logo
episode-header-image
Oct 2023
18m 19s

What makes a stadium special?

Bbc World Service
About this episode

The development of new sports stadiums and facilities can bring regeneration to deprived areas. They hold a special place in the hearts of sports and live music fans. But have some of the new ones lost their spark?

In this edition of Business Daily, Sam Fenwick asks, what gives a stadium its atmosphere and can it be designed in?

Sam speaks to Christopher Lee, whose architecture practice, Populous, has designed 3000 arenas all over the world. He shares his experience of designing iconic grounds like the Yankee Stadium, Wembley Stadium, and Olympic stadiums in Sydney, London and Sochi.

And we hear from BBC World Service listeners, who tell us what makes their favourite sports grounds so special.

(Picture: Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Brayan Bello (66) throws a pitch against the Kansas City Royals in the third inning at Fenway Park, Boston, Massachusetts. Credit: David Butler II/USA TODAY Sports)

Presented and produced by Sam Fenwick

Up next
Yesterday
Is Gen Z the most investment-savvy generation?
Generation Z - people born in the mid-to-late 1990s up to the early 2010s - is reportedly the new driving force behind retail investing. We look at the areas they are investing in, and why financial influencers are not always what they seem. To get in touch with the programme, se ... Show More
17m 28s
Aug 24
Spain's power blackout: what went wrong?
On the morning of the 28th of April, Spain lost electric power equivalent to that generated by ten nuclear plants, leaving the whole of the Iberian Peninsula, including Portugal and parts of France, without electricity for up to 12 hours. We examine the cause of the blackout that ... Show More
17m 28s
Aug 21
Business Daily meets: Spencer Horne
The South African entrepreneur tells us about his experience growing up under the apartheid regime, before securing a scholarship that would take him to Harvard University in the US.He's now returned home to set up Cloudline, an airship company which aims to deliver goods and car ... Show More
17m 29s
Recommended Episodes
Oct 2023
The man born with no arms and an inspirational 15 year journey to pitch at every MLB stadium
Tom Willis was born without arms and recently completed a 15-year journey to throw out a ceremonial pitch at all 30 Major League Baseball stadiums across the USA. He discusses how he pitches a baseball, the inspiration for his Pitch for National Awareness tour and how changing pe ... Show More
29m 34s
Jul 2022
Birmingham 2022 special: How relevant are the Commonwealth Games?
Activists, athletes and organisers debate the impact of the Commonwealth Games.In a Birmingham café, influential voices from the city join The Sports Desk panel to discuss the Commonwealth Games.Aftab Rahman from Legacy West Midlands says the Games have not done enough to embrace ... Show More
40m 38s
May 2023
How the Oakland A’s Stole the Plot of ‘Major League’
In the nearly 150-year history of professional sports in America, very few teams – if any – have used the threat of relocation quite like the Athletics. The baseball club began in 1901 in Philadelphia before moving to Kansas City in 1955, and eventually settled in its present hom ... Show More
28m 43s
Jan 2024
The Sunday Read: ‘How an Ordinary Football Game Turns Into the Most Spectacular Thing on TV’
Arrowhead Stadium, the home of the Kansas City Chiefs, the N.F.L.’s defending champions, is a very loud place. During a 2014 game, a sound meter captured a decibel reading equivalent to a jet’s taking off, earning a Guinness World Record for “Loudest crowd roar at a sports stadiu ... Show More
1 h
Aug 2018
Football's new e-scout?
Football's e-scout Becoming a professional footballer is a dream shared by many children across the globe, but very few ever see that ambition become a reality. Of the 1.5 million boys who play organised youth football in England, only around 180 make it to the top level playing ... Show More
33m 20s
Jun 2023
The Warm Up Track: Hurdles, rainbows and records
The Warm Up Track is back! Season three begins with world champion hurdler Grant Holloway and Gabriela DeBues-Stafford, world and Olympic 1500 metres finalist.What happens when a shot-putter needs to borrow your jacket? Who might have made it as a speed skater? Who might need a c ... Show More
51m 53s
Oct 2020
At The Match: Peckham Town 5-0 Stansfeld, October 2020
With the ongoing pandemic resulting in hundreds of football games being played out in empty stadiums, finding a suitable venue for the return of At The Match has proved a bit trickier than usual. Luckily, fans are allowed to watch one of the most interesting and vibrants clubs in ... Show More
45m 45s