The Singapore Sports Hub Consortium today unveiled Premier Park and its promise to be a thriving and sustainable fully integrated sports, entertainment and healthy lifestyle hub – for everyone, everyday. Premier Park, the Consortium’s response to the visionary opportunity presented by the Singapore Sports Council (SSC), is a world-class inspirational landmark that delivers beyond SSC’s expectations for the Sports Hub.
Key features include up to 75% of all Premier Park’s commercial revenue to be reinvested into the project, and a guarantee of 136 non-government financed sports-spectator events in the National Stadium and Singapore Indoor Stadium in 2012, which is more than four times SSC’s minimum requirement. Additionally, thousands of new jobs within Singapore’s sports industry are expected to result from Premier Park, with a ripple effect on the Nation, particularly in the lifestyle, entertainment, hospitality and tourism sectors.
Premier Park will achieve Singapore’s vision for the Sports Hub with a thriving sports, entertainment and lifestyle ecosystem by adopting a three-fold strategy backed by a best of breed visionary team with over 400 years of combined experience in Asia, an international track record, and strong local insights with each team member having had a Singapore presence for over a decade.
Well-Rounded Programme of Events
Premier Park’s first strategy is to develop a programme of local, regional and international events to create year-round excitement for everyone. This includes the establishment of new platforms like the ASEAN Super League, a new annual international football event for Singapore – the Singapore International Football Trophy kicking-off in 2012 and new developments with cricket and Twenty20 internationals.
“With World Sport Group appointed as the exclusive partner to spearhead the development of an ASEAN Super League for launch by 2012, we are the only Consortium that can truly bring back the Kallang Roar to the National Stadium. Additionally, we will host the Singapore International Football Trophy – an invitation football event featuring European and South American teams and bring international cricket to Premier Park annually,” said Mr Seamus O’Brien, CEO and President of World Sport Group Pte Ltd.
“Through our sporting programme, Premier Park will fulfil the SSC’s “Sporting Singapore” vision to promote participation, excellence and industry. Our annual programming will see the establishment of 192 mailto:Nights@PremierPark events, 156 Experience Sport sessions and nine days of Singapore National Games that will harness sport, business and community. This and all our other sports programmes will, from my 30 years of experience in Singapore Sport, make a huge impact on the Singapore sporting culture,” said Mrs Annabel Pennefather-Dillon, Director of Active Rights Management (Asia) Pte Ltd.
Premier Park’s Design Strategy
The centrepiece of Premier Park is the new National Stadium, featuring the largest ultra-lightweight tropical dome in the sporting world, with a sliding roof that lights up at night and doubles up as a projection screen to create the most dramatic effects for night events. Innovative comfort cooling, a necessity for the modern spectator in Singapore’s tropical climate, is employed in the National Stadium for a scalable number of seats. A unique feature of the National Stadium is that it has been designed to accommodate the staging of world-class cricket events.
To create a total sporting culture, the Sports Promenade, which will be Singapore’s largest covered outdoor space at 20,000 square metres, has been designed as an urban recreation centre for all Singaporeans with a host of activities for the whole family.
Furthermore, Premier Park has gone beyond the minimum sporting requirements set out in the tender. Added sports facilities such as an Olympic standard white water course will offer more medal winning opportunities for Singapore and provide the best thrill ride in town for adventurers. An indoor airconditioned karting track will also provide Singapore’s budding Formula 1 drivers the perfect practice conditions every day. Basketball hard-courts, a state-of- the-art skate park, cybergames and rock climbing facilities at Premier Park offer excitement and opportunities to participate in sports for the youth. These are all provided at no extra cost to Singapore.
To put the Premier Park design and sports offerings in perspective, of the 104 sports recognised by SSC, Premier Park will be able to host events in 83, offer opportunities to play 52 and provide support and exposure for all 104 of them.
“Premier Park is an iconic sports landmark for Singaporeans and the world at large that has been designed to host major international events, to be accessible to the public and to be fully integrated within the city. We have even incorporated a hotel option at no extra cost to Singapore. All of Premier Park’s facilities have been designed to achieve the Platinum Green Mark rating, a major leap in a unique and eco-friendly design,” said Mr. J Parrish, Architectural Director, Arup Sport.
The Premier Park Foundation
The third strategy for Premier Park is to commit up to 75% of all Premier Park’s commercial revenue to be reinvested into the project. A significant portion of this will be placed in a dedicated fund known as the Premier Park Foundation and from there reinvested in consultation with SSC back into the facilities, events and activities. Through the skills and resources of the team, these investments will ensure the most productive management of Premier Park’s finances, delivering further returns which will be invested into the fund, and thus creating a virtuous circle that will sustain Premier Park for decades to come.
“We have achieved an over-subscription from the financial community for this project, and we believe this strong interest is testament to the strength and robustness of the Premier Park financial model and the market’s confidence in our proposal,” said Ms. Lynn Tho, Director, Project and Export Finance, Corporate, Investment Banking and Markets, The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited.
Best of Breed Visionary Team
Premier Park will leverage the insights, expertise and deep sporting connections of the best-of-breed Consortium which consists of organizations that are experienced in managing world class sports cities and events. Please refer to fact sheet for list of company profiles.
The core team has a strong track record of successful international sporting venues including the development and operation of Beijing’s new Olympic Stadium, Munich’s Allianz Arena, the Stade De France, Doha’s Aspire Zone and Hungary’s Budapest Arena and direct experience of running some of the world’s largest events including this year’s ASEAN Football Championship, AFC Asian Cup, Barclays Singapore Open, Rugby World Cup, next year’s Super Bowl and previous Olympic Games and SEA Games.
Additionally, while the Consortium has a strong international presence, each member also brings to the table long-term collaboration in Asia and with Asian governments, with strong scalable Singapore based resources. As a team, each of the organizations in the Consortium has proven its commitment to the local economy with a Singaporean presence for more than a decade.
“Not only does Premier Park provide the perfect stage for world-class events, our team has proven experience of operating the biggest events in the World, in the Asian region and here in Singapore. With our unique calendar of events, design strategy, highly sustainable financial model as well as our strong track record, the Singapore Sports Hub Consortium is best-placed to make Premier Park an inspirational world-class landmark that will make Singapore proud,” said Mr. Ludwig Reichhold, Managing Director, Dragages Singapore Pte Ltd.
For media enquiries, please contact:
Julia Wei
Edelman
+65 9107 4446 / Julia.wei@edelman.com
Jehanne Phares-Hakime
Dragages Singapore Pte Ltd
+65 9636 7192 / j.phareshakime@bouygues-construction.com