‘Revenue versus The Fan Experience’ under the spotlight at Stadium Business Summit

KSS were key sponsors of the ninth edition of the Stadium Business Summit 2017, which was held at Dublin’s Croke Park stadium – home to the GAA – June 22-23.

KSS Director Nick Marshall kicked off the conference with a tour of the newly completed Sport Ireland National Indoor Arena to a packed group of delegates providing expert insight into the technical design of the award-winning facility.

Nick said after the tour:

I am delighted to have been able to showcase the Sport Ireland National Indoor Arena to delegates of the Stadium Business Summit. The facility is a true reflection of Ireland’s focus towards sporting excellence and inclusion.

On Day 2, KSS Director Andy Simons delivered the closing presentation on ‘Revenues vs. The Fan Experience’. Andy covered the changing face of modern-day stadia, commercial revenue and designing for the new fan experience.

Andy said after the event:

KSS had a significant presence at the Stadium Business Summit this year in Dublin. It was a well-rounded conference with a good speaker line-up entertaining 300 delegates. I led the final session with an overview of the potential impact on fan enjoyment from the relentless pursuit of revenue featuring KSS projects in the [English] Premier League, at Twickenham and at the AELTC at Wimbledon.

As a sponsor of Sports Venue Business (SVB), you can find out more about KSS by visiting their listing in the SVB Directory by simply clicking here.

Sport Ireland National Indoor Arena

This year, the state-of-the-art Sport Ireland National Indoor Arena in Dublin completed, providing the vital missing piece of the sporting infrastructure of the nation.

The new Arena is split into three areas; The National Indoor Training Centre, The National Indoor Athletics Training Centre and The National Gymnastics Training Centre.

The National Indoor Training Centre includes a multi-purpose sports hall, bleacher seating for 1,680 spectators, changing rooms, café, kitchen facilities and a building energy centre. The National Indoor Athletics Training Centre provides an IAAF compliant banked hydraulic 6-lane 200m track, 8-lane 60m sprint track, and 5-lane 110m practice sprint track, in-field event area, fixed seating for 400 spectators and management offices. The National Gymnastics Training Centre includes a gymnastics hall, changing rooms, viewing gallery press offices and ancillary offices.

The Sport Ireland National Indoor Arena builds on existing good practice at the National Sports Campus creating a robust infrastructure to support increasing participation in sport, motivating and inspiring current and future generations. This will contribute to Ireland achieving its national objectives for developing strong sports organisations and well-trained athletes.

Multi-purpose Arena

The building is designed to hold a range of events from junior and club level, through to regional and international sports events, whilst also catering for concerts, equestrian, exhibitions and conferences. It has already hosted the Irish Indoor Athletics Championships and one of Europe’s oldest tournaments, The Irish Open, a competition that has been in existence since 1902 signalling a new beginning for Ireland’s premier badminton event.

One of the Best Indoor Sports Facilities in Europe

The award-winning Arena has received widespread praise across the UK. John Treacy, Chief Executive of Sport Ireland described the facility as “…a centrepiece for sport which will certainly bring future medals. A world-class arena that caters for over 20 sports. We’ll be the envy of a lot of countries”.

Athletes have also been highly complementary, Rhys McClenaghan, European Junior Silver Medallist in Gymnastics added, “I’m blown away by the facilities.” Ian O’Riordan of the Irish Times said its “A phenomenal facility, this is huge for the future and a real treat for young and rising athletes to see a facility like this, it can only be a positive thing. This truly is a world-class facility and under budget. The track is very quick and the athletes love it.”

Legacy

The Sport Ireland National Indoor Arena has significantly boosted the social, leisure and economic wellbeing of the community building links locally, employment and training opportunities, promoting healthy lifestyles and new procurement opportunities for businesses.

The contemporary facility is extremely adaptable and can cater for any request – be it sporting or event hosting – and places Dublin and Ireland at the top of international indoor standards.

The Arena has achieved the ultimate goal of driving the development of Irish sport for young aspiring athletes to fulfil their sporting potential, whilst also delivering an inclusive environment for athletes and the local community with differing abilities to thrive on.

Phase 2 of the development is due to get underway soon, which will see the addition of indoor pitches at the National Sports Campus.

Check out Katie McIntyre’s video report from the opening of the Sport Ireland National Indoor Arena by clicking here.

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