AGF Aarhus
03 May 2006, 05:41 AM
I went to the game last night (Hertha-Leverkusen), and here on some thoughts on the stadium ahead of the World Cup. I’ve tried to be as detailed as possible. Some of these points are minor or possibly insignificant, so attach whatever weight to whatever point you see fit.
Positives:
1. Transportation:
The S-Bahn station is right next to the stadium, and the number of platforms will allow for a very high capacity. Getting to and from the stadium by train will be as easy as is humanly possible.
2. Room outside the stadium:
Both before and after the ticket turnstiles, there is an enormous amount of room. At no point should you feel cramped for space.
3. Stadium Interior:
They have done a fantastic job with the renovation. It looks fantastic. On the outside you still get the feel of the historic stadium, but the interior is fully modern. Excellent work.
4. Rest Rooms:
Pristine, as they normally are in Germany.
5. Concessions:
Everything costs about half as much as it does in the US.
6. How Obstructed is ‘Obstructed View’:
As far as I can tell, not very. Unless I missed something, at worst you’ll have to crane your neck around a pole, but it isn’t that bad.
Negatives:
1. Transportation:
While the S-Bahn platforms offer high capacity, the two bridges connecting the platforms to the stadium could be bigger. This is not a huge issue, though. On the other hand, those arriving by U-Bahn will find things a lot more crowded. My advice is that even if it means travelling a bit farther when you’re downtown to get to the S-Bahn rather than the U-Bahn. Do it.
2. Game Day Ticket Sales:
Probably not an issue as there will be none for the World Cup, but I thought I would still mention it. After spending several hundred million euro on renovation, stringing four portable trailers together to act as a ticket office strikes me as a bit unprofessional.
3. Entrance Gates:
There is plenty of space before and after, but having only two entrances to the stadium (they could easily have added more) seems a bit, well, dumb. Furthermore, if I understand correctly, one of the two entrances will be exclusively used by VIP and press, meaning the rest of us all have to squeeze through one area.
4. Signage:
Things are generally not very well market. The signs indicating sections are too small and written in black on white background, this means that despite there being plenty of room to spread out around the stadium, to find your seat you have to crowd pretty close in. It is also not really clear which way to go to get to concessions or restrooms, and the writing on the signs for the VIP and press areas is miniscule (not that this is an issue for most of us.
5. Restrooms:
While pristine, as you leave there is a plate with a sign above it saying that while the toilets are free, the cleaning is not, and they suggest that you leave €0.30. I would personally find it much more professional to tack an extra €0.30 on the ticket price and use that to pay the cleaning personnel. Also, how often are you able to make €0.30 change in your pocket? And at peak times, do you really want people stopping right in front of the door to the restroom? Again, this seems rather unprofessional to me.
6. Concessions:
Not that I want a prawn sandwich, but the selection is awful, there are not enough of them, and they are done as individual windows rather than long counters.
7. Video Screens:
There are only two, and from where I was sitting I could not see either of them. I would add that I was not in the ‘cheap seats’, either.
8. Running Track:
There is one. Enough said.
What the local paper reported after the Cup Final this weekend (billed as the test for the World Cup):
1. Ticketing:
Simply put, the electronic ticketing system failed. The turnstiles did not read the tickets, and this led to chaos as people flooded the aforementioned four portable trailers that serve as the ticket office. The stadium authorities’ response is that this doesn’t matter for the World Cup because the Cup Final used bar codes while the World Cup will use RFID chips in the tickets. I take their point, but what concerns me is not so much that the technology failed, but that there was not contingency plan.
2. Public Urination:
The press made a big deal about the hordes of people pissing, well, everywhere. The fans response was that there aren’t enough toilets and a local politician responded that it was down to poor behaviour and negligent upbringing. If a reporter had asked me, I would have responded by asking if the reporter had ever been to a football match in Germany before. In the stadium there are plenty of toilets and no excuses, and frankly I do think a lot of it is people behaving, well, badly. Outside the stadium there are a couple of Honeybuckets, but let’s be honest here, I don’t care how many Honeybuckets you have, your average German football fan will never, ever use them. If you are used to American family friendly stadiums, you will be surprised to find a the booze fest and pissing free for all that happens right outside every stadium I’ve been to in the country. I have a feeling that the city will try to clamp down on this as it would hurt its reputation, but I’m not sure how possible that will be. The stadium is in the middle of nowhere, so people arrive early, have some drinks outside the stadium, take a piss in the trees and head into the game. Afterwards they do the same. With no bars nearby, it’s inevitable.
3. Rude Ushers:
Apparently some reporters had trouble finding the press box (see Signage above), and when they asked ushers they got responses like ‘I don’t know’, ‘I’m too busy right now’ and ‘um, uh, gee, why don’t you ask that guy over there’. I couldn’t be less surprised. I’ve found Germans, and Berliners in particular, in service positions to be about the least helpful people on the planet.
