The merger between Onex-owned venue management services company SMG and AEG Facilities, the venue management subsidiary of sports and entertainment giant AEG, was completed.
The merger resulted in the creation of a new standalone global facility management and venue services company known as ASM Global (ASM). The company went on create further news over the course of the year.
This included acquiring a 25% stake in Sydney-based stadium operator VenuesLive, landing the venue management contract for the new £260m (€294.2m/$324m) arena, conference and exhibition centre being developed on Gateshead Quays, and being selected as the new management firm for the Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Ohio, US.
Officials behind Feyenoord City, the major development project for Rotterdam that will include a new stadium for Eredivisie football club Feyenoord, submitted the masterplan for the scheme to the city council.
The masterplan contained the complete vision for the radical overhaul of land in the southern part of the Dutch city, which received the green light from the municipal council in May 2017 with certain conditions attached.
Hard Rock Stadium was lined up to host a second US race on the Formula One calendar after an agreement in principle was reached to take the motor-racing series to Miami.
The agreement was announced in a joint statement from Tom Garfinkel, chief executive of the Miami Dolphins, the NFL American football franchise that calls Hard Rock Stadium home, and Sean Bratches, managing director of commercial operations for Formula One.
If sealed, the deal will likely see F1 debut in Miami in May 2021. However, Miami-Dade County Board of Commissioners voted to put the plans on hold later in the month.
Work was completed on Ariake Gymnastics Centre, one of the host venues for next year’s Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo.
The venue has a capacity of 12,000 and will host artistic, rhythmic and trampoline gymnastic events during the Olympics. It will also host boccia events during the Paralympics.
Churchill Downs, home of the Kentucky Derby US horse-racing event, announced a $300m (£232m/€269m) investment project that will result in a new 156-room hotel and new permanent covered stadium seating for 4,700 spectators.
The wide-ranging plans also include an historical racing machine (HRM) facility and a renovation of the Millionaires Row space.
The development is designed to transform the first turn of Churchill Downs and deliver “never-before imagined” experiences.
