Before receiving the PSG for the shock of the championship this Tuesday evening, the HBC Nantes put the small dishes in the big ones. From the number of spectators to the volunteers, including the projectors and the tons of material moved… Find out how the HBC Nantes has configured Hall XXL at the Parc des Expositions into a handball hall.
Record attendance
In one evening, the HBC Nantes practically doubles the capacity of the H Arena, its usual venue. And so goes from 5,902 to nearly 10,000 spectators. With these three matches in one week against Benfica, Chambéry and PSG, the club will have gathered nearly 30,000 spectators at Hall XXL! A first for the club, and a record in the world of French handball. Another example: the H Arena can accommodate around 1,000 spectators in a VIP area. At
Hall XXL, several spaces are dedicated to them, allowing to receive 2,000 people. This event also allows the “H” to compensate with the past season, troubled by the health crisis. With a ticket office at a standstill, the club could only gather 17,200 people over the entire 2020-2021 season, after having played 18 consecutive sold-out matches. “We wanted to relaunch the H with a large-scale organization,” explains Lionel Pouget, director of HBC Nantes. It’s done, with a superb closing evening expected this Tuesday evening.
Employees and volunteers on the bridge
To string together three home games in the space of a week, the H can count on its service providers, its employees, but also an army of volunteers. In the regular season, the club can count on the help of 70 to 120 volunteers at the H Arena. “For the match against Paris, we will go up to 200 volunteers. 230 employees will also work for this evening, whether they are service providers or club employees ”. As for the volunteers, Lionel Pouget is delighted to be able to count on their invaluable help: “There is a very good atmosphere within the network of volunteers. Those who invest in the club generally stay. »A loyalty that allows HBC Nantes to be established today, on the occasion of its sixth XXL saga at the Parc des Expos.
A large-scale move …
“We move as much of our furniture as possible from the H Arena to Hall XXL. “. Example: the ground of the land. It is transported from the usual room at HBC Nantes, to the room at the Parc des Expos. “This soil is rolled up and transported by semi-trailer. It is then left for 24 hours so that it does not buckle ”. He will then resume his place at the end of the final match at Hall XXL against PSG Handball. For the bleachers, two weeks of assembly are necessary. “It takes three weeks of assembly beforehand, to get the whole room in handball configuration”, specifies Lionel Pouget. An arrangement that requires 40 semi-trailers of equipment, mobilizing up to 35 technicians simultaneously! From the stands to the field, through the VIP areas or the changing rooms… Everything is going to transform the XXL Hall of 12,431 m² into a real temple of handball.
… For an atmosphere of fire
When he puts down his suitcases in Hall XXL, the HBC Nantes also brings with him the equipment to create an atmosphere in the colors of Violets. “On the sound and light structure, it takes 20 tons of suspended material, 170 projectors …”, specifies the director of the Nantes club. Numbers to make you dizzy. 450 meters of partitions are also installed to organize trade fairs or press areas, for example. “During our European tours, we had the opportunity to see a lot of venues. This is something that we scrutinized in other clubs, to see what worked. Especially in German clubs. There are clubs in Europe which understood that handball was a spectacle, before being a gymnasium sport. The recipe works since the public is always at the rendezvous of these matches. A philosophy on which HBC Nantes has relied for several years, in particular through this XXL saga which has made Nantes handball famous. “We put the small dishes in the big ones to reward this incredible audience! “