Fans of the German basketball champions FC Bayern Basketball can look forward to a new attraction that will spectacularly enrich the event landscape of the Munich metropolitan region: BMW Park, the home stadium of FC Bayern Basketball, will be the world’s first event location to be equipped with a full LED video sports floor for the coming season. The double winner and ASB GlassFloor have entered into a partnership that is valid until 2030.

This collaboration made it possible to install the glass floor permanently and individually. This makes BMW Park the first venue ever to have a sports floor completely equipped with LED video, offering limitless animation possibilities.

At the start of their successful BBL season at the end of September 2023, the Munich team played on an ASB GlassFloor – the world’s first top basketball game on a video glass floor. This innovation later inspired the NBA to hold its 2024 All-Star events (in Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis) on an ASB GlassFloor. Now the BMW Park is getting the world’s largest permanently installed video glass floor, measuring around 580 square meters. Installation has begun, the first training sessions are already taking place on the court, and the necessary official approvals are still to follow.

The historic arena in Munich-Sendling, originally built for the 1972 Olympic basketball tournament, is being permanently transformed into an innovative adventure park for events of all kinds. Thanks to the high-tech glass floor, the BMW Park will not only be further enhanced as a versatile Bundesliga home of the Bayern basketball team (and, for example, the first division volleyball team Herrsching), Munich will also have a unique event location from September 2024. The location offers space for various sporting events, company presentations, entertainment/music shows and many other events – spectacular visual effects included.

The new event dimension is made possible by the glass surface of the court and the millions of LEDs installed underneath. In combination with the specially developed software platform GlassCourt OS, the ASB GlassFloor offers an incredible visual experience. For the first time, unprecedented animations will be presented at BBL home games, especially in pre-game shows, half-time breaks and game interruptions. Classic logo placements can be replaced by emotional video messages and relevant game data can be displayed directly on the court as added value for the fans.

The ASB GlassFloor also enables the integration of real-time position data into the playing field. Player positions are precisely tracked and visualized, which enables new training approaches. Players can monitor their running speed live and, guided by AI, receive optimal passing options or the best defensive positions during test games. This direct feedback significantly improves training, as it is given directly on the field and not in feedback discussions with the coach after training.

FCBB Managing Director Marko Pesic said: “We are grateful to our new official partner ASB GlassFloor for making this spectacular project possible. BMW is also making a major contribution, because thanks to innovative technology we can present basketball at the highest level to our audience in the BMW Park in a completely new way. With the new experience world in the BMW Park and the SAP Garden as a second venue, we can offer our fans something very special. I am also convinced that the visual fascination and interactive potential of the floor in the BMW Park will also be highly attractive for many other events and their visitors. This floor will change the spectator experience.”

Christof Babinsky, Managing Director of ASB GlassFloor, comments: “We are delighted to be working with FC Bayern Basketball and introducing the first permanent full-LED video sports floor in the Bundesliga. The valuable feedback from the athletes and the proximity to our headquarters in Munich enable us to continuously optimize both our technology and our software. Regular league operations also enable us to demonstrate the cost-effectiveness of our system for the club. In the area of ​​advertising, we have extensive plans to make it even more interesting and relevant for spectators in the future. Our goal is to put the athletes in the foreground and to link advertising messages with relevant performance data. Instead of the previous static logo placements, we want to create added value for sponsors and spectators through emotional, relevant storytelling.”

FCBB national player Andreas Obst was also enthusiastic: “I really liked the video floor at the opening game last year, it was a really cool experience. I said back then that I could get used to it. Now we are all looking forward to playing our home games in the BMW Park permanently on this full LED video floor and to continuing to train there – and we are the first professional team in the world to do so.”