Sporting Club CEO Robb Heineman was nominated for Executive of the Year and LIVESTRONG Sporting Park earned nominations in four categories including Venue of the Year as TheStadiumBusiness announced their shortlists for TheStadiumBusiness Awards 2012.
The club’s state-of-the-art LIVESTRONG Sporting Park garnered recognition alongside venues on four different continents with its consideration for Venue of the Year, awarded to the world’s best stadium, arena or sports venue—from the small local club to the mega-capacity national sports facilities.
Other nominees for Venue of the Year include the site of the 2012 NBA All-Star Game (Amway Center) and 2011 Rugby World Cup (Forsyth Barr Stadium), as well as the home of Brighton & Hove Albion FC (The American Express Community Stadium).
LIVESTRONG Sporting Park was also nominated for the New Venue Award, the Community Award and the Customer Experience Award for a stadium or arena that has found new ways to support, enhance and improve its local community and has consistently delivered outstanding levels of service at every stage of the customer journey.
The $200+ million venue, opened in June 2011, has already hosted the U.S. Men’s and Women’s National Teams, along with the English Premier League’s Newcastle United FC and Mexico’s Club Deportivo Guadalajara. The stadium was selected to host the group stage of the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup and served as the site for the semifinals and championship matches of the CONCACAF Men’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament this month.
Sporting Club CEO Robb Heineman was named as a finalist for Executive of the Year as a sports venue leader, pioneer or visionary that has over-delivered in the past 12 months. Heineman was recently chosen as one of the most promising young executives in sports business under the age of 40 by SportsBusiness Journal at the organization’s 40 Under 40 Awards gala last month.
Sporting Innovations’ multi-dimensional platform FAN360 was also recognized as a finalist for the Product Innovation Award as a product or service that has uniquely transformed and improved the way stadiums, arenas and sports venues do business.
The winners will be announced live at the TheStadiumBusiness Awards gala, to be held in Turin on May 15. Award categories featuring LIVESTRONG Sporting Park, Heineman and FAN360 are listed below with a complete list of nominees.
VENUE OF THE YEAR AWARD
LIVESTRONG Sporting Park, Kansas City, USA
Amway Center, Orlando, Florida, USA
Mercedes-Benz Arena, Shanghai, China
Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin, New Zealand
The American Express Community Stadium, Brighton, UK
EXECUTIVE OF THE YEAR AWARD
Robb Heineman, CEO, Sporting KC, USA
Alex Martins, CEO, Orlando Magic, USA
Julian Jenkins, Director Of International Marketing & Special Projects, Cardiff City FC, UK
Lee Zeidman, SVP and GM STAPLES Center, Nokia Theatre and L.A. LIVE, USA
Martin Perry, Executive Director, Brighton & Hove Albion FC, UK
CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE AWARD
LIVESTRONG Sporting Park, Kansas City, USA
Air Canada Centre, Toronto, Canada
City Square / Etihad Stadium, Manchester City FC, UK
Amway Center, Orlando, Florida, USA
The American Express Community Stadium, Brighton, UK
PRODUCT INNOVATION AWARD
FAN360 (Sporting Innovations), USA
SPS Terraces (Intelligent Engineering), UK
Texlon ETFE Cladding at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin (Vector Foiltec), Germany
VisionSOFT (ANC Sports Enterprises LLC), USA
MCG Smartphone App (MCG / NextDigital), Australia
COMMUNITY AWARD
LIVESTRONG Sporting Park, Kansas City, USA
Aviva Stadium, Dublin, Ireland
Miller Park, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
NEW VENUE AWARD
LIVESTRONG Sporting Park, Kansas City, USA
The American Express Community Stadium, Brighton, UK
Juventus Stadium, Turin, Italy
Stadion Wroclaw, Wroclaw, Poland
National Stadium, Warsaw, Poland
Ulker Sports Arena, Istanbul, Turkey
Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin, New Zealand
Coface Arena, Mainz, Germany
