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Some hiccups, but Sports Hub passes first test

Throughout my career as a sports journalist, I have been privileged to attend some of the world’s biggest sporting events at legendary venues such as Wembley, Paris’ Stade de France, Old Trafford and the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

For the most part, the experience at the new stadium shone as it should during Tuesday night’s football friendly between Japan and Brazil. Photo: Wee Teck Hian

For the most part, the experience at the new stadium shone as it should during Tuesday night’s football friendly between Japan and Brazil. Photo: Wee Teck Hian

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Throughout my career as a sports journalist, I have been privileged to attend some of the world’s biggest sporting events at legendary venues such as Wembley, Paris’ Stade de France, Old Trafford and the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

So I was intrigued by what the user experience would be like as I headed to the Sports Hub for Tuesday night’s football friendly between Japan and Brazil. Would the jewel in Singapore’s sporting crown — its poor pitch notwithstanding — get it right under the pressure of its first sell-out crowd of more than 51,000?

My conclusion is that, for the most part, the experience at the new stadium shone as it should. But there were some hiccups that could have been avoided.

So what went wrong and what are some lessons to be drawn?

First, getting into the grounds was a challenge. Never in my experience have I seen so many people waiting to get to their seats such a short time before kick-off.

Sure, security personnel had to check bags, but for that process to be so slow that there were queues of up to 200 to 300 people, just 20 minutes before the game started, indicates that this needs fine-tuning.

The mood of the people in those queues was generally in sync with the samba atmosphere, but I did overhear one mother with four children complaining to a security guard that her seven-year-old son was not very likely to be smuggling beer into the grounds.

There were other at-the-door surprises, such as the “no selfie-stick edict”, which caught a lot of people out.

Overall, perhaps if the people in charge of the Sports Hub had educated customers a bit more thoroughly in the days leading up to the event, these issues would not have to be sorted out at the door, thus causing logjams of the magnitude we witnessed at certain entry points on Tuesday.

The Olympic Stadium in Sydney has a far inferior transport infrastructure to the Sports Hub’s, yet manages, week-in and week-out, to get fans into and out of the seating area without any lengthy queues. That is perhaps the value of experience, but is also indicative of systems being properly prepared and executed.

IMPROVING THE SOFTWARE

Sports Hub could also do better on the issue of “souvenir” match programme, which a nine-year-old who accompanied me to the match was extremely keen to get. On arrival as we walked around the concourse, there were one or two people selling programmes out of boxes, not at marked booths, and with no indication of whether they were official or not. Inside the stadium, blue-shirted ushers could not direct me to an official outlet when I asked about official programmes.

As the pre-match atmosphere built up, more teething problems were evident, when the Brazil team was announced player by player. It was a big surprise to me that the first five names on the team sheet were all the same — Jefferson. Clearly, Brazil coach Dunga did not intend to play with five goalkeepers. The mix-up is not a big deal, and, in fact, was quite humorous at the time. But it is indicative of the fact that, despite being up and running, the Sports Hub is still very much a work in progress.

Half-time was another example of this. There was the expected rush for the food and beverage outlets, causing fairly lengthy queues, which in itself is not an unusual sight at any major venue. But listening to people in those lines wondering why they had to wait 10 minutes for a packet of chips, it seemed that maybe the servers, like the venue, were a little underprepared and a lot overwhelmed.

However, the biggest test for the organisers came when the match ended.

The nature of humans arriving en masse is that it will naturally be staggered; leaving the area as one amorphous mass is when systems are really tested. And this was when those arrangements struck me as a bit ill-conceived.

There were many signs stressing that, for a quick getaway, patrons should head to Kallang MRT Station, as opposed to the closer option of Stadium MRT Station. Being human, I ignored that and headed towards the latter, only to be herded into a seemingly endless chain of barriers, down which people were being hurried and directed like cattle through a maze.

The system was cumbersome, and irritating in terms of user experience, but seemed to work. The slow station approach reduced bottlenecks, meaning a relatively empty train was met by a similar platform; and a swift trip home was a good trip home.

My overall experience on Tuesday was a good one.

Some of the hardware around the stadium is magnificent: An illuminated roof with the word “GOAL” flying back and forth when Neymar kept scoring was innovative and a sign that the systems are tuned up and functioning well.

With S$1.33 billion invested in the stadium, it seems fair to say that there is still work needed on the venue’s software though. The operator can do better in explaining to patrons the ins and outs of a system that, with a bit of tweaking, can be as good as the venue it serves.

The best summary I can give you is my nine-year-old companion’s opinion. “How did you like that then?” I asked, eager for approval.

“Magic,” came the truth from the mouth of a child. “But I do wish I’d gotten a programme.”

I can only say I agree.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Ben Coles is TODAY’s sports editor.

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