The Singapore Sports Hub (Chinese: 新加坡体育城; Malay: Hab Sukan Singapura; Tamil: சிங்கப்பூர் விளையாட்டு மையம்) is one of the world’s first fully integrated sports, entertainment & lifestyle destination. Spanning a mammoth 35 hectares of land in the heart of the city, the Singapore Sports Hub houses a unique cluster of world-class facilities comprising the National Stadium, Singapore Indoor Stadium, OCBC Arena, OCBC Aquatic Centre, Water Sports Centre, Kallang Wave Mall,Singapore Sports Museum, and Shimano Cycling World. Officially declared open by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in July 2015, the Singapore Sports Hub incorporates cutting edge, environmentally conscious design and construction. The campus comprises different multi-purpose venues with the capacity and professional expertise to host a variety of events ranging from sports and entertainment to lifestyle and community events. This mega-project was conceived as part of the Singapore Government’s vision to enhance the nation’s sporting landscape and built with the community in mind. The in-house community programme – Experience Sports – enables everyone to participate in sports and fitness while the community facilities, which are open daily, encourage them to exercise at their convenience. These facilities include the 100PLUS Promenade, beach volleyball courts, outdoor hard courts, skate park, giant chess and lawn bowls.
The centrepiece of the Singapore Sports Hub is the 55,000 capacity National Stadium that provides spectacular views of the waterfront and Singapore city skyline. The National Stadium features the world’s largest free-spanning dome, a retractable roof and comfort cooling technology for spectators – design elements that complement Singapore’s humid climate. The retractable roof also features an innovative lighting system that is embedded with 20,000 LEDs and can serve as a giant screen with the projection visible from both inside and outside the stadium. This unique National Stadium is also the only stadium in the world capable of hosting a multitude of events including football, rugby, cricket and athletics, concerts, family entertainment shows, national and community events. To date, notable events held at the National Stadium include large-scale events such as the National Day Parade, 28th SEA Games and 8th ASEAN Para Games; sporting spectacles such as the HSBC Singapore Rugby 7s, 83rd Singapore Open Track & Field Championships, FIFA World Cup 2026TM Qualifiers, Cigna Healthcare HYROX Singapore, and Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon 2023; entertainment by leading International and Asian artistes including Coldplay, Harry Styles, Backstreet Boys, Foo Fighters, Madonna, Mariah Carey, One Direction, Black Pink, Mayday, Jay Chou, JJ Lin, and A-Mei; and community events such as the OCBC Cycle, National Steps Challenge, and The Straits Times Run.
History
The Sports Hub project was proposed on the recommendation of then Community Development and Sports Minister Abdullah Tarmugi in Parliament in 2001.[2] His proposal was based on a report by the Committee of Sporting Singapore calling for the city-state to promote a culture of sports, and replace the aging National Stadium.[3]
The Sports Hub was to include the new stadium, as well as a new aquatic centre, indoor arena, and recreation facilities. Alpine Mayreder, Singapore Gold Consortium, and the Singapore Sports Hub Consortium (SSHC) submitted bids for the project, which included the new National Stadium and its surrounding facilities, in February 2007.[4][5] On 19 January 2008, the Singapore government awarded the development of the Sports Hub project to SSHC, led by Dragages Singapore Pte Ltd.[6] Minister of Community Development, Youth and Sports Vivian Balakrishnan stated that their bid "displayed significant strengths in programming, team culture and partnership, functionality and layout".[7]
The Sports Hub was a public-private partnership with SportsHub Pte Ltd,[8] which is made up of four companies namely InfraRed Capital Partners, Dragages Singapore, DTZ Facilities and Engineering and Global Spectrum Asia.[9]
SHPL was engaged in 2008[9] and has a 25-year contract to design, build, finance and operate the Sports Hub.[10]
The demolition of the former National Stadium was slated to begin in 2008 while the construction of the new Sports Hub was originally planned for completion in 2011. Due to the financial crisis of 2007–2010 and high construction costs, the project was inevitably delayed. In 2008, barring any major problems, it was projected that the project would be completed in time for the 2013 Southeast Asian Games.[11] However, after delays were announced in 2009, Singapore withdrew from hosting the Games.[12] In August 2010, it was reported that the contract to begin construction had been signed with plans for the demolition works of the former National Stadium to start in October 2010 and for the completion of the new Sports Hub in April 2014. The demolition of the National Stadium started with a groundbreaking ceremony on 29 September 2010.[13]
The contract with SHPL started from 2010 due to the delay and it was to last for 25 years till 2035.[10]
Naming rights to some of the Sports Hub's facilities were sold to various partners, with OCBC Bank sponsoring its indoor arena and aquatic centre, and 100plus sponsoring an 888 m (971 yd) promenade around the new National Stadium.[14]
The Sports Hub's facilities were officially opened to the public on 30 June 2014,[15] and began to host events over the year that followed, including the 2015 Southeast Asian Games. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong officially inaugurated the facility on 26 July 2015 during the Youth Day event Youth Celebrate! at the National Stadium.[16]
On 10 June 2022, it was announced that Sport Singapore, a statutory board under the Ministry of Culture, Community & Youth, would take over management and ownership of the Sports Hub from 9 December 2022 onwards, with plans to make it more accessible to the broader community in Singapore.[17]
Facilities
Singapore National Stadium from Kallang Footbridge
The 35-hectare Singapore Sports Hub includes the following sports facilities:
A 55,000-capacity National Stadium with a retractable roof and movable tiered seating
