PPDS Helps Turn Suite At Dutch Football Grounds Into Flexible Meeting Space

March 5, 2021 by Dave Haynes

This is only nominally digital signage, but kind of interesting, nonetheless.

PPDS – the company that sells Philips professional TV and digital signage products and solutions – has worked with Atlona and Panduit on a networked display solution for the corporate suites at the stadium that is home to the big Dutch football club PSV Eindhoven.

The suites are filled perhaps twice in a week when the club plays home games, but like most sporting venues, the facility is largely unoccupied much of the time. After months of games with few or no fans, meaning no ticket or concession sales, the club is looking at new, alternative revenue streams, and renting suites out for meetings and small events makes a bunch of sense.

The idea is not new, but COVID has changed the way a lot of businesses work, and there are companies who could not have meetings at their offices, because they’ve either down-sized what they had, or gone largely virtual.

Says PPDS in a news release:

The ‘Jan Heintze Kick Box’, named after the club’s European cup-winning legend who is also a Danish national team star (86 caps), is one of sport’s most luxurious match-day hospitality venues. Capable of housing up to 34 people it is complete with its own private bar, kitchen, buffet and perfect views of the pitch.

The club wanted to not only to provide a best-in-class visual solution for matchday entertainment services, but also to utilize the room for non-matchdays, adding new revenue opportunities. Providing an elite-level professional communication system for meetings and events to local businesses was key, as demand for equipped flexible work offices and spaces continues to grow.

North America is now the world’s largest market for flexible working and co-working spaces. According to figures, demand for flexible office workspaces has increased by 50% in the past five years, with locations forecast to almost double by 2023, to 10,000. The impact of the pandemic has also seen a rise in demand from businesses seeking safe, flexible, fully equipped work-spaces, with stadiums/arenas becoming increasingly attractive destinations.

This is a market PPDS is perfectly positioned to support, with a wide range of newly launched collaborative inspired, interactive, Pro TV and signage solutions now available in North America.

Designed, operated and used by Panduit, a leading global provider of innovative networked solutions, in collaboration with PPDS eight advanced smart HD displays were installed. Supporting Philips, the club’s official sponsor, all of the Philips displays were installed to create a premium, inclusive and versatile meeting room and function room experience. Philips recently extended its sponsorship of the club – which was founded in 1913 as Philips Sport Vereniging – by a further ten years, expiring 2031. It is the longest known sporting sponsorship of any professional sports team, totalling 118 years.

The installation inside the Jan Heintze Kick Box, includes 3x Philips 32” Q-Line displays, 4 x Philips 49” P-Line displays and, designed as the room’s centrepiece, a Philips 50” Q-Line display.

A custom AV over IP solution by partner, Atlona, enables easy wireless presentation, with content able to be cast and streamed from their Windows, Apple, Android or Linux devices instantly for increased efficiency. Using the PPDS CMND platform, TVs can be easily managed and updated by staff, either in the room or remotely, while custom branding and content on displays, as well as promotions and sponsored content can be created and deployed instantly.

A state-of-the-art sound system was also integrated to seamlessly work with the display system for a holistic premium audio-visual experience. The entire system was also future-proofed with Li-Fi integration by Signify for optimised reliability.

Roeland Scholten, Sales Director Benelux & IKAM EMEA at PPDS said: “The result of this custom solution transformed the box from an empty and unused space when no games were on into an in-demand and profitable space.”

You’ll see cafes to sports and entertainment venues, and everything in between, go down this path as they scrap away for new revenue sources. It’s an interesting proposition when you can do everything from live TV to OTT apps to casting from BYOD devices, and plain old digital signage, off smart screens.

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