Constructed in 1910 as a sports field for Philips employees, the venue was established as the Philips Sportpark. Then, in 1913, PSV Eindhoven began to use the ground as its home stadium.
Since then, Philips Stadion has been through numerous extensions and developments as PSV Eindhoven grew in stature. The first was a wooden stand that was erected in 1916, which then saw seating and standing terraces enclose the field. A total renovation began in 1969, which saw the stadium become completely enclosed and every seat covered. That was completed in 1977, giving the venue a total capacity of 26,500 – including 12,000 standing spaces – at the time. The 1990s saw Philips Stadion become a two-tiered ground, with extensive commercial spaces, VIP seats, offices, press room and youth hall all introduced. All four stands were completed in 2002, giving the stadium its current capacity of 35,000.
Now, after all the renovations over the years, Philips Stadion is seen as one of Netherlands leading venues and currently holds a four-star rating by UEFA. As well as hosting all of PSV Eindhoven’s home games, the Netherlands national team have played fixtures there since 1971. The Eindhoven stadium was also used for three games at Euro 2000, as well as the 2006 UEFA Cup Final and various concerts.
A number of modernisation projects have seen different sections of the stadium introduced, such as the Family Corner for children and their parents, areas that are specifically for the more vocal fans, 13 hospitality lounges, four business suites, 46 business rooms and 1,186 business seats. Philips Stadion is not just a football stadium, with congress facilities, three different restaurants, shops and offices all located in the ground. As the stadium has become much more multifunctional, it’s no longer a centre of activity on matchdays alone.
The modernisation has continued even further, with the club deciding to upgrade its audio system in a bid to take the stadium to the next level. With this in mind, Philips Stadion has become the very first venue in the world to install ArenaMatch DeltaQ loudspeaker line arrays and ArenaMatch Utility loudspeakers from Bose Professional.
The club enlisted the help of audio, video and lighting sales and rental firm, Bazelmans AV, which completed the installation of the loudspeakers. The project was completed in time for the kick off of PSV Eindhoven’s first game of the second half of the season on January 27 2019.
“The design of the sound system was made especially for Philips Stadion,” explained Frans Janssen, Commercial Director for Bazelmans AV, which is headquartered in Veldhoven, Netherlands.
The system includes the following Bose Professional components: 128 ArenaMatch outdoor line array modules, 56 ArenaMatch Utility AMU206 and 24 ArenaMatch Utility AMU108 loudspeakers, as well as more than two dozen RoomMatch Utility RMU105 and RMU208 loudspeakers. Over 50 PowerMatch PM8500N and PM4250N networked amplifiers drive the Philips Stadion system, which is managed and optimised by a dozen ControlSpace EX-1280C processors.
The combination of the latest Bose Professional loudspeakers, power amplifiers and signal processors enables Philips Stadion to play high-quality music via loudspeaker arrays, while at the same time, delivering clearly audible voice announcements to every seat in the venue.
The new Bose Professional ArenaMatch line of loudspeakers is designed to deliver improved sound quality, consistency, vocal clarity and flexibility to outdoor venues such as sports stadiums, arenas, outdoor entertainment centres and elsewhere.
Bose Professional announced the launch of ArenaMatch to coincide with the unveiling of the installation at Philips Stadion. The one-off collaboration with Bose Professional was made possible by an alliance between Heijmans, ABC Finance, Bazelmans AV and PSV Eindhoven.
Frans concluded: “The design of the sound system was made especially for the Philips Stadion. The sound boxes and equipment are of the highest quality. This increases the perception of the PSV matches held here to Champions League level – the level at which we want to be.”
