FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 21, 2018 Lee Zeidman, President, STAPLES Center, Microsoft Theater and L.A. LIVE has been nominated for the Executive of the Year Award in The StadiumBusiness Awards 2018 Launched in 2010, The StadiumBusiness Awards are the first industry awards for the stadium sector, by the stadium sector. Ian Nuttall, Founder, TheStadiumBusiness said: “TheStadiumBusiness Awards is about recognising leadership, innovation and achievement in the delivery, operation and management of sports facilities globally. Since 2010 we have given awards to some of the top venues from around the world and this year will be no exception. “Our expert panel have come up with an amazing shortlist of nominees for these categories and we think it’s going to be tough for our Judging Panel to choose who should win.” Take a look at who’s in the running this year: VENUE OF THE YEAR AWARD • Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, USA • Little Caesars Arena, Detroit, USA • CenturyLink Field, Seattle, USA • AAMI Park, Melbourne, Australia • Etihad Stadium, Manchester, UK • Optus Stadium, Perth, Australia *Winner decided by: Decision by Judging Panel EXECUTIVE OF THE YEAR AWARD • Al Guido, President - San Francisco 49ers, USA • Javier Martinez, Vice President - Club Atlético de Madrid, Spain • Jacques Grobbelaar, CEO, Stadium Management South Africa, South Africa • Lee Zeidman, President, STAPLES Center, Microsoft Theater & L.A. LIVE, USA • Tery Howard, VP of Information Technology, Miami Dolphins & Hard Rock Stadium, USA • Dick Patrick, Vice Chairman, Monumental Sports & Entertainment/President, Washington Capitals, USA *Winner decided by: Decision by Judging Panel EVENT OF THE YEAR AWARD • First Day-Night Ashes Test at Adelaide Oval, Australia • Wrestlemania at Camping World Stadium, City of Orlando Venues, USA • #Game4Grenfell at Loftus Road, Queens Park Rangers, UK • NatWest T20 Blast Finals Day at Warwickshire County Cricket Club, UK • "Battle of Brisbane" - WBO Title Fight, Suncorp Stadium, Australia • Arsenal FC in Sydney Tour, VenuesLive, Australia *Winner decided by: Decision by Judging Panel UNSUNG HERO AWARD • Patrice Lafarge, Stadium Operations and Maintenance, Paris Saint-Germain FC, France • Human Resource Team, Everton FC, UK • Benjamin Steen, Head of Digital Projects, FC Bayern-Munich, Germany • Rafael Mangabeira, Marketing Leader, Arena Corinthians, Brazil • Sarah Smith, John Morton & Facilities Management Team at Wembley Stadium & St George's Park, The FA, UK • Thomas Franke, Head of Infrastructure & Organisation, VfL Wolfsburg, Germany *Winner decided by: Decision by Judging Panel FAN EXPERIENCE AWARD • Looking After The Fans at Ashes Test, Sydney Cricket Ground, Australia • The Junior Tigers Club and the JTC Takeover Day, Leicester Tigers, UK • 'Fans First’ design at Optus Stadium, Australia • The Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta’s kids park at SunTrust Park/Atlanta Braves, USA • Daily’s Place at EverBank Field, Jacksonville Jaguars, USA *Winner decided by: Decision by Judging Panel PRODUCT INNOVATION AWARD • “ASB G9” Stadium Golf at Eden Park (Eden Park), New Zealand • The Tunnel Club at Etihad Stadium (Manchester City FC), UK • CherryBot AI Chatbot at AFC Bournemouth (Greenwood Campbell, Microsoft & Bournemouth University), UK • Virtual Hybrid LED digiBOARD (ADI.tv, Supponor), UK • The District Detroit Mobile App (Olympia Entertainment, XFINITY), USA • Wi-Fi Deployment Innovations at Notre Dame Stadium (AmpThink), USA *Winner decided by: Decision by Judging Panel SUSTAINABILITY & COMMUNITY AWARD • Rush2Recycle at Super Bowl LII, U.S. Bank Stadium/Minnesota Vikings, USA • Reds Going Green at Anfield, Liverpool FC, UK • Sustainability Programmes at CenturyLink Field/Seattle Seahawks, USA • #ThisIsOurIce Campaign, NHL Minnesota Wild/Xcel Energy Center, USA • Our Neighbourhood Initiative, Eden Park, New Zealand • Cleveland Cavaliers' Quiet Space Sensory Room at Quicken Loans Arena, USA *Winner decided by: Decision by Judging Panel SPONSORSHIP, SALES & MARKETING AWARD • Uber & AEG Global Partnerships Multi-Venue Deal, USA • Predictive Seat Sales at Camp Nou, FC Barcelona, Spain • 'GAME Pods' at Deepdale, Preston North End FC, UK • Rebranding of "Ciutat de Valencia" Stadium, Levante UD, Spain • US$1 billion Sponsorship Deals at Mercedes-Benz Stadium/Atlanta Falcons, USA • Pitchside Bedroom at Audi Cup, Allianz Arena, Germany *Winner decided by: Decision by Judging Panel VENUE TECHNOLOGY AWARD • Venue Operations Centre for Sydney Cricket & Sports Ground Trust, Australia • Fan Experience Test Lab at SAP Arena, Germany • Digital Ticketing & Fan CRM, Orlando City Soccer/Orlando Stadium, USA • Aston Villa FC’s One Card, UK • Jewel Skin Projection Mapping at Little Caesars Arena, USA • The Inside Outside Multi-Use Design at U Arena, France • Halo-Wrap Video Boards at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, USA *Winner decided by: Decision by Judging Panel WHO ATTENDS The Awards night brings together over 300 industry executives (VIPs, nominees, judges, guests and delegates) from around the world: a veritable Who’s Who of the global sports and entertainment venue sector. Our VIP list has included CEOs, Owners, GMs and Presidents of major sports team, venues and event organisers. P REVIOUS EDITIONS 2010 Dublin – Guinness Storehouse (120 in attendance) 2011 Barcelona – Camp Nou/FC Barcelona (220 in attendance) 2012 Turin – National Car Museum (260 in attendance) 2013 Manchester – Emirates Old Trafford (350 in attendance) 2014 London – Hendon RAF Museum (400 in attendance) 2015 Barcelona – Camp Nou/FC Barcelona (425 in attendance) 2016 Madrid - Santiago Bernabeu/NH Eurobuilding (350 in attendance) 2017 Dublin - Croke Park Stadium (350 in attendance) THE ORGANISER TheStadiumBusiness Awards are owned and organised by Xperiology, the specialist events, training and advisory agency for the sports and entertainment facilities sector. Xperiology also owns and organises many other leading industry events including: TheStadiumBusiness Summit, TheStadiumBusiness Summit Design & Development Summit, TheStadiumBusiness Summit Design & Development Awards, TheTicketingBusiness Forum, TheTicketingBusiness Awards, and the industry’s leading news services: TheStadiumBusiness News and TheTicketingBusiness News. .