Inspired by national stadiums
National Stadium
The real thing: the national stadium
Most countries with a national football or rugby team have one: the big bowl where the cup final, the internationals and the biggest concert tours end up.
They are built on a different scale. Wembley in London holds 90,000, and its 133-metre arch can be seen across the city. The Stade de France near Paris has a trick our game borrows: its lower tier of seats can be moved back to uncover an athletics track, so the same stadium works for football, rugby and athletics.
On a final day, a national stadium is a small city, with thousands of stewards, caterers, police officers, broadcasters and medics. The pitch gets special care too: many big stadiums use hybrid grass, real grass reinforced with artificial fibres, grown under banks of lamps when the stands block the sun.
In Big Night Tycoon
9,000 seats
Tier 3
The country's 9,000-seat national stadium, a two-tier bowl under a white roof ring. Cup finals, internationals, world tours. The biggest stage there is.
