Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium, where Delaware North provides food and beverage services, recently became the first Australian sports venue to be named Global Venue of the Year at this year’s TheStadiumBusiness Awards. Created in 2010, TheStadiumBusiness Awards are the stadium sector’s most respected awards and the highlight of the summit each year.
The award, which celebrates “the most innovative and leading sports facilities from around the world,” has been dominated by U.S. stadiums for the past four years, with Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Levi’s Stadium in San Francisco, and MetLife Stadium in New Jersey previously taking the title. This year, the Melbourne venue was picked over six finalists, three being in the United States.
Marvel Stadium has hosted more than 55 events, including AFL, A-League and Big Bash cricket matches, as well as concerts by the likes of Ed Sheeran and Taylor Swift. Marvel Stadium was just as busy off-field, hosting over 400 weekday events and conferences in 2018 and making use of the 15 dedicated function spaces available inside the venue.
Notably, last year saw the announcement of the world’s first naming rights partnership with the largest entertainment company on the planet, The Walt Disney Company, which owns the rights to the iconic Marvel comic brand. This partnership has enabled the stadium to take a new direction of fan engagement while continuing to deliver brilliant events and memorable fan moments.
Receiving the award on behalf of Marvel Stadium was the venue’s chief executive, Michael Green. Green stated: “It’s an honor for Marvel Stadium and our team to be recognized on the world stage. “We work hard to make sure that our fans have a great experience at the stadium, and our talented team go above and beyond week in, week out to keep everything running smoothly.”
The big events continue at Marvel Stadium in 2019, with the venue set to host the Southern Hemisphere’s biggest basketball event in August when the Australian Boomers will play USA Basketball in front of 100,000 fans.