[ad_1]
Amid speculation is he preparing to accept a new job running the US Open, Tiley appears determined to set more innovations for the Australian Open in train.
“We want to have a glass court, for example, with a digital, immersive surface that’s interactive,” he said at an earlier press conference.
Fans wait in long queues outside the Grand Slam Oval entrance for day one of the Australian Open.Credit: Chris Hopkins
“We’re looking at developing a sphere-like dome… where we can bring an off-site experience on-site and have a completely immersive experience on 270 degree screens with 8K quality.”
With more than 1.3 million people through the gates for this year’s tournament, Tiley said the event needed more screens, shade, seats and space.
“There’s an oval on the other side of Gosch’s Paddock, AAMI Park, the MCG, these are good pieces of land and property, which we would look at and expand into,” he said.
Loading
“We’re on a journey of transforming the on-site fan experience. Next year, we’ve got big plans.”
Organisers had to manage long queues to enter Melbourne Park and jammed outside courts, at one stage even halting the sale of ground passes. Some fans requested refunds because they’d missed the beginning of play or been unable to enter stadiums like KIA or John Cain Arena due to high demand.
Tiley said TA was exploring policies and technology to promote higher turnover on the outside courts and to prevent people from parking themselves in the same spot all day.
“Fans want to have the tennis experience, they want the activation,” he added. “Now, we’re a music festival, we’re a food festival. We’re going to become more of a fashion festival. This year was the first year in really making an extensive statement in [a] beauty and wellness festival.”
Read more on the Australian Open
News, results and expert analysis from the weekend of sport are sent every Monday. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.
[ad_2]
