Australasian venues, events and executives named as finalists at TheStadiumBusiness Awards 2023

Events, executives and venues from Australia and New Zealand have been named as finalists in the TheStadiumBusiness Awards 2023 - the UK-based international award program presented by TheStadiumBusiness Summit owner Xperiology Ltd.

Among the nominees, VenuesLive has been shortlisted as a Finalist in the Event of the Year category for its Barca In Sydney occasion in May 2022 - the first-ever visit to Australia by European superclub FC Barcelona.

The event attracted 70,174 fans to Accor Stadium and drew almost 12,000 visitors to Sydney as it recovered from the global pandemic. Images of Barca’s superstars went around the globe, promoting NSW as a destination of choice in key markets.

The Barca In Sydney concept and brand was developed by VenuesLive in conjunction with TEG Sport, and the event had the backing of Destination NSW and Venues NSW on behalf of the NSW Government, with all parties cognisant of the benefits a successful major event of this magnitude would bring to Sydney at this time.

In all, 11,946 regional, interstate and international visitors made their way to NSW for the Barca In Sydney event - a highly significant boost to the visitor economy as tourism slowly recovered from the pandemic.

The match itself on the night of Wednesday 25th May resulted in a 3-2 victory to the visiting Spanish team, but not before the local stars of the A-League had taken the game down to the wire - a result that breathed new life into the A-Leagues All Stars game concept for the Australian Professionals Leagues.

Other Australasian finalists in the Award’s 10 categories are:

• Women’s Rugby World Cup (Eden Park) - Event of the Year

• Kate Simkiss, Corporate Legal Manager, Eden Park Trust - Unsung Hero

• 5G Touch and Track at Marvel Stadium (AFL/Telstra/Field of Vision) - Venue Technology

• Kerrie Mather, Chief Executive, Venues NSW & SCG - Executive of the Year (Ron Bension, President and Chief Executive of ASM Global is also named in this category)

• Allianz Stadium, Sydney - Venue of the Year

As with many contemporary award programs, there are no finalists from Asia.

Winners will be announced at Emirates Old Trafford in Manchester on 28th June.

Images: Promotion for Barca In Sydney (top) and fans enjoying the experience (middle, both courtesy of VenuesLive) and Executive of the Year finalist Kerrie Mather (below, credit: Venues NSW).