Onsite at the UEFA Europa League Final 2022

Behind the scenes of TEAM employees supporting in Seville, Spain.

For 30 years, TEAM staff have supported UEFA in the organisation and management of the club competitions. And at the end of each competition season, TEAM staff kick into over-drive to support with the respective finals. Last week, TEAM employees were onsite in Seville to support UEFA’s wider venue efforts, and we caught up with a few of them as they rolled up their sleeves to help bring the UEFA Europa League (UEL) Final 2022 to life.

Hear first-hand what it’s like to work onsite in hospitality, sponsor partnerships management and media production. It’s clear that everyone is always willing to go the extra mile, is committed to excellence and really loves what they do.

Selina, Hospitality Manager

In her 17 years at TEAM, Selina has never missed being onsite to support UEFA at the club competition finals. Not only does she play a prominent role in helping to organise the hospitality spaces for the UEFA Europa League Final (this year in Seville), but also for the UEFA Champions League Final (in Paris) and the UEFA Europa Conference League Final (in Tirana).

For the UEL Final 2022, she worked closely with and supported the UEFA Hospitality Production Team to create and coordinate the Europa Lounge, which occupied two levels of the Meliá Lebreros hotel near the Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán Stadium in Seville. The hospitality lounge was around 2’200 m² and welcomed 1,700 guests (UEFA commercial partners and UEFA guests) before and after the Final match.

The process of creating the Europa Lounge began already in November with multiple site visits and days of calls with all partners. Selina provided guidance every step of the way – allocating space for each sponsor partner and then consulting on venue design, catering, entertainment and access management. Overall, it was her job to help facilitate and support a smooth implementation of the hospitality space, help ensure UEFA commercial partners’ activations are executed as agreed upon and ensure that all guests had the perfect hospitality experience.

Her schedule onsite looks like: Arriving three days before the match, she helped supervise the entire set up of the Europa Lounge and the different partner areas. Her master task list included every detail, from the seemingly minor (charge tablets used for surveys overnight) to the more imperative (test lighting to ensure all branding and food is properly illuminated). She oversaw everything from the installation of partner activations to rehearsals of entertainment activities. If produced partner branding was incorrect, she coordinated re-printing. During the hospitality hours, she kept everything on schedule, orchestrated and flowing.
Skills needed: organisation, positive attitude, client-servicing mentality
Biggest challenge: Creating a hospitality space in a hotel (as opposed to in the stadium or in a custom-built tent) required flexibility and creativity. The space occupied what would normally be the breakfast room and also the public pool area, meaning these sections had to be closed off to guests at the last minute, impacting set-up time. Additionally, Seville’s extremely warm temperatures caused some challenges in setting up the different elements (for example, signage, floral arrangements and beverages) in the outdoor areas. Cool spaces within the hotel had to be secured at the last minute to store around 2,800l of beer and 6,000 glasses, so they wouldn’t sit in the sun all day.
Biggest reward: “It’s truly amazing to see how everything comes to life…what starts as just a sketch of a floorplan, results in this truly impressive and immersive space.”

James, Senior Sponsor Partnerships Executive and Stefanie, Sponsor Partnerships Executive

With Seville welcoming over 100,000 football fans (and less than half of those holding tickets), sponsor activations in the stadium, as well as across the city, helped create a lively and entertaining atmosphere to complement the main event. And with this being the first “normal” final since 2019, the event was incredibly important from a sponsor activation perspective.

James has been a member of TEAM’s Sponsor Partnerships Management team since 2018, and Stefanie since 2021, both acting as main contacts for several UEFA commercial partners. In addition to helping partners onsite in Seville for the UEFA Europa League final, they’ll both be onsite in Tirana for the UEFA Europa Conference League Final and James will continue on to Paris for the UEFA Champions League Final – all taking place within 10 days.

From the first site visits with sponsor partners in November, to scope out all the activation opportunities, to the final Matchday in May, they are in contact nearly every day with their assigned sponsor partners. James and Stefanie are readily answering questions, fielding requests and coordinating with everyone from the city to the operations team to counterparts at UEFA. On Matchday and the days before, they are onsite helping to ensure sponsor activations, as well as their guest programmes, go according to plan and every potential concern is anticipated.

A big component of the sponsor activation programme is the Fan Festival, which was located at the historic Plaza de España, and was open to fans on Matchday and the day before.

Their schedule onsite looks like: Arriving three days before the match, each day started with a team meeting to identify the biggest issues and how to tackle them. They were constantly running back and forth between the stadium, the hospitality lounge and the Fan Festival. James’ tasks ranged from booking and then escorting UEFA ambassadors around the festival, planning trophy transfer logistics, to ensuring partner guests got on the right bus for the various events. Likewise, Stefanie was overseeing every detail for her partners, including communication between the sponsors, the UEFA foundation and UEFA. She ensured that all participants made it safely and on time to their various activations — for example, supervising the arrival and handover of all 22 children from the youth programme to UEFA at the stadium.
Onsite activation examples: Player Mascot/Referee Mascot programme, business events for sponsor clients (including trophy/ambassador appearances) and Fan Festival activations
Skills needed: listening, staying calm under pressure, proactive planning, relationship management
Biggest challenge: Hosting the Fan Festival in a historical location created an amazing atmosphere, but required significant planning. There were extensive regulations on what could be built and when. For each partner, they had to ensure branding was approved and the activation was possible.
Biggest reward: “I didn’t know what to expect and after months of planning, it’s even more impressive to see everything in action. You really see your efforts pay off.” Stefanie

Gemma, Media Production Manager

For the UEL Final, Gemma, who has been a Media Production Manager at TEAM since 2019, took on the additional role of Media Rights Holder Services Manager. Leading the broadcaster servicing team onsite, she, alongside seven other women from UEFA and TEAM made up the leadership team (this year mainly female) responsible for operations at the UEL Final.

Gemma and her team managed bookings for more than 50 broadcasters and radio rights holders, where the process of allocating, arbitrating and assigning facilities can be a bit like completing a complex jigsaw puzzle. They must secure feeds, time slots and positions. As much as possible is planned in advance to help minimise the inevitable complexity and chaos onsite. Once onsite, her team operates the Welcome Desk of the Broadcast Compound, coordinating media partner arrivals, distributing forms/technical equipment, trouble-shooting any issues that may arise and ensuring a solution is found. They are also going back and forth between the Broadcast Compound, confirming the ever-changing plans, and in the stadium, supervising all activities.

Her schedule onsite looks like: Arriving four days before the match, her days were filled with accommodating last-minute requests for facilities and coordinating broadcaster activities, such as pitch-side interviews, onsite filming and trophy requests. On Matchday, her team ensured media partners were on time, in place and there were no issues. Her work on Matchday didn’t end until hours after the match (which went into overtime and then penalties) concluded, when all broadcasters had returned the technical items that were distributed.
Skills needed: ability to anticipate all potential issues, follow intuition/common sense, willingness to find a solution, capacity to have the whole picture of what’s going on
Biggest challenge: The last 10 minutes of the match are the most intense, with broadcasters contacting the team with requests for Flash interviews, which are those that occur immediately post-match. In less than 10 minutes, the team must allocate which broadcaster can interview whom and when. They must consider the language of the reporter and the language of the player. The Flash period lasts about an hour, with 18 broadcasters on the pitch interviewing players and coaches. Factors like a match that goes into overtime, or the winning team celebrating too long in the locker room, can all delay the interviews and must be dealt with.
Biggest reward: “After working together all year, the broadcasters really become like family. It’s wonderful to finally be onsite with them, share in their success and support this amazing event.”