Published by Neil Thompson, 20th October 2025
The Stadium Events & Hospitality Awards 2026 are now officially open for entry. These nationally recognised awards celebrate the dedication, innovation, and expertise of catering, operations, and conference & events teams at football, rugby, and cricket stadiums across the UK.
For 2026, there are 15 award categories available, with submissions closing on Friday 27th March 2026. All entries are independently judged by industry experts, with the winners revealed at the prestigious awards evening on Thursday 2nd July 2026 at Hill Dickinson Stadium – the brand new home of Everton Football Club.
Around 500 guests from stadium venues across the UK will be welcomed to the stadium in north Liverpool, which opened for the first time at the start of this season. Guests will experience a fine dining three-course menu, awards ceremony, live entertainment, and after party onsite until 3am. Tickets will be available from just £130 per person (discounted member rate).
The 2026 Categories
Event Agents Choice Award
Sponsored by iVvy
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 – Judged by event agents
Above & Beyond Recognition Award
Sponsored by Taste Beverages
Recognising 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 – Judged by independent panel of judges
Stadium Event of the Year Award
Sponsored by Rational UK
Recognising 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 – Judged by independent panel of judges
Non-Matchday Mystery Shopper Award
Sponsor TBC
Based on a mystery shopper corporate/business event sales enquiry call and follow up correspondence, which will be made during Spring 202 – Judged by Sandown Effective Sales Solutions
Matchday Sales & Marketing Team of the Year Award
Available For Sponsorship
Recognising the very best matchday sales and marketing team in UK stadium venues. Entries will demonstrate strategies for growth, brave new ideas, and overcoming challenges – Judged by independent panel of judges
Non-Matchday Sales & Marketing Team of the Year Award
Sponsored by Special Occasion Linen
Recognising 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 – Judged by independent panel of judges
Best Retail Catering Award
Sponsored by Rollover
Recognising the best retail catering teams at stadia across the UK. This team will demonstrate commercial growth, high quality food offerings or proactive sustainability improvements – Judged by independent panel of judges
Operations Team of the Year Award
Sponsored by Braehead Foods
Recognising 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 – Judged by independent panel of judges
Chef Team of the Year Award
Sponsored by Chef Works & Bragard
A live theatre chef competition at Xcelerate With Edgbaston in Birmingham on 17th March 2026. Up to 12 chef teams have 90 minutes to prepare, cook and present a four-course menu suitable for their Club Chairman to entertain Head of the FA, RFU or the Cricket ECB to a business luncheon – Judged by The British Culinary Federation
Visiting Rugby Directors Award
Available For Sponsorship
Voted for by Directors at each rugby club. They are asked to consider the welcome, service and catering when casting their votes – Judged by Rugby Club Directors
Visiting Football Directors Award
Sponsored by Dr Oetker
Voted for by Directors at each football club. They are asked to consider the welcome, service and catering when casting their votes – Judged by Football Club Directors
Matchday Hospitality Awards
Small Stadium – Sponsored by Lockhart Catering Equipment
Medium Stadium – Available For Sponsorship
Large Stadium – Sponsored by ACME
Experienced chef and hospitality experts attend your venue to try out your matchday offering. Each element is carefully considered and scored against strict criteria. This category is split into 3 (small, medium and large) based on the number of hospitality seats on a matchday (not stadium capacity) – Judged by industry experts with over 20 years experience in the chef and hospitality industries.
Overall Matchday Hospitality Award
By entering the Matchday Hospitality Award, your venue will also be submitted into the Overall Matchday Hospitality Award, which competes all venues against all, regardless of size.
Independent Awards Judging
Each award category is independently judged (Stadium Experience does not judge any of the awards). To summarise;
- The Event Agents Choice Award is voted for by event agents.
- The Visiting Directors Awards (Rugby & Football) are voted for by stadium directors.
- The Non-Matchday Mystery Shopper Award is judged by Sandown Effective Sales Solutions Ltd.
- The Chef Team of the Year Award is organised and judged by The British Culinary Federation.
- The Matchday Hospitality Awards are judged by judges with 20+ experience and part of chef industry associations such as The British Culinary Federation, Craft Guild of Chefs and more.
- The majority of awards (6 categories) are decided by a Judging Panel, made up of a team of experts with many years of experience in their fields, who vote for their top 3 entries in each category. The 2026 panel includes senior representatives from Beam, The Delegate Wranglers, Greengage Solutions, Heard About Sam, ICC Wales, SWJ Events, tobook, venuedirectory.com and more.
Debbie Rigney, Director of Stadium Experience and awards organiser, commented: “We are delighted to officially launch The Stadium Events & Hospitality Awards 2026. These awards are all about recognising and rewarding the very best in the stadium industry, and we’re excited to be taking them to the stunning new home of Everton FC next summer.”
Find out more about The Stadium Events & Hospitality Awards 2026. Follow the latest news with #SEHA2026
Stadium Experience is also keen to explore awards sponsorship opportunities with companies who would like to get involved.
