2023 saw a 30 per cent growth in sports, entertainment and lifestyle event days at the Singapore Sports Hub (Sports Hub) compared to 2019 before the pandemic.

Sports Hub has held a wide range of events from sports to lifestyle

These events spanned a range of genres, sporting and lifestyle interests which catered to various members of the public, according to the Sports Hub.

There were multiple sporting events such as the Singapore Festival of Football, HSBC Singapore Rugby Sevens, Singapore Smash, FIBA 3x3 Asia Cup and the FIBA Intercontinental Cup.

The Sports Hub also hosted more than 140 National School Games and school sports events at multiple venues, and the dedication of over 20,000 hours to the training of National Athletes for international competitions, including the upcoming Paris Olympics.

There were also more than 200,000 people who attended community events at the Sports Hub, such as the first Stadium Waterfront Carnival to welcome the Year of the Rabbit and Hari Raya Celebrations at Stadium Roar.

This includes Jacky Cheung's record of performing for 11 nights at the Singapore Indoor Stadium for a single leg of a tour.

Concerts expected to contribute to 1 million Sports Hub visitors in 2024

More international artistes are also slated to perform at the Sports Hub including Coldplay, Ed Sheeran, Mayday and Taylor Swift.

Swift's concert in particular is expected to attract nearly 300,000 fans from Singapore and Asia, given that Singapore is one of her tour's two stops in Asia.

These concerts, among other events, are expected to contribute to 1 million visitors to the Sports Hub in 2024, according to Keith Magnus, the chairman of Kallang Alive Sport Management (KASM).

KASM is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Kallang Alive Holding which was incorporated by SportSG and established to manage the Sports Hub

Celebrating the 1st anniversary of KASM

Speaking at the first anniversary of the handover of the Sports Hub to KASM, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Edwin Tong thanked the team for taking over almost at a "moment's notice" a year ago in December 2022, and for making the Kallang Alive project "truly come alive".

The project aims to develop the Kallang area around the Sports Hub into a larger sporting and entertainment hub.

Tong said:

"I think what's important about Sports Hub is that we come here to make memories together. We come here to witness iconic moments, sporting moments, we come here to witness spectacular events.

But the most important thing for me...is that we come together as fellow Singaporeans to make special memories at the Sports Hub."

Beyond the events slated to take place, Tong added:

"We want Kallang Alive to be a home, a place, where people who don't have a particular event...come, socialise, take part, enjoy and be part of the whole vibe and spirit of Kallang Alive."

SportSG took over the Sports Hub from SHPL in December 2022

In December 2022, SportSG took over the Singapore Sports Hub from SportsHub Pte Ltd (SHPL).

The Singapore Sports Hub had been run under a public-private partnership (PPP) by SHPL under a 25-year contract since 2010.

It was announced in June 2022 that SportSG would take over to gain greater control and flexibility over the Kallang facility and make it more accessible to the public.

Top photos by Livia Soh