Borussia Dortmund Celebrates the Champions League with an Impressive Fan Display

In recent years, it's become a common practice for teams to invest time and resources into creating elaborate pre-game ceremonial displays. Teams are working harder now than ever before to pull off card stunts, flyovers, flag displays, and more to elevate the game experience for fans.

Fans of the soccer club Borussia Dortmund recently put on an extremely impressive display prior to a Champions League match against Arsenal. The match, held at Emirates Stadium, featured a large section of fans seated in a wing of the stadium performing a massive card stunt, highlighted by an image of a crown being lifted into the air above the stands and overlooking the playing field.

The pre-game ceremony was truly special. Take a look at how the team pulled it off below:

It would be interesting to see teams adopt this ceremonial tactic to promote corporate partners (showcasing their logos above the stands/playing field), athletes and their individual brands (think of the Miami Heat raising a crown in the air to promote LeBron "King" James), and new team kits/uniforms.

Look for more sports organizations to benchmark these tactics in the future!

Teams Turn to Acrylicize for Stadium Artwork and Design

Over the past two (2) decades, the stadium arms race has resulted in sports organizations across the globe competing to differentiate themselves in the venue space. As a result, teams continually lean on vendor partners to incorporate new technologies, venue destinations, and ownable assets that enhance the fan and sponsor experience.

In most cases, teams look to offset their new technological assets with art and stadium decor that help capture the history of the organization, fans, and iconic venues. In the UK, a number of venue operators and Barclays Premier League teams have turned to a boutique studio called Acrylicize to design and produce custom artwork for their venues. The firm's artwork has been extremely well received by organizations and fans over the past seven (7) years and Acrylicize is now beginning to expand their business operations internationally.

Acrylicize has done some impressive work for a number of iconic venues and soccer clubs in the Barclays Premier League, including:

• Wembley Stadium - Created unique photographic collections chronicling Wembley Stadium's rich history, including 30ft+ wide pieces, 350+ pieces for the tier box level and custom designed artwork for the exclusive Corinthian Club and the Wembley Suite
• Arsenal F.C. / Emirates Stadium - Designed, produced, and directed several exclusive art initiatives throughout Emirates Stadium, including photographic collections, light box displays, visual branding within club and executive level bars and restaurants
• Twickenham Stadium - Produced artwork that referenced both Twickenham's geographic location and its position as the home of English rugby
• Millenium Stadium - Designed the WRU Presidents Lounge
• Tottenham Hotspur F.C. / White Hart Lane - Designed the Steve Perryman Suite

Check out some of their stadium artwork and designs below:

Arsenal Unveils "The Spirit of Highbury"

Are you looking to implement new marketing efforts on gameday? Are you looking to renovate an existing area of your stadium facility?

Sports organizations looking for new ways to honor their players, supporters, and staff (past and present), should consider benchmarking the recent efforts of Arsenal FC. The EPL club has recently made a concerted effort (which it refers to as Arsenalisation) to recognize its greatest team contributors and moments.  

The Arsenalisation movement is highlighted by "The Spirit of Highbury", an image erected at the South end of the club's new home, Emirates Stadium, that features a lineup of every Arsenal player and manager that competed for the team when it played at the Highbury (their old venue facility) between 1913 and 2006. Arsenal FC put a tremendous amount of effort into The Spirit of Highbury, as it even called on the likes of Nike and Wieden and Kennedy (W+K) to complete the project.  

The club created the amazing image by blending a range of images from glass negatives to modern digital photography. There are only four (4) players who remain unaccounted for in the image and are featured as silhouettes. Per Arsenal's website, "the Spirit of Highbury now stands as a permanent symbol of the Club's proud history and a testament to the achievements that have stemmed from the efforts of every player, supporter, and member of staff, past and present".

Check out how the Spirit of Highbury was created below: