4
Sporting Venues
Why
choose
a sports
venue?
Top UK agencies share their
views on what makes sports
venues and stadiums
suitable events spaces.
Premier League football
ground is used for
football on only a
handful of occasions
each year, leaving it almost vacant
for up to 340 days per year.
The majority of sporting arenas
outsource their event management
and catering to seasoned
specialists, leaving you with the
healthy equation of spacious
venues and experienced events
management.
Add to this the fact that venues
are set up for service, hospitality
and parking,making them good
options for event bookers.
Emma Kennard, operations
manager at drp venuepot says,
“Sports venues can be a good
alternative to your standard hotels
and conference centres, especially
for big production events. Function
rooms tend to be large and
numerous, with multiple executive
boxes for breakout rooms.
“Food is usually supplied by large
professional catering companies
that have experience of feeding
sizeable numbers. Also, most
sporting arenas are outside of the
city centre, so your delegates don’t
have to battle through traffic, and
there’s fantastic on-site parking.
You can add value to your event
with stadium tours and the rooms
will have extensive windows with
pitch-views.”
However, it’s not always smiles
and sunshine, and Kennard warns
that there can sometimes be
stumbling blocks. She says, “Due to
www.conference-news.co.uk
the architecture of the tiered
stadium, seating rooms can be long
and narrow or have pillars
obstructing views, which is not
great for your audience.
“If you’re booking in advance and
fixture dates haven’t been released
yet, you run the risk of your event
being bumped out. I’ve even heard
of clients not wanting to book a
sports venue because they knew
some of the delegates were
staunch supporters of the
opposition.”
Sarah Mayo, marketing director at
FreemanXP believes you should ask
some key questions at the outset to
establish whether a sports venue is
ideal for your event. She says, “Who
are you looking to invite or attract to
the event? Where are they coming