14
Sporting Venues
Paula Calton, sales director of venue f Inders Trinity
Event Solutions discusses the pros and cons of using a
sporting venue for conferences and meetings.
Pros Cons
• Sporting venues tend to have large, open event spaces
that are perfect for exhibitions or large groups.
• Their spaces have a lot of natural daylight because they
are overlooking the pitch/ the racecourse or other
outdoor playing area.
• They offer ease of access with lots of parking onsite or
very close by. Sporting venues are often signposted from
a few miles away too – which can be reassuring for your
delegates as they navigate to your venue.
• It’s easy to create a ‘meeting plus’ event; to add interest
to your event with a tour of the stadium, the trophy room
or other facilities that are unique to your venue.
• It’s also straightforward to add a teambuilding or
competitive sporting challenge to your event – but don’t
assume you can use the pitch because they have very
strict usage times.
• They are a great lure for industries that have sports
enthusiasts among their workforce and offer an enticing
alternative to an ‘ordinary’ hotel.
• Racecourses, cricket grounds and other non football
related venues have a limited season, which is why they
have invested to maximise the use of their venues for the
corporate market.
• There are so many different sporting venues offering
access to so many different and varied sports – you are
bound to fi nd a venue that will appeal to the majority of
your audience. • You may not be able to book your venue too far in
advance. Some venues will not take event bookings until
they know their fi xture dates for the coming year.
• Some sporting venues (particularly football stadia and
cricket grounds) may have a caveat in t