soul of the event, with an estimated 40 million people visiting FIFA Fan Festivals, far more than could have watched the matches live.

During the London 2012 Games, 8 million people visited 70 ‘live sites’ in town centers across the UK as well as larger entertainment sites across London, including a low-cost ticketed ‘Park Live’ fan fest area in the center of the Olympic Park. This whole-city approach was repeated at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games with cultural and other activities bringing people together and showcasing the city, including placing the iconic mechanical bull, ’Ozzy’, from the opening ceremony in a city center square.

So, when considering a fan zone, hosts need to think flexibly about locations, scale, funding and engagement – to truly maximize the experience for everyone in an organized and manageable way. The aim is to magnify the event, but with a pragmatic approach focused on a great user experience and multi-level return on investment.

Lesson #2: plan early, consult widely 

With cheaper access to fan zones, and lots of potential ticket capacity, demand isn’t likely to be problem – but dealing with logistics could be. Creating a fan zone brings challenges, from finding the right location to ensuring the main event is complemented, not impacted, and engaging to residents, to security and sponsor rights requirements. You need to plan how the fan zones will integrate with other business-as-usual and event-specific city services, logistics, operations and transport. The technological infrastructure needs to be in place, and relevant resources need to be planned.

Of course, many of these challenges can be overcome with early planning and lots of engagement with all the relevant stakeholders. But with many cities already having pushback from residents about noise, transport and social issues, this stakeholder engagement needs to draw on the most fully considered range of likely outcomes, and use visualizations and other tools, to assuage fears and build local support. To predict and plan for people movement and transport demand, particularly given other pressures during a major event, we use bespoke digital tools. To mitigate risks, our stakeholder engagement approach combines data mapping and analysis and building 1:1 relationships with individuals and businesses.

Lesson #3 – innovate to excite 

In an age where immersive digital experiences and screen technologies improve every year, fan zones offer plenty of opportunity to try out new ideas and create new experiences. Investing in new solutions is a great way to create something truly memorable that can benefit the city’s reputation as well. If you work collaboratively and bring together the city, event sponsors and other technology partners, all sorts of compelling, in-person interactions and activities can be developed, enhancing the experience for fans.

At Arup, we are currently working with host cities for the FIFA World Cup 2026TM to evolve and improve the fan festival concept further. Options to cover costs and generate revenue being explored include using technology to tailor, offer and process upgrades to access specific areas, paid activities and experiences, additional events on non-match days and brand/sponsorship opportunities.

Additional revenue can be invested in further engagement and celebration of a city’s communities through a fan zone or festival site, from spaces and events showcasing music, talent and dance to food, sport and cultural festivals. Fan fest programs can also contribute to a city’s wider, existing priorities, such as increasing sport and activity levels, engaging with specific communities or promoting education and training.

Lesson #4 – fan zones are an equal part of the legacy 

Given the scale of public engagement they offer, it’s important to view fan zones as just as much part of an event’s legacy as traditional infrastructure or participation programmes. The division between online and in-person experience of sporting events is blurring or disappearing. Host cities need to view all attendees, visitors, local residents and people watching on television and social media as part of a shared moment and a common legacy. The investment in these celebrations showcases the city to future visitors, residents and investors and the infrastructure can be designed and delivered to enable sites to host major events in the future.