LSU vs. Arsenal

When touring Arsenal’s stadium last week, I couldn’t help but directly compare it to the work I do at LSU. As part of the many tasks I do for the Athletic Department, I give numerous tours of Tiger Stadium each week to hundreds of people. I was eager to see how Arsenal conducted their tours and to hopefully get ideas for things I could do to enhance the experience of tours in Tiger Stadium.

            The moment we stepped inside of Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium, I could tell the similarities would be few and far between. The brand new stadium was incredibly modern compared to the college football cathedral I’ve grown accustomed to. Instead of a tour guide, we were handed audio guides that featured videos, commentary and even a little music. Not to say I wanted a tour guide to show me around a team’s stadium that I knew close to nothing about, but I know that a guide who has a true passion for what they are talking about can truly enhance a tour experience. A great tour guide can convert a neutral sports watcher into a big fan after an hour. In just about every room you walk through in Emirates Stadium, there is a trophy showcasing the past success of Arsenal. Tiger Stadium features only three trophies, which are those of LSU’s three national championships and are displayed in one room. One thing about Emirates Stadium that made me miss Tiger Stadium is how new and cozy everything looked yet the stadium only held a capacity of a little over 60,000 people. Tiger Stadium has the grimy, haunted and rough feel that I love about the tradition in LSU football. The stadium, which currently holds over 93,000 people, feels more of a monster football monument and I love it. LSU does not build a brand new stadium to accommodate new demands. They simply expand and renovate the venue that thousands call home on Saturday nights in the fall. The biggest difference between the two tours is that LSU’s tours bring you through the typical game day experience that players and recruits get while Arsenal’s brings you through the executive and high roller areas. Arsenal’s tour shows you the areas the players go through and use before games, but I never got the true feeling of a game day atmosphere when walking through.

            While these two tours were very different, the essence of them was the same. Tradition of excellence is the main theme, and that is constantly reiterated along ever step of the way. In Emirates Stadium, you are consumed with the color red, reminding you that you are walking on Arsenal’s stomping grounds. The same goes for Tiger Stadium. Purple and gold overwhelms you in every room. Both stadiums have murals of past and current players plastered all over the walls to show you the heroes that have molded the teams’ history. As the fairly boring guide at Arsenal did, I too drill into each visitor’s head how important history and tradition is to my team. On any given day, I might be giving a tour to businessmen who have no interest in LSU or college football, and after I drop a little knowledge on them, they often say excited they are to watch LSU’s next football game. I can’t even consider myself a casual soccer fan, but now I see how those businessmen feel. I’m excited to watch Arsenal this upcoming season and pull for the Gunners while all of my friends root on Chelsea and Manchester United.