MatchPoint Nets Two Nominations at Scottish Events Awards

MatchPoint Nets Two Nominations at Scottish Events Awards

Corporate hospitality provider’s Edinburgh and Sydney offices teamed up for AFC Asian Cup in Australia to win acclaim home and away.

The Edinburgh-based firm which created, managed and delivered the complete and exclusive corporate hospitality programme at one of the biggest sporting events of 2015 has had its global credentials recognised with two nominations at this year’s Scottish Event Awards.

MatchPoint has been nominated in the Best International Event and Best Large Event categories at the 2015 Scottish Event Awards in association with EventScotland for its handling of the AFC Asian Cup in Australia earlier this year.

The category titles couldn’t be more fitting – few events on the sporting calendar are more international or large than the AFC Asian Cup. Some 47 countries were involved in the qualifying stages, representing more than half the world’s population, with the Australian extravaganza attracting an aggregate of 650,000 match spectators and a global television audience of more than 1 billion people over 22 days in January.

Despite the scale, global appeal and corporate potential of the AFC Asian Cup, the tournament had not previously offered hospitality before MatchPoint stepped in, presenting the governing body with a complete, brand new vision, strategy and business plan for the competition’s Australian debut.

With its Sydney office working in tandem with its Edinburgh headquarters, MatchPoint was perfectly positioned to draw on its two decades of experience and provide quick-footed and versatile on-the-ground solutions to the unique set of challenges arising from delivering hospitality at such a richly cosmopolitan event - challenges such as the provision of prayer rooms and Halal cuisine while at the same time catering for those more keen to soak up the relaxed Australian beer-and-barbecue culture.

Over the 32 matches of the competition, across five stadia, MatchPoint catered for more than 5,200 clients – ranging from dignitaries, VIPs, sponsors to entry-level corporates looking for “pie and a pint” packages – helping deliver £1.2 million revenue and £600,000 profit for the governing body. Unsurprisingly, the AFC intends to reuse MatchPoint’s corporate hospitality model and is in exclusive negotiations with the firm in preparation for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup in the United Arab Emirates.

The Best International Event and Best Large Event nominations are the icing on the cake of a hugely successful link-up between MatchPoint’s Edinburgh and Sydney offices.

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