#SBA25: Finalists – Who’s in the running?

We are delighted to unveil the finalists for the 16th annual TheStadiumBusiness Awards.

Our congratulations to all of the finalists for making the shortlists across the nine open categories.

The finalists made the cut from a fantastically global range of entries this year.

After cleaning, de-duping and validation, 138 full entries were considered across the submissions. We’ve decided to double our £5 Donation for your Nomination to £10 per valid entry – with the submissions resulting in a £1,380 payment to our charity partner Emergency NGO. Sorry if your entry didn’t make the shortlists this year, but be happy that your submission has done some good to support Emergency’s vital work in conflict zones across the globe.

And now to proudly present #SBA25….

TheStadiumBusiness Awards 2025 Finalists:

EVENT OF THE YEAR

• World’s largest Haka – Eden Park (New Zealand)
• Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour – Final Shows of the Tour at BC Place (Canada)
• Coldplay Music of the Spheres World Tour at Zayed Sports City Stadium (UAE)
• US Olympic Swimming Trials at Lucas Oil Stadium (USA)
• Beach volleyball / Blind football at the Eiffel Tower Stadium – Paris 2024 Olympic & Paralympic Games (France)
• Hong Kong 7s at Kai Tak Sports Park (Hong Kong)
• UEFA EURO2024 Final at Olympiastadion Berlin (Germany)
• FIA’s F1 75th season launch at The O2 (UK)

UNSUNG HERO

• Ng Tat Siong, Head – Venue Operations, Singapore Indoor Stadium (Singapore)
• Anthony Emmerson, Supporters Liaison Officer & Chair of the Supporters Club, Stoke City FC (UK)
• Little Touches/Big Results – The Events Team at AsiaWorld Expo (Hong Kong)
• The Ticketing & Premium Experience team at Cricket Australia (Australia)
• Blair Christiansen, GM Turf Operations, Eden Park (New Zealand)
• CleanEvent Services Team at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium (UK)
• Gavin Pattison, Facilities Manager, York Racecourse (UK)

FAN & GUEST EXPERIENCE

• Club ID Gold: Club Brugges’ fan behaviour bonus – Jan Breydel Stadium (Belgium)
• ZoneX: The Last Mile – Singapore SportsHub (Singapore)
• Explore All in AWE – EXPOtainment at AsiaWorld Expo (Hong Kong)
• The Terrace fan zone at American Express Stadium, Brighton & Hove Albion FC (UK)
• Celtista Turnaround – The Celta Fan/RC Celta (Spain)
• The RaRa Room at PHX Arena – Major Food Group/Player15 Group/OVG Hospitality (USA)
• AC Milan’s Club 1899 Front Row Experience at San Siro (Italy)

PRODUCT INNOVATION

• NOVA Armrest LED tech Intuit Dome (PixMob/LA Clippers/Dreamseat)
• Cell-Stack through Project ARANA: a connectivity deployment (Weaver Labs/MK Dons Stadium)
• Integrated Venue API (3D Digital Venue)
• Guinness mobile self-serve bars (Diageo/Freemans Event Partners/Drink Command)
• Proto Hologram fan connections (Proto)
• Sela Sound Shirts (Newcastle United FC/RNID)
• The AI Stadium @ Suwon kt wiz Park (KT Wiz / KT Corporation)

SUSTAINABILITY & COMMUNITY

• Landmarks in Football and Community Engagement (South United FC)
• AGF Walks men’s health initiative (AGF Aarhus)
• Roof Solar Membrane Project (London Stadium)
• Zero-Waste Certificate (PreZero Arena Gliwice)
• Eden Park’s Sustainable Future: Innovative Solutions for Community and Environment
• P&J Live arena: Net Zero 2050
• Smart STAR reusable cup (Royal Antwerp FC/Aucxis/Event Cup Solutions)
• BC Place Community Benefit Programs and Sustainability

SPONSORSHIP, SALES & MARKETING

• Store of the Future at Santiago Bernabéu (Real Madrid/Legends/Trison Necsum)
• Naturally Evolved launch of Cusack Stand (Croke Park)
• Brand Experience Summit at Allegiant Stadium (Allegiant Stadium/ASM Global and co-sponsored by IMEX, InVision Comms/LVCVA)
• Co-op Member Presale (Co-op Live)
• Sip by Sip! Bottle Free at Roazhon Park (Stade Rennais FC /BWT)
• Concert Tourism at Kaohsiung National Stadium (Kaohsiung City Government Cultural Bureau)
• Away from home – Europa League promotion (FC Ludogorets/Efbet)
• Allianz Stadium joins global stadium family (RFU/Allianz)

VENUE TECHNOLOGY

• Smart lighting retrofit at London Stadium (LS185/Lightwave
• Built Different (Intuit Dome)
• AWRWS workforce management (AsiaWorld-Expo Management)
• Global Command security ops platform (24/7 Softwar/SoFi Stadium/Kroenke Sports & Entertainment)
• Drop-in pitch solutions (Adelaide Oval Turf Solutions/ICC Men’s T20 World Cup)
• Nagasaki Stadium City: The Integrated Retail Destination (Japanet)
• Digital Display Transformation at Citi Field (NY Mets/Samsung)

EXECUTIVE OF THE YEAR

• Gillian Zucker, CEO, Halo Sports & Entertainment and President – Business Operations, LA Clippers
• Chris Granger, President, OVG360 (Oak View Group)
• John Sharkey, CEO, Kai Tak Sports Park
• Rebecca Kane Burton, EVP Venues International, Oak View Group
• Colin Chong, Director/Interim CEO, Everton FC
• Mr. Sharan Parikh, Owner/Director, South United FC
• Marie Lindqvist, SVP Operations – Europe, Legends and ASM Global
• Darren Raczkowski, Director of Operations – Event Planning – Delivery and Capital Projects, London Stadium

VENUE OF THE YEAR

• Singapore National Stadium (Singapore)
• Co-op Live (UK)
• Kai Tak Sports Park (Hong Kong)
• Deutsche Bank Park / 100 Years of Stadion Frankfurt (Germany)
• Crypto.com Arena / 25th Anniversary (USA)
• Intuit Dome (USA)
• Strawberry Arena (Sweden)
• Mercedes-Benz Arena Shanghai (China)

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT

• The Outstanding Achievement Award recognises an individual that has shown exceptional commitment, service and leadership to the stadium, arena and major venue industry over a sustained period of time. (And no, they don’t have to be retiring any time soon!)
• No shortlist. Recipient is selected privately by TheStadiumBusiness Awards team and will be announced at the 2025 Winners’ Party.

If you made the shortlists, we’ll be in touch shortly with your Press Kits and Finalists’ logos!

Meanwhile, the full dossier (and supporting evidence) is being finalised ahead of its despatch to the #SBA25 Judging Panel for their final votes in each category.

Winners will be announced on the evening of 25th June at #SBS25 hosted at Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester. See you there!