The Johan Cruyff Institute for Sport Studies got an invitation of HBM for the students of the International Master of Sport Management to visit the new Coface Arena of the football club FSV Mainz 05. HBM is a subsidiary of BAM AG Germany, one of the leading construction companies in Germany and is specialized in building sports stadiums. On Saturday 19 February a group of MISM students made the trip to Mainz.
Arrived in Mainz the students were welcomed by Steven Wilbrenninck, Managing Director at HBM, and Christopher Blümlein, Head of Controlling at FSV Mainz 05. After a short word of welcome Christopher took the word. He is a graduate sport management and after his internship at the club Mainz he is now head of controlling at the club of his city and he’s partly responsible for the project Coface Arena. In his enthusiastic presentation he presented FSV Mainz 05, the results of the last ten years and where the club stands for. The ‘little’ Mainz is now a top club in Germany. The second part of his presentation was about the Coface Arena. He explained why there was a need for a new and larger stadium and how the project is funded. Those topics are very interesting for master students Sport Management, who are writing their own business plan.
After a short lunch the students went outside and got a guided tour of the stadium by Jean Zeller. He’s responsible for the design and execution of the Coface Arena at HBM. The students were told which factors should be taken into account during the design and construction of a new football stadium.
After the tour Steven Wilbrenninck gave a presentation about the sustainability of new sport stadiums. Using real examples he explained the way HBM works and how they deal with new projects. How to build a new stadium for the World Cup in South Africa, the multipurpose use of the O2 Arena in Berlin and green stadiums were discussed.
The students were fortunate that on this day FSV Mainz 05 had to play against the absolute top club Bayern Munich. After the visit of the Coface Arena the students went into the city to the current stadium, the Bruchwegstadion, to enjoy the game.
The Johan Cruyff Institute for Sport Studies would like to thank HBM and FSV Mainz 05 for this interessant and instructive day!
