Best Non-Match (or Game) Day use of Venue
One Love Manchester: Emirates Old Trafford – Lancashire County Cricket Club
Thousands of Manchester City fans were welcomed through the gates of the CFA this weekend to watch an open training session with Pep Guardiola and his squad as the Club officially kicked off the new season.
The squad met fans and signed autographs, with City’s five new signings given a warm welcome by supporters inside the Academy Stadium. They also took part in a 360 degree photo of the Academy Stadium, which fans will be able to tag themselves in at mancity.com
During the training session, which was the first opportunity for local blues to see City’s new signings in action, fans were given headsets to listen to live commentary from a panel of experts including former player Trevor Sinclair, as well as broadcasters James Cooper and Alistair Mann, who discussed City’s prospects as Pep fine tunes his squad ahead of the upcoming campaign.
For those not in Manchester, the session was streamed on Facebook Live to give fans around the world the chance to watch as the players were put through their paces.
Fans also had the opportunity to hear from Manchester City Women, EDS and Academy players as they looked ahead to their respective campaigns starting in the coming weeks and months.
Emirates Old Trafford – Lancashire County Cricket Club
Following the tragic events at the Manchester Arena on the 22nd May 2017, Emirates Old Trafford, home to Lancashire Cricket Club, hosted Ariana Grande’s ‘One Love Manchester’ benefit concert on the 4 June 2017, with just over a week’s notice.
The stadium welcomed over 50,000 visitors to the special evening, which raised over £2.5million and was viewed by over 14.5 million people on BBC Television – the most watched programme of 2017.
Net ticket proceeds of the show went directly to the ‘We Love Manchester Emergency Fund’ which was set up by the Manchester City Council in partnership with the British Red Cross, in aid of grieving families and victims of the horrific attack.
The benefit show, which included Justin Bieber, Coldplay, Katy Perry and others, called on the flexibility of the stadium, as it arranged the concert just eight days after welcoming The Courteeners, at the heart of a busy cricket season. Before welcoming Radiohead a couple weeks later.
Liverpool Football Club, Anfield Stadium Experience
Imagineear is the leading producer of multimedia content and technology for self-guided and group guided experiences at major sporting attraction. We turn empty stadiums and grounds into leading visitor attractions, using our content and technology to bring the venue to life.
Imagineear worked with Liverpool Football Club to developed a full suite of multilingual content provided to visitors on our MPti™ touch-screen device, which enable the Club to increase visitor capacity on non-match days and attracted a wider global audience with the mix of language options.
Tom Cassidy, Head of Tourism at Liverpool FC says:
“The handsets and self-guided tour content has allowed us to open up the Anfield Stadium Tours to more people than ever and to offer a fuller and dedicated experience to our foreign speaking visitors. Feedback has been extremely positive with just over 9/10 ratings rating the experience as good to excellent and we have also moved up to number 2 on things to do in Liverpool on TripAdvisor. We see this as a great starting point and plan to develop the experience and broaden the offering in the coming months to be a ‘best in class’ attraction as well as a great stadium tour experience.”
Sandown Park Racecourse
Sandown Park, The Jockey Club, is a successful, competitive and extremely versatile venue for all kinds of events and activities – both for a corporate and consumer audience – on non-racing days.
Ranging from filming to team building to large outdoor conventions – such as the infamous VolksWorld – Sandown Park’s versatile offering truly makes it a venue that delivers on promises.
The exquisite onsite catering can accommodate for up to 400 visitors banquet-style and the venues’ beautiful outdoor spaces allow for alfresco dining in the warmer months.
With customer service being second to none and the expanse of space available for organisers to adjust to suit their event, Sandown Park really is Best in Show when it comes to non-race day events and activities.
St. George’s Park
When it comes to a multi-purpose, state-of-the art conferencing and events facility, look no further than St. George’s Park (SGP) – where elite sport meets elite business. Home to England’s 28 national teams, this £105million venue boasts thirteen outdoor football pitches, a full size indoor 3G pitch, cutting-edge rehabilitation and sports science areas and an outdoor leadership centre – making it a world-class sporting location on every level, that breeds inspiration and innovation from every corner.
What sets the site apart is how it combines sporting excellence with world-class event and conference facilities. This includes a flagship Hilton hotel with a health club, spa, restaurant and bar lounge, meeting rooms and a versatile function suite suitable for conferences, exhibitions and banqueting. The Hilton’s own dedicated event management service, which offers clients their very own dedicated event coordinator, renowned technical support and equipment and a wide range of online planning tools, ensures a bespoke, seamless and impactful occasion.
It is this complete mix of services and facilities that has attracted, and continues to attract, a diverse range of organisations to SGP, all of which gain an unrivalled event experience tailored for both sporting and non-sporting events.
The Kia Oval
A stone’s throw from the River Thames but still just outside the Congestion Charge Zone, the venue is perfectly located for the West End, Westminster and the City. There is parking for up to 50 cars on site and is within walking distance of five London Underground stations and five minutes from the overground station at Vauxhall.
Building on The Oval’s 170-year heritage as one of the most historic sports venues in the world, every room offers a unique experience, with spaces ranging from the remarkable Victorian wood-panelled Long Room to the ground’s unique Corinthian Roof Terrace, offering panoramic views across London. Even after 170 years we do not rest on our laurels having recently built a new stand with a Roof Garden, in 2016, and investing in electronic signage and redeveloping our common areas, as well as revamping our rooms regularly.
We regularly host large conferences, award ceremonies and dinners – with a strong roster of regularly returning blue chip clients from the commercial and public sectors; with IBM, City Week, The Voice, Department for Transport, Ministry of Justice, PiXL and EE all having held some of their key events throughout the year at the Kia Oval.
