Sports Hub visitor numbers top 3.5m for 2015

SINGAPORE — Last year proved a busy one for the Singapore Sports Hub, as the consortium reported today (Jan 4) that the S$1.33 billion facility at Kallang had hosted more than 3.5 million visitors in 2015, a big jump from the 681,000 over a six-month period in 2014.

Some 1.4 million people were in ­attendance across 124 sports and entertainment events, which included the Barclays Asia Trophy, BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore, 28th SEA Games and 8th ASEAN Para Games. Top music acts such as Jay Chou, Taylor Swift and One Direction also performed at the venue.

Community activities at the hub’s facilities, such as the Learn to Play programmes and the inaugural 2015 OCBC WaterFest, also attracted more than 2 million people, while the Kallang Wave Mall saw a total of 12 million patrons. 

Despite sports events such as the Asia Masters Athletics Championships and the Merlion Cup pulling out of the National Stadium due to costs and other issues, the hub is confident about delivering world-class content for the local community and visitors in 2016.

“Sports Hub is committed to working harder to improve and set new benchmarks for success in 2016,” said chief executive officer Manu Sawhney. “Our objective is to nurture our eco-system to ensure it remains an integral part of our community as well as a world-class hub capable of attracting world-class entertainment and sporting events to Singapore.”

Sports fans will be able to catch Super Rugby team Sunwolves in ­action over three matches at the National Stadium in March and May, while the HSBC Singapore Rugby Sevens will be hosted at the 55,000-seater stadium in April.