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A rendering of Singapore Sports Hub, which will open in May.
The long-awaited Singapore Sports Hub has announced it will go live next month with its custom designed ticketing system.
The 350,000-square-foot sports complex, which cost in the range of $1 billion to build, is expected to debut its multivenue facility with a football match in May.
On Oct. 1, Sports Hub, New Era Tickets and Paciolan will launch Sports Hub Tix, a ticketing system created solely to handle events at all of Sports Hub's venues.
Global Spectrum, which operates hundreds of venues including Singapore Sports Hub, has been working for years to find a system that could handle the sheer volume of tickets while setting the standard technologically for ticketing in Southeast Asia.
“Right now, everything in ticketing here is pretty manual,” said Mark Collins, Managing Director of Global Spectrum Asia. “Our system is going to be paperless. And the thing is, Singapore prides themselves in being on the cutting edge in green initiatives and efficiency. This system will certainly be that. It will turn the sporting and lifestyle industry on its head.”
The Sports Hub project began construction two years ago and has been in the process of being built since the investment group Singapore Sports Hub Consortium (SSHC) won the bid in 2008.
Designed by Arup Sport, DP Architects and AECOM, it features a 55,000-seat National Stadium, Singapore Indoor Stadium, a 6,000-capacity Aquatics Center, a 3,000-capacity Sports Arena and about 40,000 square feet of shopping and dining area.
Some of the technological advances in ticketing by Sports Hub Tix will include the ability to have tickets forwarded to others if they are unable to make an event or want to share tickets and the ability to purchase parking, merchandise, and concession items together with tickets.
Sports Hub is currently working with their food management company, Delaware North, on a plan to utilize the technology to give suiteholders the ability to order food at the push of a button.
It will also provide information for stadium management to use in decision making and marketing efforts.
“The infrastructure that's been created is unique to Singapore Sports Hub's needs,” Collins said. “It's designed to handle all the access controls for all the venues and put everything into a central depository so when repeat users come, the system is intuitive enough to know that they've been there before and what their likes and dislikes are and help us target them for future opportunities.”
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A rendering of the soccer setup at Singapore Sports Hub.
The hub has approximately 60 events lined up over the next two years, including the Southeast Asia Games and tennis' WTA Championships.
With major events on the horizon, Sports Hub Tix is working to market their new ticketing technology to potential users. Collins said ticketing technology in Singapore is years behind the United States and they are expecting a learning curve.
“This type of technology has never been available in Singapore before,” he said. “So our stakeholders haven't actually thought about how they will use it. Within the next few months, they'll be asking a lot of questions about the different things we can do.”
For New Era and Paciolan, designing the ticketing system for Sports Hub Tix offers more than just a potentially lucrative business venture. It also cracks open the door to all of Southeast Asia and provides a potential opportunity to spread Sports Hub Tix's model to hundreds of other venues.
“We've invested a lot in our technology and infrastructure in the last 11 years,” said Fred Maglione, president and CEO of New Era Tickets. “The system and the tools we're implementing in Singapore, we had been testing in the U.S. for a number of years while looking for this opportunity.”
New Era and Paciolan were responsible for ticket sales for the 2013 NHL Winter Classic in Philadelphia and “The Big Chill at the Big House,” a Michigan outdoor hockey college match that sold over 113,411 tickets and made the Guinness World Record for the largest ice hockey game.
Maglione said Singapore offers different opportunities than most North American markets. Since the market is quicker to adopt new technologies, New Era and Paciolan will have a chance to test innovations and prove they can work in the United States and around the world.
“The thinking is just so progressive and aggressive,” Maglione said. “Some of the things we want to try, we find our clients are a little hesitant. In Singapore, we know that the things we suggest, they are going to jump on it.”
To inform sports and entertainment fans about how to use their new ticketing technology, Sports Hub Tix will begin a marketing campaign after the Oct. 1 launch.
Interviewed for this story: Fred Maglione, (484) 875-7343; Mark Collins, +65 6340 9202