Featured image credit: Singapore Sports Hub
The Singapore National Stadium venue operations team’s ethos of togetherness and teamwork paid off as it won the Unsung Hero prize at TheStadiumBusiness Awards 2024 in June.
However, the work does not stop there as the team, buoyed by the victory in Manchester, is setting its sights on maintaining and enhancing its offerings and already stellar reputation.
The Unsung Hero award goes towards an individual or team that delivers consistently outstanding service, commitment and results at a stadium, arena or major sports and entertainment venue.
The Singapore National Stadium team won the accolade for their work at the 55,000-capacity venue but the high standards are felt all around the 35-hectare Singapore Sports Hub in which it is situated.
The area also features the 12,000-seat Singapore Indoor Stadium, OCBC Aquatic Centre, OCBC Arena, a water sports centre, community sport facilities, and more.
Customer service key to quality
A culture of quality service has been instilled into the team and for head of venue operations at the Singapore Sports Hub, Mitch Seeto, it is the staff who are to thank.
“I put this down to the people, the team that we work with, the guys that we have in our team and the culture that we have built,” Seeto told TheStadiumBusiness.com.
“It really plays a part in all of our venues. Our daily operations, our events as well. The whole team is really focused on delivering a good result for the customer.
“It is really important for them to see that and winning an award like this, and getting that recognition, is great for them to know that they are going in the right direction.”
The Singapore Sports Hub is a major player in the stadium industry in Asia, and its visitor numbers help to reflect that.
In the first quarter of this year, more than one million people came to the facility which surpassed the amount seen in the second half of 2023.
These figures have been driven mainly by concerts from the likes of Coldplay, Ed Sheeran, and Taylor Swift which drew a combined total of around 840,000 visitors.
Diversification is widely recognised as the key to unlocking varying income streams when it comes to stadiums.
Creative solutions for the community
As the National Stadium does not have a regular tenant in the form of a domestic sports team like many others, it has impressed with its footfall.
This presents an opportunity for Seeto and team to focus on community events.
The main aim of this is for local residents to be able to connect with the venue and increase its value with the people.
“We have put a real focus on community events recently,” Seeto said.
“These really build affinity with the Sports Hub among Singaporeans. For example, we will try to get them in as much as possible, get kids to come and play, open up the stadium for them to use, we’ll do school finals and athletics here.
“But we are also looking at different kinds of events, a couple of weeks ago we had Hyrox here which is a fitness competition.”
Next year will be the 10-year anniversary of the Singapore Sports Hub with some special events in the pipeline, although Seeto made sure not to ruin the surprise by giving too much away.
Another aspect, and one that Seeto is looking to improve upon, is the implementation of technology.
However, he is hoping to still keep hold of the personal interaction that his team has managed to instil into its customer relations.
“For us, we are really looking to embrace and integrate technology into the way that we carry out our venue operations in not only the day-to-day running of the stadium but in events as well,” Seeto said.
“Having that integrated so that we can have a more seamless approach and becoming more efficient but also balancing that out with the human touch and the human experience is vital.”
Wayfinding around the 35-hectare Hub and helping fans to find their seats efficiently have been identified as two important aspects of the patron’s experience that can benefit from technological advancements.
Collaborative industry
Not only is collaboration within the Singapore Sports Hub helping it to thrive, but a healthy relationship with operators of other venues is proving to be beneficial.
Those in the stadium sector pride themselves on how helpful it is as many are eager to share best practices and their experience towards hosting world class events.
“Our industry is a really unique one in that everyone wants everyone else to get better, and we get better together,” Seeto said.
“Because every venue we have dealt with has been very open book and very open to discussing what has worked and what hasn’t for them.
“I don’t think anyone looks at each other as direct competitors. Everyone wants to get better together.
“That network of venues sharing ideas has been really beneficial. I know operationally we have been learning and helping each other through that as well. We’re always learning and for us here in Singapore we haven’t been restricted.
“We have been able to grow a really good network of venues from across the globe. Here in Singapore, we are like a gateway to Asia and a gateway to the West as well so we get different types of events.
“K-pop is big here and is starting to push through to other areas of the world. We have talked to venues in Australia and the UK to help prepare them for the K-pop juggernaut to come through because those events are so different to anything else.
“That collaborative nature has been really great and we appreciate all the venues that have helped us and we are happy to reciprocate that.”
Singapore National Stadium and the Singapore Sports Hub has already proved itself as an elite venue with the help of its operations team but they are not stopping there.
With decennial celebrations coming next year and an appetite to hold more events, the venue’s ceiling for further improvement is constantly being pushed higher.
The executive team from Singapore Sports Hub will be joining us again at TheStadiumBusiness ASIA 2024 from October 16 to 18 in the heart of the Kai Tak Sports Park in Hong Kong.
To meet them and network with the region’s venue leaders find out more here.
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