Going for Gold
While 2020 saw the sporting world thrown into disarray with the delay of major events such as the Olympic Games and Euro 2020, the industry bounced back in 2021, with the calendar returning to near-normal as the pandemic eases.
Though spectators were absent from almost all sports events up until the recent relaxation of Covid-19 rules, print and signage on the other hand enjoyed a presence throughout the pandemic, often playing an important, and sometimes innovative, role in the absence of fans.
Here, we celebrate some of the work done by sign and wide-format print companies in the sports industry over the past year or so and pay tribute to the vital part that they played in ensuring events went ahead during the pandemic.
Fantastic finale
In the absence of fans, clubs and organisations turned to print as a way of helping cover the thousands of empty seats inside their stadiums and arenas. These printed graphics were often picked up by television cameras and offered incredible exposure to brands advertising on the displays.
An excellent example of this comes courtesy of wide-format print company, MacroArt, which produced a series of graphics for use during the English Football League’s Papa John’s Trophy Finals at Wembley Stadium. The Wembley Weekender in March saw the finals for both the 2020 and 2021 Papa John’s Trophy played at the stadium, with last year’s final having been put on hold due to the pandemic.
MacroArt produced signage for the English Football League’s Papa John’s Trophy Finals
MacroArt produced more than 3,000sq m of graphics and signage for the double-header event, including over 2,500sq m of print for covering vacant seated areas. These graphics were printed on Kavalan, a PVC-free material produced by TAYA Groups and suppled by CMYUK. After the two matches, these graphics were recovered and returned for recycling in the relevant waste streams.
“Sustainability is key to many of our clients and providing graphics that have a minimal impact on the environment whilst maintaining performance is a game changer for today’s events,” says Matt Guise, sales director at MacroArt, adding: “It was very rewarding to work with an organisation as committed as we are to carbon neutrality, and the team at EFL supported our efforts at every stage.”
Providing graphics that have a minimal impact on the environment whilst maintaining performance is a game changer for today’s events”
Other aspects of the project included team-specific branding for each of the clubs playing in the finals, such as walls around the holding area and team dugouts.
Fuelling the future
Meanwhile, Cheshire-based print-service-provider, Nettl Crewe & Nantwich used its Mimaki UCJV300 LED UV printer to produce a stunning vehicle wrap for young motorsport star Max Dodds. At just 15 years old, Dodds will this year race his first season in the Ginetta Junior Championship, a popular feeder series for the likes of GT, Touring Cars and Formula One.
Ahead of the season, Nettl Crewe & Nantwich created a wrap for Dodds’ car, complete with his team’s colours and the names and logos of various sponsors. The company used AERO Sustainable Paint Technology, a film-based paint that its developer says is 50% lighter than traditional sprayed paint and, as such, was suitable for the wrap that was required to ensure maximum aerodynamic performance during races.
Young motorsport star Max Dodd alongside his car, wrapped by Nettl Crewe & Nantwich
“From a local motocross outfit, to Max as an up-and-coming racing driver, right through to Le Mans and F1 teams, we’re seeing multiple advantages of choosing Aero as the means of applying colour, branding and livery,” Nettl Crewe & Nantwich’s managing director, Mark Jones says.
“With its strong eco-credentials, we’re also experiencing good take-up from environment-first businesses with large fleets of liveried vehicles who want a long-lasting, PVC-free wrapping solution.”
Nettl used LED UV cured ink on its Mimaki UCJV300 for the job, overprinting onto the black AERO product to ensure vibrant results. Jones says the ability to reprint individual panels means that in the event of a bump or scrape, the whole car would not need painting.
“AERO is an incredible 17,000 times tougher than regular paint and is finding real traction in the motorsport sector,” Jones comments, adding: “Combine this with the excellent rub resistance of the Mimaki ink and we hope to not have to make too many changes to the wrap during the season.”
Bigger picture
Such is the importance of the sports market that it plays a major role in the success of a host of other sectors, not least the media segment. This is particularly true for football’s Premier League, which recently sold the television rights for its next three seasons for more than £5.0bn.
