Performance Communications | أكتوبر 12, 2026
Ten years ago, our Future of the Sports Fan report highlighted how fans had increasingly high expectations of the live sporting experience. Today, Arsenal’s plans to modernise the Emirates Stadium shows just how seriously some clubs are taking that challenge a decade on. Despite being only 20 years old, the stadium is set for upgrades to its hospitality, retail, and viewing facilities, underlining that one of the biggest threats facing clubs is fans declining tolerance of poor live experiences.
Today’s fans, during another cost-of-living crisis, have more ways than ever to consume sport with almost unlimited online access to their teams and are now increasingly more likely to weigh up whether the time, cost, and effort of attending a match is genuinely worth it, making the stadium experience more important than ever before.
Clubs need to invest in their stadia, remember the fundamentals, and get back to basics. Fans want to be comfortable (quality seating), have a good view (premium lighting and stadium design), and keep abreast of the highlights (big screen and LED technology) without constantly checking their phones. Fans will forgive a poor result on the pitch, but they are now far less likely to forgive a poor experience around it.
Premier League clubs such as Tottenham Hotspur and Everton have helped set a new benchmark. Beyond features such as stadium apps, robust Wi-Fi connectivity, and a variety of hospitality offerings (including their very own microbrewery at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium), their venues also prioritise the fundamentals that bring supporters closer to the action through zero restricted views, acoustic roofing, and immersive audio-visual technology.
Encouragingly, modernisation is also happening across the football pyramid. Chesterfield FC has installed 40 digital screens throughout the SMH Group Stadium, while Wrexham continues to redevelop the Racecourse Ground with plans that include giant screens and a new 7,500-capacity Kop Stand. At non-league level, FIFA-certified artificial turf pitches are helping clubs maximise usage year-round and generate additional revenue from use from local community programmes.
Not every club has the resources of Tottenham, Everton or Arsenal, but every club should treat the matchday experience as a strategic priority rather than an operational afterthought. Fan expectations are rising faster than ever and clubs that fail to provide a modernised stadium experience risk losing future generations of supporters.
