The EuroLeague’s Panathinaikos BC Aktor is installing an ASB GlassFloor on its home turf, at the OAKA Arena in Athens, Greece. This will be the first EuroLeague venue to host regular games on the surface.
ASB is a Bavarian company that, at its founding in 1965, specialized in “interior construction.” By 1976, it had developed with it called a SystemCourt. The GlassBackWall followed in 1978, the ShowGlassCourt in 1998 and the first GlassFloor in 2006.
In its current iteration, GlassFloor is inlaid with millions of LEDs and runs on GlassCourt OS to display animations during player introductions, real-time game statistics and advertisements. It is also embedded with ceramic points for traction.
The other technological partner, at least in the Panathinaikos project, is Greece’s Globalsat Group – not to be confused with the American Globalsat Group, with its specialty in mobile communications and satellites. One of the Greek Globalsat’s five business lines in tech is Display & Digital Signage, which includes digital signage, interactive displays and central management systems, not to mention a partnership with Samsung.
Readers might recall ASB’s LED courts from stories last year on FC Bayern Basketball in Munich and the Women’s U19 World Cup in Madrid. The floor showed up this year at the NBA All-Star Game, held at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
