4.3 OPERATING STRUCTURE
Once the legal structure of the stadium entity and the operating model have been established, the key roles and responsibilities of the operating company can be defined. Based on these roles and responsibilities, the organisational structure can be established.
This section will address these roles and responsibilities and operating structure in more detail. Regardless of the operating model, the primary and supporting operating roles and functions are the same. Only the organisation responsible for delivering the operating roles or functions might differ (owner, operator, user or service supplier).
4.3.1 KEY OPERATING ROLES
In most stadium operating structures, the following primary and supporting organisational roles and responsibilities can be distinguished.
Primary roles
1. Facility Management: this function is responsible for providing the services described in Sub-Section 4.2.1.
2. Event Management: this function is responsible for the planning, preparation, coordination, management and delivery of all events in the stadium.
3. Safety and Security Management: this function deals with safety & security operations on matchdays and non-matchdays. Whilst this role can sometimes be part of the Event Management function, it is essential that it is fully independent from all other organisational functions, as its decision-making and operations should never be compromised by any other business priorities and interests.
4. Marketing and Sales: this function is responsible for the implementation of the commercial stadium strategy. This includes securing non-football events, selling sponsorships and hospitality packages.
5. Hospitality and Catering Management: this function is responsible for the organisation and delivery of all hospitality and catering services on matchdays as well as non-matchdays. Even if these services are outsourced, a point of responsibility needs to be identified to manage the outsourced contract and to act as the ongoing contact for the service provider.
Figure 4.3.1
Illustrative organisational structure of a stadium operator based on primary and supporting roles
Figure 4.3.2
Illustrative organisational structure of a stadium operator based on traditional roles
Supporting roles include:
3. Human resources
1. Finance and administration
4. PR and communications
2. Legal
There are two main types of operating structures that are commonly used in stadiums. The first is based on the differentiation between primary and supporting roles as seen in Figure 4.3.1.
The second is based on the traditional roles of Operations, Marketing and Sales and Finance as seen in Figure 4.3.2.
4.3.2 PERMANENT ORGANISATION VERSUS EVENT ORGANISATION
Equally important to the permanent operating structure of the stadium is the ability of the organisation to expand and transform into a matchday organisation, which in larger stadiums would require hundreds and up to several thousands of staff members who need to be supervised, trained and accredited.
The various groups of event-related staff and the facilities that they require are covered in Sub-Section 6.5.3.
The matchday organisation could include temporary stadium staff and/or third-party staff in the case of outsourced services. It is important that these staff are fully aware of the stadium’s policies, procedures and manuals (see Section 4.4) and that they are trained on a regular basis.
These staff are organised through and report to Event Management or Operations.