CAA China engaged to supply venue management skills at Hangzhou Sports Park

CAA China has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with the owners of the Hangzhou Sports Park that will see the Chinese arm of the CAA sports and entertainment agency bring its venue management expertise to the precinct ahead of the city’s staging of the 2022 Asian Games.

CAA China has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Hangzhou Xiaoshan Asian Games Stadium Investment and Construction, a subsidiary of the China Construction Eighth Engineering Division, the owners of the complex, which includes the 80,000-seat ‘Big Lotus’ main stadium and 10,000-seat ‘Small Lotus’ tennis centre as its main attractions, along with a 10,000-seat aquatics centre.

The SportBusiness website reported that the deal will see the parties cooperate in the fields of project investment; design and construction; operation and business consulting; venue commercialisation; and special cultural and sports projects.

CAA is vastly experienced in venue management with its CAA Icon arm having worked across more than 100 large stadium projects, including the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Berlin, the O2 Arena in London, the Staples Centre in Los Angeles and the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

In October, it was reported that the Alibaba Sports division of Chinese technology giant Alibaba had sealed a 15-year contract to operate and manage Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre.

Last month, the organising committee announced sponsorship sales for the Games had generated nearly ¥3.8bn (US$598.6 million) with a total of 89 sponsors backing the multisport event, including Chinese companies Alibaba, Geely Auto, China Mobile, China Telecom, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China.

Hangzhou authorities this month announced that redevelopment work on the Yellow Dragon Sports Center had been completed following a two-year renovation program. The complex is located 18 kilometres from the Asian Games Village and was first developed between 1997 and 2003, with the main stadium opening in 2000.

Image: The Hangzhou Sports Park includes an 80,000-seat stadium, a 10,000-seat tennis centre and a 10,000-seat aquatics centre. Credit: Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games Organising Committee.