UEFA UCL Rome Champions Festival

Project management of concept and programme development and live implementation of the UEFA Champions Fan Festival in Rome. A five-day celebration of football for fans in the run-up to the UCL Final at the Stadio Olimpico.

 

As one of the world’s greatest sporting events, the final has a huge and diverse fan following, so activity had to be fan-focused and create a hook that engaged a broad audience demographic. It also needed to reflect UEFA’s mission that it ‘cares about football’ and ensure activity with participating sponsors (Sony, PlayStation, Heineken, MasterCard and Vodafone) was fully aligned and football focused.

 

Hosted around the Coliseum, the festival had an extensive entertainment programme designed to create an essential fan-zone destination. Football-focused activities included the Champions Gallery, a rich and dramatic movie experience of the UEFA Champions League; the Champions Collection, showcasing the history of football, the UEFA Young Champions tournament and the main stage hosting live entertainment.

 

Fans were given the chance to meet legends such as Bobby Charlton, Bryan Robson and Eusébio, accompanied by performances by Monte Carlo Fire and Italian music idol Alessandra Amoroso.

 

The event saw over 200,000 visitors across the five days and became a firm must-visit for fans, with some queuing two hours plus for a photo with the UEFA Champions League Trophy set against the iconic backdrop of the Coliseum and the Arco di Costantino.

 

Project was a huge logistical challenge with the visitor volume, design and implementation of the full programme of content, management of the LOC and working in protected UNESCO World Heritage sites.

 

For the following year in Madrid, tasked with creating a concept and strategy redefining the UEFA Champions Festival.  The concept was then used to scope out site planning, programming and creative design.