SAINT comes marching in

It’s no small promise to claim that a new software tool has the potential to change the way that stadiums and arenas are built. Cost expert Hein le Roux explains how to find the winning combination of balancing investment with returns.

Just like following a favorite team or player, investment in stadiums and arenas has always involved the possibility of euphoric success or the failure to achieve full potential. Of course success can be secured in many ways, and one route to making fast, informed decisions and reducing the risk of failure, is the new online stadium and arena investment tool called SAINT.

This kit enables stadium and arena owners, their investors, and project teams to get an early indication and fine tune the viability of a project. It helps balance operational and capital demands, and highlights the opportunities to inform design and improve the facility’s long-term use and revenue. Taking in the whole 360 degree scheme vision, key areas explored in the calculations include design, cost, program, operations and finance. SAINT allows for seamless integration of processes that were once linear and disconnected: market analysis, cost and revenue projections and design synthesis.

SAINT provides access to relevant design, cost, program and operations data that can be analyzed to help guide the development of the concept scheme, inform future operational impact and ultimately assess overall viability

At the heart of this software is robust industry data from Global Unite, AECOM’s bespoke international cost benchmarking and project performance indicator database. By linking to this data the tool can benchmark a vast range of development scenarios, from the numbers of seats and the type of roof design to whether to outsource catering. It calculates potential revenue and provides a clear view of the cost, value, and payback of any major stadium or arena development, even across wider masterplans incorporating commercial, residential, leisure and retail mixed use.

SAINT takes into account a number of factors including:

• Capacity
• General admission/corporate split
• Optimum program
• Total size (square meters)
• Structure and design
• Quality of finish and fit out
• Programme duration
• Construction costs
• Development costs
• Operating and utility costs
• Maintenance costs
• Lifecycle costs
• Matchday revenue
• Non-matchday revenue
• Sensitivity analysis appraisal

SAINT enables stadium and arena owners to get an early indication of the viability of a project