Football stadia have continually evolved since the building of the first ‘modern’ stadia in Britain in the late nineteenth century to reflect the demands of spectators and governing bodies, as well as the increasing profile of football itself. Their changing nature, however, has become more acute in the last two decades as economic reasons, coupled with safety and security concerns, have contributed to the abolition of many ‘modern’ stadia and, by implication, the development of more advanced arenas, described metaphorically as ‘postmodern’ stadia. Accompanying this ongoing process, various stakeholders, from governing bodies to managers and architects, have put more emphasis on fundamental issues. Such issues include innovative design, high standards of accessibility, safety, flexibility to adjust to all kinds of sporting and non-sporting events and above all, economic viability, all of which are addressed in the planning and operational process. This essay examines the metamorphosis that historic and new stadia have undergone during the past years.

The purpose of this study is to examine how effective the international promotion of a sport event is on changing the destination image prior to the event if the sport event lacks global popularity. The authors conducted a quasi-experimental posttest research design, in which they used promotional information of a Tour de France stage to manipulate the destination image nonvisitors (N = 3,505) from nine different nations have of the hosting city, 5 months prior to the actual event. Results show that treating the international market as a homogeneous entity might be deceptive, as the effect of the event was different from nation to nation, pending on the popularity of the event or sport in the specific nation, and whether the nation itself offered similar events.

Since the early 1990s, sports broadcasting has emerged to become an important part of the sports industry. This is particularly important in the case of European football because revenues generated from the sport broadcast market tend to dominate those generated from gate attendance, which has traditionally been the main source of income for football clubs and leagues. In this article, we examine the broadcast regimes of the English Premier League and the Spanish Primera Liga (Liga de Primera Division) and examine the impacts that televising games from these leagues have had on their respective match‐day attendances. We find that, although stadium attendances in both leagues respond to a series of factors in a similar manner, the effects of broadcasting on match‐day attendance vary across the two leagues. We examine the economics issues and policy implications of these findings.

In trying to grow the customer base of the football game, recent studies have argued that relevant key actors in the European football industry such as football governing bodies and professional clubs must attend to the needs of all their supporters as well as consider the economic and social relevance of older supporters and those with disabilities, described as the ‘new’ generation of sport customers. Through analysis of major trends in legislation, demography, consumer expenditures and sport and leisure interests over time, coupled with a series of interviews with representatives of three of the main football leagues in Europe, this article contends that these two growing segments of sport consumers should be valued as important stakeholders, with enhanced access to all types of services, goods and experiences, not only considered a legal and moral imperative but one which also makes good business sense. To attend to the needs of these two groups of supporters will not only create managerial challenges but also significant opportunities for sustainable business growth that the football industry cannot underestimate as they seek to activate this latent consumer demand. Improving access to stadia is also a timely issue that football clubs should integrate into their organization’s culture and operations in order to provide an inclusive environment at club level.

Manchester United FC (MUFC), in collaboration with their disabled supporters’ organization MUDSA (Manchester United Disabled Supporters Association), has demonstrated a long-term organizational commitment and contribution to disability issues and promoting accessibility. The purpose of this ‘case study’ is to make theoretical sense of the origin, implementation and evaluation of an innovative and unconventional facility and service, the Ability Suite and analyse its effects on enhancing the customer service and experience for supporters with disabilities at MUFC on match and non-match days, as well as to the Manchester community over the period 2003–2013. Despite ad hoc improvements by some clubs, the Ability Suite remains a unique facility and service for supporters with disabilities which provides MUFC with a competitive advantage over most clubs within the main leagues in Europe. Findings show that the Ability Suite is an essential part of the club’s commitment to inclusivity and accessibility that fully integrates accessibility in its daily operations and interactions with fans. This raises issues of leadership, shared vision and Corporate Social Responsibility of all members of MUFC from middle and senior management to all the daily operational aspects of MUDSA as key factors to the effective implementation of this unique facility and service. The case concludes by forecasting how the Ability Suite will continue to serve the needs of disabled supporters in the near future and exploring how key findings from this case might be transferable to other clubs.