Project Overview

The first ever Union Jack Classic brought college football to Wembley, and with it came Fox Sports’ Big Noon Kickoff, broadcasting outside the United States for the first time in the show’s history. It was a landmark weekend for American college football in the UK, and our team was proud to play a part in it on both sides of the stadium walls.

Inside the stadium, we had the privilege of working with Confetto Productions, the team behind the Union Jack Classic, to fit out Wembley for college football. We designed and built everything from the coaches’, replay, media and control booths to the camera platforms and rostrums, finished with an array of pipe and drape and set dressing. Outside on Samovar Square, we worked with NEP and their client, Fox Sports, to design, manufacture and build the Big Noon Kickoff production, creating a broadcast studio and fan zone in a public space that had never seen anything of this scale before.

Project Highlights

Client: Confetto Productions, for the Union Jack Classic. NEP and their client, Fox Sports, for Big Noon Kickoff.

Event: Union Jack Classic and Fox Sports Big Noon Kickoff

Location:Wembley Stadium and Samovar Square, London

Services Delivered:

• Design and 3D planning in Revit
• Bespoke structures designed and manufactured in-house
• Coaches’, replay, media and control booths
• Camera platforms and rostrums
• Pipe and drape and set dressing
• Cable fly towers for the broadcast fibre route
• Full test build at our base
• Simultaneous internal and external installation and de-rig
• On-site event crew cover

Installation Programme: Tenancy from 08:00 on Monday, with both internal and external builds handed over on Thursday

Key Achievement: Delivering Big Noon Kickoff’s first production outside the United States, on a public space that had not seen anything of this scale before

The Challenge

The two projects presented to us were to be completed at the same time, and each brought its own challenges, so careful planning across both teams was essential from the very start.

Confetto drove the Union Jack Classic, and because college football brings bespoke requirements of its own, they needed Wembley fitted out precisely to their specification. Our remit was to design and build the coaches’, replay, media and control booths, along with camera platforms and rostrums and an array of pipe and drape and set dressing, so that the stadium was ready for a very different kind of football.

Big Noon Kickoff came to us through NEP, who were in control of the production and introduced us to their client, Fox Sports. We worked with NEP from start to finish, delivering to Fox’s specification in fine detail. Big Noon Kickoff is an important, high-profile show for Fox, so delivering exactly what they wanted, within their timeframe, was at the heart of the challenge.

The show is built around the fans as much as the broadcast, so the production had to work as the heart of a fan zone overlooked by the studio. We were tasked with creating a space where supporters could feel part of the show, on Samovar Square, a public space that had never seen anything of this scale before. In every detail of the build and removal, we considered the public, Wembley and Quintain, and most importantly, the Fox brand.

Our Solution

With so much depending on a short build week, we made sure every issue and challenge was resolved in a detailed plan before we arrived on Samovar Square. Our tech team made multiple visits to Wembley throughout the project to survey the space and gather every detail, which mattered all the more because Samovar Square is a very small area and every part of it would be used.

Modelling the project in 3D in Revit allowed us to share our proposal with the clients, so everyone knew what to expect in advance. They could see exactly what we were building and where it would sit, and it gave them real confidence that we had understood the brief at the very start of a new working relationship. This was essential, because the Fox team did not arrive until the day the build started. The same drawings then went on to support our submissions to Brent Council for traffic management and road closures, give health and safety teams a clear picture of the build, form the basis of the structural calculations, and become the construction drawings our crew worked from on site.

Fox asked us to match the structures already used on their tour, including its angled roof. Achieving that pitch within a truss structure called for more than standard components, so we designed bespoke angled plates and had them manufactured, allowing us to build the roof from standard truss combined with our own bespoke elements. With the space so tight, every structure was made bespoke in-house, designed to fit Samovar Square and make the most of every metre.

