Soccer Stadium Graphics

Major League Soccer (MLS) is an exciting international sport that draws in crowds from far and wide. People love the spectacle of a well-played game, and there’s no better way to watch than in a professional stadium. While seeing the game played live and in-person is the ultimate fan experience, there’s also something about the atmosphere of a stadium setting.

Most sports arenas are vibrant and full of energy, from the fans to the decorative design. Graphics enhance the indoor spaces, and the fields are lined with bright advertisements, and soccer stadiums are no exception. Whether you’re creating a visual experience throughout the walkways, purchasing ad space near the pitch or installing soccer locker room signage, you need graphics that are just as vibrant as the supporters in the stands.

Through several styles of vinyl and fabric graphics, you can make the arena environment completely dedicated to the game of soccer and the home team’s success.

What Are Soccer Stadium Vinyl Graphics?

From the indoor spaces to the walls lining the field, stadiums use vinyl graphics to design a cohesively branded arena and support businesses that want to advertise. Vinyl graphics include custom soccer banners, the advertisements near the field and any large design panels or banners decorating the inside of the stadium. While there are many styles of graphics and vinyl signs, the ones used most often in stadiums include:

Flags: If you want some fluttering outdoor graphics, flags are a simple option. You can plant them in the ground or stand them on flat surfaces, and they come in a variety of heights. Flags are great for words, logos and other small designs.
Boulevard or pole-pocket banners: These banners are small signs that stretch between two horizontal poles, often featured on lampposts and the outsides of buildings. You can use them to display logos, indicate entryways or parking row numbers or decorate the interior and exterior of the stadium.
Hanging banners: Decorative fabric and vinyl graphics that reach from the ceiling to the floor in open spaces are considered hanging banners. Banners for soccer stadiums provide space for large, attention-grabbing graphics and text.
Folding display panels: Also known as sandwich boards or a-frames, folding display panels have many uses. You can use them as wayfinding signs, menu boards or spaces to advertise events and game schedules. They’re easily movable and compact, so you can place them anywhere there is even ground.
Advertising banners: Surrounding the field, on the inside wall of the stadium, there is typically space for advertisement banners. They have the benefit of being visible by at least half the stadium and throughout television broadcasts. Generally, stadiums limit them to specific sizing, so advertisers have to use the space wisely.

There is a wide array of options when it comes to fabric and vinyl graphics. Any soccer stadium or advertiser can have their designs printed and set up with little hassle. When you are choosing a graphic style, you can also choose from several different types of vinyl, including cast, calender and mesh.

If you’re looking for something both flexible and durable, cast vinyl has a similar form to fabrics. It begins as a liquid but turns into a solid with heat, and remains strong and resistant. Cast vinyl is long lasting, so you’ll get years out of banners and signs, even if they are for outdoor applications.

The traditional calender vinyl is similar to canvas material. It’s thicker — about 3 to 6 millimeters — and more rigid than the cast variety, making it an ideal option for application on flat surfaces. Banners made from this material are dense, so you don’t need to stretch them to put them on display.

Unlike the other two varieties, mesh vinyl has a specific application — banners that need to be translucent. The vinyl is perforated throughout, so you can apply them to windows and fences without sacrificing visibility in either direction. Despite the perforations, the image will still come out clean and easily discernible from a distance.

The Benefits of Soccer Banners

When a stadium chooses to incorporate graphics into their design plan, they’re making a smart choice. Banners are a great way to make use of empty wall space, and they’re an opportunity to foster an attitude, show pride and reach a broad audience.

Vinyl and fabric graphics are perfect for decorating a stadium inside and out. Soccer and sports matches, in general, are highly visual. In other words, you are catering to an audience that is already focused on carefully watching and paying attention to colors and team members. The same audience is likely to respond well to MLS banners, graphics of players or the team logo with corresponding colors.

In addition to being all about observing, sports are notorious for their ability to draw emotional reactions from fans. The more dedicated the viewer, the stronger the response will be. Any home stadium should foster that feeling, and graphics are a great way to do just that. Images of players fighting for glory, motivational quotes or winning statistics will encourage that emotional connection among any fan that steps in the stadium doors.

There’s also a lot of celebration surrounding particularly impressive stadiums. Sports fans will flock to the arenas with the best designs and most immersive viewing experience. In a time when watching sports coverage from the comfort of home may become more tempting than in-person attendance, creating a full atmosphere of entertainment is necessary for attracting more sports fans. Well-placed, exciting graphics with color and relevance to the game will help foster a more exciting and captivating experience.

For advertisers, stadium graphics are an excellent way to reach a large audience and be consistently in the line of sight of attendees. Typically, arenas will use the inner wall of the field or other easily visible spaces for advertising. While some stadiums have upgraded to digital signage, there are still many leagues that use banners and printed materials. Your ad will be the backdrop for the field, where every audience member will be looking, and it’ll also have the benefit of being televised whenever a game airs live.

What Makes a Good Stadium Graphic?