One of the broadcasters that will be showing matches is BT Sport, which partnered with out-of-home specialist, Ocean Outdoor, earlier this year on a special campaign showing clips of games on outdoor digital screens across the UK.
The agreement first allowed Ocean and BT Sport to broadcast next-day match clips from the UEFA Champions League’s last 16 fixtures through to the final in May on screens. Clips were shown on 16 screens in London, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle, Edinburgh, and Glasgow.
Ocean and BT Sport ran a similar initiative to show clips from games in the Premier League, with this running to the end of the domestic season. Each day-long spotlight ran alongside a campaign to promote BT Sport’s Watch Together feature, part of the new Matchday Experience for customers on the BT Sport App.
Ocean Outdoor and BT Sport have been showing clips from major sporting events
This partnership was extended into the summer, with Ocean and BT Sport showing coverage of the UEFA European Championship, the Wimbledon tennis tournament and the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
“It has been fantastic to work with Ocean to create this innovative way to showcase some of the tremendous content and the innovative features on the BT Sport App; allowing fans to come together and get closer to the sport they love,” BT Sport’s head of marketing, Ed Cracknell comments.
Ocean Outdoor’s head of content and sponsorship, Kevin Henry, adds: “Primetime TV sport and premium DOOH are natural allies. The extension of BT Sport’s UEFA coverage onto our screens launches a superb summer of sport for Ocean’s large-format portfolio, bringing the best championships to even wider audiences over and above the TV and mobile screen.”
Building for 2022
While the Olympic Games in Tokyo may still be fresh in the memory, our medal heroes are already turning their attentions to the Commonwealth Games, which next year will take place on home soil in Birmingham.
The event will bring with it a whole host of opportunities for print and signage work, with CSM Live, the branding and live experience division of CSM Sport and Entertainment, having secured itself a major role in this after being appointed as the official provider of look, wayfinding and signage for the Games.
O Factoid: Team GB’s haul of 65 medals at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games equalled the amount won at London 2012 O
Following a competitive tender process, CSM Live will be responsible for scoping, producing, installing and de-rigging all elements of venue dressing at competition and non-competition venues. This includes the look and feel, field of play branding, wayfinding and information signage, sponsor recognition, media treatments and ‘Host City’ dressing.
This will not be CSM Live’s first experience of such a role, having provided a wide range of signage for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. However, this project will bring with it an additional challenge, with Birmingham 2022’s organisers making a sustainability pledge to deliver the first ever carbon-neutral Commonwealth Games.
CSM Live is the official provider of look, wayfinding and signage for the 2022 Commonwealth Games
As such, CSM Live will work to design and provide an entirely sustainable solution, with the idea of maximising the re-use of the hardware to ensure none of the produced material goes to waste after the Games.
CSM Live has also committed to working with local companies, suppliers, and staff on the programme with a target to procure over 65% of its requirements locally, while the company will also engage with local students on the design process for the wayfinding and signage programme.
Giles Stanford, director of global events at CSM Live, comments: “We are thrilled to be working with Birmingham 2022 as we seek to deliver a sustainable, innovative and carbon-friendly Commonwealth Games. We have a strong pedigree in providing sustainable branding solutions for major events and combined with the expertise of the local business community, we hope to deliver a spectacular event for all those involved.”
Ian Reid, chief executive of Birmingham 2022, adds: “It is fantastic to have CSM Live join us as our official provider of look, wayfinding and signage for Birmingham 2022. With a strong track record of working on major sporting events, I know we can rely on its expertise to help us deliver the most sustainable Commonwealth Games to date.
“In addition to its work on competition venues, CSM Live will also be working with us on our community engagement activities, which will support us developing positive relationships within local communities across the West Midlands.”
This year has certainly been one to remember for British sporting achievements; from an incredible medal haul in Tokyo, to England reaching its first major football final since the 1966 World Cup win. Print and signage companies played their part in this success and with plenty more sport coming our way, we can look forward to more gold medal performances within our industry.
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