SAAP East meets West

Stadia & Arena Asia Pacific 2016 is all set to be the must-attend event for those involved in sports venue design/build, management, operation and technology/service provision, with 50+ industry-expert speakers confirmed, who will be discussing key topics from Revenue-Optimisation and Facility Safety to Sports Turf and the Future Trends in Venue Management.

The 2016 Stadia & Arena Asia Pacific conference and exhibition will take place this September, 26-28, at the Yokohama Arena – one of the biggest arenas in Japan.

Japan is the perfect choice for our 18th Stadia & Arena event, with the Rugby World Cup 2019 taking place across 12 sites, 36 venues currently proposed for the Tokyo Olympics 2020 and 19 confirmed for the Paralympics.

With a successful three-tier Soccer League, a well-established Baseball League, and a soon-to-be expanded Basketball League (for which 15 arena projects are already planned and many more are being proposed); Japan promises to deliver a plethora of opportunities, not least as the Liberal Democratic Policy Research Council’s Sporting Nation Research Committee has highlighted the following areas for swift amelioration – as they will discuss during their presentation:

●Shift stadia and arenas from ‘cost centres’ to ‘profit centres’

●Radical reform of the role of the facilities away from the so-called ‘national athletic meet standard’

●Formulate facility guidelines

●Develop business models that utilise private-sector funds

●In cooperation with local authorities, create leading examples of "smart venues" for city centre rejuvenation and urban development with

sports at its core

●Proactively introduce IT and other technologies into sports

●Promote more sophisticated and diversified services, including provision of Wi-Fi at stadia, distribution of videos to smartphones and tablets, utilisation of athletes and games data

This is where the services and know-how of the many international producers and suppliers in attendance will prove key.

In another major coup for Stadia & Arena, Mr Toshiro Muto, CEO of Tokyo 2020, has confirmed as a speaker.

Neil Levett, Managing Director, Alad Ltd (the event organisers), confirmed: "I am especially honoured to be bringing Stadia & Arena 2016 to Yokohama, Japan. With the backdrop of the forthcoming Rugby World Cup in 2019 and the Tokyo Olympics in 2020, the enthusiastic welcome we have had from the venue and sports industries has been so positive that we are bracing ourselves for the biggest event that we have organised in the 19 years of running the Stadia & Arena series."

Hiroyuki Sugano, President and CEO of Space Media Japan (the event’s local partners), said: "It is very positive for our organisation to be involved in the Stadia and Arena Asia Pacific event as the Local Event Partner. As the world knows, Japan will soon have some massive sports events to organise – the 2019 Rugby World Cup, as well as the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games. In addition to this, the Japanese Government has placed great emphasis on the innovation of the National Sports Industry including specific focus on the role of stadium and arena management. It is my opinion that this is the best timing to hold the event in Japan and we, Space Media Japan (part of the Congress Corporation), are very excited to be a part of this new industry."

Many key figures from both Japan’s sporting landscape and the wider, global sporting events and sports venues sector have also confirmed their speaker engagements, including:

●Fumiko Hayashi, Mayor, City of Yokohama

●Masaaki Okawa, Chairman, Japan Professional Basketball League

●Yoshiyuki Mano, Professor, Faculty of Sport Sciences, Waseda University

●Tsutomu Nagaoka, Representative Director, President and COO, Tokyo

Dome Corporation

●Takaaki Nakamura,Executive Vice President, Xebio Holdings Co., Ltd.

●Yoshio Takahashi, Associate Professor, Faculty of Health & Sport

Science, University of Tsukuba

●Hideyuki Ozaki, President, Yokohama Arena Co., Ltd.

●Paul Sergeant, Director, PMY Group

●Don Gordon, Executive Manager Community Services, Townsville City

Council

●Damian Bush, Senior Director of Venues & Events, Singapore Sports

Hub

●Tim Long, Director, Hawkridge Entertainment Services

●Mich Sauers, President, GFS Associates

●Andrew Colling, Assistant Vice President, Galaxy Entertainment

Group

●Jason Hill, General Manager, Sydney Cricket & Sports Ground Trust

●Darren Burndon, General Manager, Vbase Ltd

Numerous major sports venue developments from around the region, and indeed the globe, will be showcased during the event, like the new Perth Stadium; Hong Kong’s planned Kai Tak Sports Park; and the stadium for MLS’s latest expansion team, the Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC). A significant number of key project stakeholders will also be represented, from countries such as China, South Korea and Australia, as well as North America, the Middle East and Africa, to name but a few.

Delegates will also be treated to special, behind-the-scenes tours of some of the City of Yokohama’s iconic sports venues during this 2.5-day event, namely the Yokohama Arena (host venue for the event); the Nissan Stadium (Yokohama International Stadium) and the Yokohama International Swimming Pool.

To register your place at this must-attend event or for further information, please visit:

www.saevents.uk.com

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