I would just add that despite having written more on the negative than on the positive side, it is a great stadium that is worthy of hosting a World Cup final. In no way did any of the negatives outweigh the positives in affecting my enjoyment of the game.
Positives:
1. Transportation:
The S-Bahn station is right next to the stadium, and the number of platforms will allow for a very high capacity. Getting to and from the stadium by train will be as easy as is humanly possible.
2. Room outside the stadium:
Both before and after the ticket turnstiles, there is an enormous amount of room. At no point should you feel cramped for space.
3. Stadium Interior:
They have done a fantastic job with the renovation. It looks fantastic. On the outside you still get the feel of the historic stadium, but the interior is fully modern. Excellent work.
4. Rest Rooms:
Pristine, as they normally are in Germany.
5. Concessions:
Everything costs about half as much as it does in the US.
6. How Obstructed is ‘Obstructed View’:
As far as I can tell, not very. Unless I missed something, at worst you’ll have to crane your neck around a pole, but it isn’t that bad.
Negatives:
1. Transportation:
While the S-Bahn platforms offer high capacity, the two bridges connecting the platforms to the stadium could be bigger. This is not a huge issue, though. On the other hand, those arriving by U-Bahn will find things a lot more crowded. My advice is that even if it means travelling a bit farther when you’re downtown to get to the S-Bahn rather than the U-Bahn. Do it.
2. Game Day Ticket Sales:
Probably not an issue as there will be none for the World Cup, but I thought I would still mention it. After spending several hundred million euro on renovation, stringing four portable trailers together to act as a ticket office strikes me as a bit unprofessional.
3. Entrance Gates:
There is plenty of space before and after, but having only two entrances to the stadium (they could easily have added more) seems a bit, well, dumb. Furthermore, if I understand correctly, one of the two entrances will be exclusively used by VIP and press, meaning the rest of us all have to squeeze through one area.
4. Signage:
Things are generally not very well market. The signs indicating sections are too small and written in black on white background, this means that despite there being plenty of room to spread out around the stadium, to find your seat you have to crowd pretty close in. It is also not really clear which way to go to get to concessions or restrooms, and the writing on the signs for the VIP and press areas is miniscule (not that this is an issue for most of us.
5. Restrooms:
While pristine, as you leave there is a plate with a sign above it saying that while the toilets are free, the cleaning is not, and they suggest that you leave €0.30. I would personally find it much more professional to tack an extra €0.30 on the ticket price and use that to pay the cleaning personnel. Also, how often are you able to make €0.30 change in your pocket? And at peak times, do you really want people stopping right in front of the door to the restroom? Again, this seems rather unprofessional to me.
6. Concessions:
Not that I want a prawn sandwich, but the selection is awful, there are not enough of them, and they are done as individual windows rather than long counters.
7. Video Screens:
There are only two, and from where I was sitting I could not see either of them. I would add that I was not in the ‘cheap seats’, either.
8. Running Track:
There is one. Enough said.
What the local paper reported after the Cup Final this weekend (billed as the test for the World Cup):
1. Ticketing:
Simply put, the electronic ticketing system failed. The turnstiles did not read the tickets, and this led to chaos as people flooded the aforementioned four portable trailers that serve as the ticket office. The stadium authorities’ response is that this doesn’t matter for the World Cup because the Cup Final used bar codes while the World Cup will use RFID chips in the tickets. I take their point, but what concerns me is not so much that the technology failed, but that there was not contingency plan.
2. Public Urination:
The press made a big deal about the hordes of people pissing, well, everywhere. The fans response was that there aren’t enough toilets and a local politician responded that it was down to poor behaviour and negligent upbringing. If a reporter had asked me, I would have responded by asking if the reporter had ever been to a football match in Germany before. In the stadium there are plenty of toilets and no excuses, and frankly I do think a lot of it is people behaving, well, badly. Outside the stadium there are a couple of Honeybuckets, but let’s be honest here, I don’t care how many Honeybuckets you have, your average German football fan will never, ever use them. If you are used to American family friendly stadiums, you will be surprised to find a the booze fest and pissing free for all that happens right outside every stadium I’ve been to in the country. I have a feeling that the city will try to clamp down on this as it would hurt its reputation, but I’m not sure how possible that will be. The stadium is in the middle of nowhere, so people arrive early, have some drinks outside the stadium, take a piss in the trees and head into the game. Afterwards they do the same. With no bars nearby, it’s inevitable.
3. Rude Ushers:
Apparently some reporters had trouble finding the press box (see Signage above), and when they asked ushers they got responses like ‘I don’t know’, ‘I’m too busy right now’ and ‘um, uh, gee, why don’t you ask that guy over there’. I couldn’t be less surprised. I’ve found Germans, and Berliners in particular, in service positions to be about the least helpful people on the planet.
I would just add that despite having written more on the negative than on the positive side, it is a great stadium that is worthy of hosting a World Cup final. In no way did any of the negatives outweigh the positives in affecting my enjoyment of the game.