SportSG will take over ownership of Singapore Sports Hub to make it more accessible to the community

SINGAPORE: Government agency Sport Singapore (SportSG) will take over the ownership and management of the Singapore Sports Hub in Kallang from Dec 9, with plans to make it more accessible to the broader community in Singapore.

Announcing this on Friday (Jun 10), SportSG said it has reached a mutual agreement with current operator SportsHub Pte Ltd (SHPL) to terminate their public-private partnership.

Sports Hub has been in operation for eight years since it was completed in 2014.

"The aspirations and needs of Singapore, as well as the wider operating environment for sports and entertainment, have changed considerably since then," SportSG and SHPL said in a joint media release.

"Ownership and direct management of the Sports Hub will thus enable SportSG to have greater control and flexibility over the Sports Hub.

"With this move, SportSG will drive stronger social, sporting and economic outcomes through the Sports Hub, maximise its potential and also take advantage of the synergies with the Kallang Alive precinct development."

At a media conference, SportSG chairman Kon Yin Tong noted that there is also greater competition in the region with new sports facilities being developed.

“We have made the decision after careful consideration,” he added. “We need to maximise the value of the Sports Hub … with a view to ensuring that it keeps up with the times and competitive landscape, as well as the new needs of the nation."

SportSG will set up a new corporate entity to run the sporting arena and work with private sector partners “in a more flexible arrangement” for particular programmes or events, said its chief executive officer Lim Teck Yin.

The 35-hectare Singapore Sports Hub was built at a cost of S$1.33 billion. Apart from the