Kai Tak Stadium will stage its first major sporting event on Friday, with fans set to sample the venue’s South Terrace stand during the Hong Kong Sevens tournament.
The Populous-designed stadium anchors the Kai Tak Sports Park complex, which opened earlier this month. The complex also includes the 10,000-capacity Kai Tak Arena and the 5,000-capacity Youth Sports Ground.
The three-day Hong Kong Sevens event is set to attract tens of thousands of fans to Kai Tak Stadium. Although the stadium did stage test events ahead of its official opening, this will mark the first time the South Terrace has been used at capacity for a sporting event.
The South Terrace draws inspiration from the South Stand at the original Hong Kong Stadium, which formerly hosted the Hong Kong Sevens event. The stand offers an event platform that, according to Populous, provides a “world’s window to sport in Hong Kong”.
Its 2,550-square-metre glass curtain will provide panoramic views of the nearby Victoria Harbour. The South Terrace has the same 5,000-seat capacity as the old South Stand.
Richard Breslin, Populous senior principal and co-managing director in the Asia-Pacific region, said: “The South Terrace will translate the excitement and sporting spirit of So Kon Po’s South Stand to what will rapidly become one of the world’s great sporting landmarks.”
Kai Tak Stadium, which has been dubbed the ‘Pearl of the Orient’, features a retractable sliding roof and has a fixed seating capacity of 50,000. Next month, it will host five Coldplay concerts.
In other news, Kai Tak Sports Park has announced a multi-year sponsorship deal with Marriott Bonvoy, Marriott International’s travel loyalty programme.
As the exclusive founding hotel partner of Kai Tak Sports Park, Marriott Bonvoy will work with the complex to promote the development of sports, culture and tourism in Hong Kong.
Marriott Bonvoy joins DHL Express, CTF Life, Cathay and HSBC as sponsors of the complex.
Elsewhere on the sponsorship front, AEG Global Partnerships has announced new partners for IG Arena, a 17,000-seat arena scheduled to open in Aichi, Japan in May.
Car dealership NTP, payments company Docomo, MUFG Bank, and machine tool manufacturer Yamazaki Mazak have signed up to sponsor the arena, joining the previously announced Suntory Spirits.
Docomo will take on naming rights to the main entrance gates and premium lounge of the arena, while MUFG Bank will sponsor the suite entrance and suite areas. Yamazaki Mazak will assume naming rights to the general admission entrance gate on the ground floor.
IG Arena will be one of the biggest sports and entertainment facilities in Japan and will feature a five-story hybrid-oval design, enabling it to easily host multiple types of sports, music, family and special events.
It will be the home of the Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament and the Nagoya Diamond Dolphins basketball team. UK-headquartered fintech company IG Group acquired naming rights to the arena in February 2024 as part of a 10-year deal.
