Moses Mabhida & Soccer City

Chief, the industry leader in AV mounting hardware, provides System Solutions with the products to meet every display challenge

System Solutions, part of leading Audio Video & Technical supplier in South Africa, has vast experience in providing complete AV presentation and event solutions. This expertise brought them the incredible opportunity to work on the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban and Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg.

Moses Mabhida Stadium is a world-class multi-use stadium. It has a capacity of 70,000 and will host group and Semi-Final matches for the 2010 FIFA World Cup tournament.

Soccer City Stadium is currently the largest stadium in Africa with a capacity of 94,700. One of the most artistic and awe-inspiring football venues on the African continent, the newly-reconstructed Soccer City Stadium will host the opening ceremony as well as the first and final matches of the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa.

Challenge

Installing the displays at the stadiums required a very diverse range of mounting solutions; from recessed fixed installs to ceiling and swing arm installations. After signing the contracts, System Solutions turned to Chief Manufacturing knowing they could take care of all the display mounting needs for both stadiums.

Each of the display installations involved many challenges. The Moses Mabhida Stadium lobbies have a distinct lounge atmosphere that required the displays to be recessed into false walls that were part of the design. "There are two challenges with such recessed installations," observed Sean Stewart, Managing Director of Gearhouse. "The displays needed to be easily accessible for service and maintenance. Secondly, the install needs to be exactly level as mounted within a frame. Each millimeter off, left or right, is noticeable right away."

Another challenge was found in the food and beverage areas. The power and signal outlets were already placed, but the displays over the food court entry needed to have the flexibility to be moved left and right whenever needed.

Solution

"Chief FUSION™ mounts have a ClickConnect™ feature that works well for recessed applications that need to be easily accessible for maintenance. This feature allows the display to be disconnected without tools and kicks out the bottom of the display 15 degrees to allow for easy cable access," said Stewart.

"The Control Zone™ leveling feature was ideal because it provided an easy height and level adjustment of the display after installation." The open wall plate design left all the space necessary to place the mounts over existing power outlets in the food court area. For perfect positioning of the displays, a lateral shift feature allowed left or right movement once installed. To complete the installation, the displays were easily secured to mount with a padlock to protect against theft. Results Kicking off the 2010 FIFA World Cup on June 11, the Durban and Soccer City stadiums are fully equipped with displays. Not only will fans benefit from state-of-the-art digital signage at concession stands, they also won't miss a play while they wait for their food and beverage. System Solutions commented on their partnership with Chief during these high-profile projects noting, "Not only did Chief meet the specifications for the diverse requirements of these projects, the installations were completed in a quick and efficient manner and the support we got from Chief was fantastic. We are very pleased with the end result."