5
Sporting Venues
Ensuring
standards
Stadium Experience is a
not-for-profit marketing
collaboration of 55 major
football and rugby clubs
across the UK & Ireland.
Member clubs share best
practice and ideas, raise
standards, and jointly
promote these unique
venues for conferences,
meetings and events.
Why choose a stadium
venue?
Easy to access and often
with substantial car parking,
most stadium venues are
convenient for large-scale
events and exhibitions, as
well as more intimate
meetings, thanks to their
adaptable spaces. In
addition, there are boxes
which can be used for
smaller meetings and even
include fantastic pitch views.
from? What are their interests?
How large is the group? What is
the ideal format for the event
and fundamentally, what is the
message that you are looking
to convey to your audience?
“Sporting venues are by their
nature versatile spaces since
they’re used to hosting regular
fixtures and functions. It’s a
given that practical things like
transport and key facilities are
going to be in place.
“Where sporting venues can
vary is of course in their
modernisation. The flagship
stadiums are equipped with the
event essentials, such as the
latest AV equipment and
reliable Wi-Fi, catering services
and professional hospitality
staff. Plus, many host tours of
their grounds, which makes for
a memorable guest experience.
“It is crucial to think about the
key message you’re trying to
portray and the audience you’re
looking to engage, in keeping
with your objectives.”
Jayne Turnor, team manager
at Conference Care,
recommends such venues for
conferences. She says,
“Stadiums suit large
conferences that require
multiple breakout rooms.
Hospitality boxes are light and
airy spaces that work well as
syndicates, and large halls can
be utilised for catering or
exhibitions.
“Their halls also work well as
a blank canvass for awards
dinners, Christmas parties or
product launches. In addition,
sporting venues can be a draw
in themselves if the home team
brand is strong. Delegates take
away with them the experience
of being in that venue, ensuring
the event is memorable.”
Sarah Byrne, director, Mosaic
Events concludes: “Sports
venues are ideal for association
events as they offer lots of
syndicate rooms and large
spaces. I’d advise anyone to
take care when matching a
venue to the client, because
there are some sporting teams
whose reputations and brands
wouldn’t be aligned to more
conservative associations.”
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Leading the way
Stadium Experience was
established in 2002. Today,
membership includes 55
football and now rugby club
venues in what is Stadium
Experience’s 15th year. Each
club commits to working
jointly in the sharing ideas of
what works well, and also
importantly what sometimes
doesn’t work quite as well
too. This guides the way for
best practice to continually
develop, and venues to really
stand out above the rest.
Recognising the effort
The Stadium Events
Hospitality Awards takes
place annually.