Hosting Events in Stadiums and Sporting Venues: The Inside Scoop from Event Professionals

Exclusivity

Event and meeting planners recognised that sports stadiums offer a unique allure, including access to areas typically reserved for well-known sports figures. These are advantages that traditional event and meeting spaces, such as hotels and convention centres, cannot provide. One participant explained:

“The reason we chose to use some of these unique venues is when you keep having the same old dry meeting topic you need to entice them to come. The unique venue will make them come.“

Use unique venue offerings to your advantage. When marketing your stadium venue spaces, consider including add-ons like customising video scoreboard displays, digital signage, exclusive tours, and access to spaces normally accessible by only players and coaches. These offerings can differentiate your venue from others and provide a memorable experience for guests, increasing the likelihood of return bookings.

Greater Accessibility

Event planners identified accessibility as a huge advantage for event hosting at stadiums and sporting venues. Ample parking space was agreed to be a significant bonus when looking for appropriate venues, in addition to being near metro travel options.

When marketing your stadium or sporting venue, highlight these advantages and use them as major drawcards. By emphasising the convenience of your location and accessibility to public transportation, you can appeal to potential clients who are looking to host events with minimal transportation challenges for attendees. 

Logistics

Event and meeting planners expressed their comfort in familiar spaces such as hotels and convention centres. Concurrently, they attributed a “fear of the unknown” as potentially discouraging as they may not know what to expect, particularly during the event planning phase.

Take proactive steps in the early stages of enquiry by providing clients with as much information as possible on your venue’s event hosting processes. This could include collateral such as a step-by-step timeline, as well as a detailed prospectus outlining venue spaces, inclusions, additional add-ons, and timeframes. Draw on the success of past events and positive feedback - this can add a layer of reassurance while highlighting the diversity of your venue spaces. Ensure all enquiries are responded to promptly. The quicker you can connect with contacts and provide the information they need, the greater your chances become of securing an event booking.

Unfamiliarity

The potentially confusing nature of stadium entrances and logistical challenges emerged as a concern among event professionals. They pointed out that these issues could hurt the overall experience for attendees and create unnecessary stress for event planners.

To ease these apprehensions, provide potential event planners with detailed maps that provide a clear overview of the venue spaces, including all entrances and exits that attendees will access during the event. Video tours are another valuable resource to share, which can give clients a more immersive and realistic sense of your event space and the broader venue layout.

Lack of Awareness

All sports facility administrators who took part in this study acknowledged that there exists a common "lack of awareness" among both event/meeting planners and the general public regarding the fact that sports stadiums are equipped and can provide diverse spaces for corporate and social events. 

“The concern is the venue itself couldn’t lend itself to host a typical program, whether it is a meeting or a social event that they're used to...the truth is we have the ability to host the same types of technical meetings and social events that you would anywhere else but host them in a more unique location, and that’s where the benefits come in because we can do that.”

Advertise your venue space during significant on-site sporting events via digital signage, leaderboard or jumbotron displays, and mobile ads during check-in. Establish connections with event management companies in your area and offer unique event packages - highlight unique amenities, facilities, and features that make your venue space unique and how they can elevate the event experience for attendees.