The Brick Community Stadium, Wigan Warriors and Wigan Athletic nominated in the Stadium Events & Hospitality Awards 2026
Stadium Experience is pleased to announce that The Brick Community Stadium, Wigan Warriors and Wigan Athletic has been nominated for the following awards in The Stadium Events & Hospitality Awards 2026:
- Visiting Football Directors Award
- Visiting Rugby Directors Award
- Matchday Hospitality Award – Small Stadium
- Overall Matchday Hospitality Award
The awards, sponsored by Global Payments Inc., will take place at Hill Dickinson Stadium, the new home of Everton FC on Thursday 2nd July 2026. Over
500 guests from 70+ clubs will experience fine dining, awards ceremony, followed by an exclusive onsite after party until 3am. 2026 will be the 19th annual awards event organised by Stadium Experience.
The prestigious event aims to recognise the efforts and dedication shown by the catering, conference and events teams at football, rugby and cricket stadium across the UK. There will be a total of 15 different award categories and 45 awards presented on the evening, including:
Event Agents Choice Award – Sponsored by iVvy Venues
Voted for by event agents who have placed a non-matchday enquiry at UK stadium venues since April 2025. Event agents are asked to vote just once, for their top stadium venue where they have had the best event enquiry experience.
Above & Beyond Recognition Award – Sponsored by Taste Beverages
This award recognises those individuals who are simply outstanding at what they do, and continuously shine. This can be something as part of their regular duties, or perhaps focusing on supporting the local community or business recovery from challenging times.
Stadium Event of the Year Award – Sponsored by Rational
This award recognises the very best stadium event held in the last year. Judges are specifically looking for a stadium venue which has displayed exceptional venue facilities and outstanding guest experiences.
Best Retail Catering Award – Sponsored by Rollover
This award recognises the best retail catering teams at stadia across the UK. This team will demonstrate commercial growth, high quality food offerings or proactive sustainability improvements.
Matchday Sales & Marketing Team of the Year Award – Sponsored by Hobart UK
This award recognises the very best matchday sales and marketing team in UK stadium venues. Entries will demonstrate strategies for growth, brave new ideas, and overcoming challenges.
Non-Matchday Sales & Marketing Team of the Year Award – Sponsored by Special Occasion Linen
This award recognises the very best non-matchday sales and marketing team in UK stadium venues. Entries will demonstrate strategies for growth, new ideas for unique and different events, creative use of their spaces, and overcoming challenges.
Non-Matchday Mystery Shopper Award – Sponsored by Aviko
This award is based on a mystery shopper corporate/business event sales enquiry call and follow up, which will be made during Spring 2026 by judges from Sandown Effective Sales Solutions.
Operations Team of the Year Award – Sponsored by Braehead Foods
This award recognises the often unseen behind-the-scenes teams that make stadium events run so smoothly, going above and beyond the call of duty to provide the very best service to customers.
Chef Team of the Year Award – Sponsored by Chef Works UK & Bragard
A live theatre chef competition held at Xcelerate with Edgbaston. Chef teams had 90 mins to prepare, cook and present a three-course menu suitable for their Club Chairman to entertain the Head of the FA or RFU to dinner.
Visiting Directors Awards – Football & Rugby – Sponsored by Dr Oetker & Get Pica
The Visiting Directors Award categories are voted for by Directors at each club. They are asked to nominate the club where they had the best away experience when travelling with their team. They are specifically asked to consider the welcome, service and catering when casting their votes. There will be an award for
both rugby and football venues.
Matchday Hospitality Awards – Sponsored by Lockhart Catering Equipment, Mint People, and ACME
Experienced chef and hospitality experts attend each venue to try out their matchday offering. Each element is carefully considered and scored against strict criteria. This award is split into 3 categories (small, medium and large) based on the number of hospitality seats on a matchday to compare similar sized
operations:
Matchday Hospitality Award – Small Stadium (up to 1000 hospitality seats)
Matchday Hospitality Award – Medium Stadium (1001 – 2000 hospitality seats)
Matchday Hospitality Award – Large Stadium (2001+ hospitality seats)
Overall Matchday Hospitality Award – Presented by Global Payments Inc.
This award pitches all sized clubs against all, to announce the overall winning UK stadium that provides the very best matchday hospitality experience.
Stadium Experience Chair Person, Collette Salmon, commented: “Stadium teams go above and beyond to create outstanding experiences, whether on matchdays or for non-matchday events. These awards celebrate that passion, dedication, and commitment to excellence. Congratulations and best of luck to all of this year’s nominees we look forward to revealing the winners in Liverpool on 2nd July!”
Stuart Hodgson – Catering General Manager – Wigan Sporting Events had the following to say: “We are delighted to have been nominated across the various Hospitality awards. As a team we all take great pride in what we do here at The Brick Community Stadium in terms of our Hospitality delivery and believe strongly in striving for continual excellence & great guest experiences”
More information on the awards, and tickets for the event are available online at –
https://stadiumexperience.com/awards/