Everything was fully built and tested at our base before it went anywhere near Wembley, from the Big Noon Kickoff structures to Confetto’s camera platforms, where we checked that the drapes and finishing were just right. Testing it all at home meant we knew it would fit the space and could be installed with limited room in the time allowed. It also gave Moss Inc., the branding company, the chance to check dimensions and agree fixing methods and installation times with us, so there were no surprises once everything reached site.

Scope of Delivery

Internal build at Wembley Stadium, for Confetto

• Coaches’, replay, media and control booths, designed and built by our team
• Camera platforms with catch nets, and rostrums
• Pipe and drape and set dressing

External build on Samovar Square, for NEP and Fox Sports

• Bespoke Big Noon Kickoff structures, made in-house to match Fox’s tour structures, including bespoke angled plates for the roof
• DJ platform
• Met barriers
• Eight 7m truss towers on concrete bases, carrying the fibre broadcast cables to the stage area

The Delivery

Our tenancy began at 08:00 on Monday, with two teams working simultaneously. Our internal team built for the Union Jack Classic inside the stadium, while our external team built Big Noon Kickoff on Samovar Square, with around 20 crew on site on the busiest days, including local crew. A schedule was drawn up in detail for every contractor, working back from rehearsal day. It also had to cater for a very short build time within the stadium and the pitch change, which was a struggle for all parties involved.

The internal team built the Confetto booths and platforms, ready for handover on Thursday. Big Noon Kickoff was handed over to the client on the same day, with just standby crew remaining to assist both parties. With a few scenic changes and additions, the whole build ran very closely to the schedules we had set.

With both builds on track, our next challenge was getting the fibre broadcast cables along Wembley Way, west across Engineers Way, to the stage area. This is a very busy route for pedestrians and vehicles, so running the cables along the ground was not practical, and Fox wanted to keep the area clean and uncluttered rather than lined with structures and scaffold. Our answer was eight 7m truss towers on concrete bases, dressed so that they looked like part of the show, and like every structure on the project, they had full structural calculations. To fly the cables across the road, we worked with Brent Council and Quintain to arrange a road closure of just five minutes, with banksmen holding the traffic and guiding pedestrians while the cables went across.

The towers are one of the parts of this project we are proudest of. They solved a real problem for Fox, they looked like they belonged in the show, and because they are fully reusable, they are ready to be used again at future events.

When building, keeping the public and crew safe is our first priority. Our work areas were segregated, health and safety personnel were on site for the full rig, and security was present throughout. We worked with the Wembley teams before every load in and load out, and banksmen guided all vehicle movements.

On completion of the event, we ran a late-night de-rig shift up to the curfew. The following day we removed everything, and Samovar Square was returned to its former public use.

The Outcome

Big Noon Kickoff went live from Samovar Square built to Fox’s specification, with structures made to match their tour and a cable route that looked like part of the show. Inside the stadium, Confetto had the booths, platforms and rostrums that college football needs, all handed over on schedule.

Because every issue was resolved in the plan and every structure was tested at our base, the Fox team could arrive on the day the build started and already know exactly what to expect. The response from both clients and every team we worked alongside was hugely positive, and seeing Wembley and Samovar Square come alive for college football made every hour of planning worthwhile.

Client Feedback

“A huge Thank You to Grace, Shaun, Jamie and all the Trans-Sport team for a job very well done. Having worked with Shaun and his team for over 30 years, there was no question who we would recommend and partner with for the first ever College football in London. As we say on the other side of the pond, you provided a ‘soup to nuts’ service and added whipped cream and a cherry on top!

A very sincere thank you from Union Jack Classic, BMTV and myself.”

– Bill Morris, CEO of BMTV

Looking Ahead

This was a first for everyone involved. It was the first Union Jack Classic, the first time Big Noon Kickoff had been produced outside the United States, and the first time our team had delivered either event. We’re very proud of what we achieved together, and we are already excited about next year, when we can take everything we learned and make it bigger and better.