Stadiums are busy, loud and vibrant places, so if you want your graphics to get noticed, you have to have the right elements and material. You can use different styles of graphics in many ways, but there are several details to consider before settling on a type and a design:

Go big or go home: Size is undoubtedly something to consider when you’re choosing graphics. The bigger the banner, the more space you have to work with and the more noticeable it’ll be. You also need to consider text and image size in terms of from how far away you want visitors to be able to read it. If you’re an advertiser or need a sign for the outside of the stadium, any words should be easily readable from a far distance.
Make use of team colors: The fans are in the stadium to watch their favorites take on a rival, so play into the spirit and deck out your graphics in the home team’s colors and logo. They’re perfect for creating a cohesive brand throughout the arena and building up excitement.
Highlight inspiring images: With bigger banners, you can print action shots of revered players and current team members, moments from winning celebrations or any other worthy images. These will help enhance the mood and maybe even serve as photo opportunities for fans.
Print on vinyl or fabric: When you choose vinyl or fabric as a base, you get graphics that are long lasting, brightly colored and clear, even from up close. They are durable in both indoor and outdoor settings and come in a wide variety of products and sizes.

Whether you’re an advertiser or designer, each of these details is important in creating eye-catching graphics that are sure to get noticed in a crowded stadium. But, your choice and graphic layout will also depend on where you plan to display it within the stadium — in public areas, near the field or in the locker rooms.

Soccer Stadium Signs

Stadiums are filled with opportunities for graphics and experience-enhancing banners. With a large amount of outdoor and indoor space available, you can create a cohesively designed brand throughout the entire arena. You can use a combination of the following sign styles:

Flags: If your stadium is in a city or frequently traveled area, flags can help bring in new people, direct those trying to find parking or advertise games. Flags are typically used outside of event centers and display words, logos or images to help create excitement before attendees even walk through the front gate.
Banners: With many varieties available, banners are great for outside and inside of the stadium. On the exterior, boulevard banners are perfect for the arena walls and lampposts, either as a practical application such as differentiating parking rows or as aesthetic branding space. You can use window graphics to decorate the building while leaving visibility. On the interior, hanging banners have a lot of potential uses. They can serve as graphic wall decorations or hang from the rafters, with large images of players, team logos, statistics or records.
Folding display panels: One of the simplest ways to provide wayfinding signs or schedules is through folding display panels. They’ll fit just about anywhere there’s flat ground and require no hardware to install, only potentially needing weights or stakes to hold them down in windy conditions. They’re also very convenient for subject matter that needs to be switched out daily, weekly or monthly, as you can slide new graphics in easily.

Using a variety of styles throughout the stadium is the best way to optimize all of the available space and organize consistent, arena-wide branding.

Soccer Field Graphics

While the signs and banners in the stadium are essential to design, those on the edges of the field are often the most noticed. The entire audience looks at the field for 90 minutes or more, and the field graphics also get screen time if the games are televised.

Unlike many other popular sports, soccer does not put graphics on the playing field itself. But, the inner wall is a popular spot for business ads. Anything near the field is for the audience, so to be their most effective, the graphics need to be visible. That means any words or logos need to be large and clear enough to be legible. Ideally, they’ll be clear for both the fans in the front row and the high seats.

In addition to advertising, the sidelines may also host banners that include championships, schedules, players or statistics. Every arena has its style and rules for interior design. Most use either banners or A-frame signs, or a combination of the two for more space.

Soccer Locker Room Graphics

Even though they aren’t open to public visitation, locker rooms need graphics, too. They’re motivational to the players and, if media are allowed in, the interior design might get some broadcast time. Locker room graphics also impress any VIP ticket holders who may gain access and go in for a visit.

For many of the players, being in an environment that instills pride and gets them excited to be on the pitch is essential to playing their best. Decking out the locker room with inspirational graphics is a great way to create that kind of space. You should include banners and wall graphics with images of players, current and retired, set records, previous victories and motivational phrases. There are many design possibilities.

But regardless of the subject matter, the focus should be on the staff, players and team pride. Soccer-based locker room images and MLS team banners can serve as extra motivation. Opt for using the team colors throughout, celebrate their past, present and future, and make sure every game starts on the right foot.

Selecting the Right Type

There is a sign or graphics style for every need, but that means a lot of possible options. So, how do you figure out which is the best solution for you?

Available space and usage are what should determine which signs you get. For example, if there isn’t a lot of open ceiling to floor space, you may not have room for hanging banners. If you’re an advertiser, you’ll likely have to stick to banners, but it’s ultimately up to the managers in charge of field side ads. Not all soccer locker room signs are a practical option if there isn’t enough free space to work with.

Your choice will also depend on what you intend the sign to do. If it’s purely decorative, you can choose anything that fits within your space. But, if it serves a purpose, such as wayfinding signs or displaying game statistics, you’ll need to get more specific. Signs that have important information, like schedules, or anything about the team should be easily visible, so keep your placement in mind.

Regardless of what you choose, you can use vinyl materials for any of them. Vinyl stands up to the test of time, whether its outside or inside. The colors will stay vibrant, and the material will hold up to weather and wear. You’ll witness its value for years to come.

Get Graphics for Your Soccer Field at SpeedPro

Whether you’re a team manager, stadium designer or advertiser, get the graphics you need with SpeedPro.

SpeedPro is the only North American franchise that focuses on creating large format graphics. Our nationwide network of studios works with all types of businesses to provide custom signage solutions, including soccer room graphics. Every studio has personable and dependable sign professionals on site that you can rely on to help you find the best solution possible.

Our studios have some of the most updated printing technology in the game. We also use latex ink and quick-dry printing processes, so our practices are more eco-friendly than competitors. Combine that with our vinyl and fabric bases and fast turnaround, and SpeedPro has everything you need for successful stadium branding.

Get started today — find your local studio to request a consultation or quote.