Kai Tak Sports Park is a multi-purpose sports venue on the site of the former Kai Tak Airport in Kowloon,Hong Kong,as part of the Kai Tak Development project. The venue is located to the northwest of the old Kai Tak Airport,on the old car park.[1] With an approximate area of 28 hectares,Kai Tak Sports Park is the largest sports venue in Hong Kong.[2] The site anchors the redevelopment of the former airport site,[3] and is intended to support the future sports development of Hong Kong.[4]
South China Morning Post initially reported that the park would be finished by 2023,[5] but it was not completed until 2024 due to a shortage of resources.[6] The venue contains the Kai Tak Stadium,which holds 50,000 people at its maximum capacity along with a retractable roof,a 10,000-seat Kai Tak Arena and a 5,000-seat Public Sports Ground.[5]
The venue was officially opened to the public on 1 March 2025.[7] The first musical event to take place at the venue was Coldplay's Music of the Spheres World Tour,with four shows held from 8–12 April 2025. The performances attracted 183,980 attendees in total.[8]
Development
Entrance of the Kai Tak StadiumInterior of the Kai Tak Stadium as concert venueInterior of the Kai Tak Stadium as sports venueKai Tak Youth Sports GroundKai Tak Arena
American engineering firm AECOM was engaged by the Civil Engineering and Development Department to undertake the Kai Tak Development project in early 2007.[9] In the 2011–12 policy address delivered by Hong Kong Chief ExecutiveDonald Tsang,he stated that the government is studying financing options and mode of operation of the proposed multi-purpose stadium complex at Kai Tak and will start the preliminary work as soon as possible.[10]
On 5 November 2012,the Home Affairs Bureau completed an initial technical feasibility study of the Kai Tak multi-purpose complex and submitted it to the Legislative Council. In the study,the bureau proposed a "design-build-operate" approach –design,construction,operations and maintenance under a single entity –to ensure effective delivery from designing the complex to its long-term operation. The study also recommended that the project be financially supported by a combination of government and private financing in order to maximize efficiency and innovation. The stadium will have a retractable roof and a capacity of 50,000 for international sports and entertainment events. The facilities were proposed to be completed by 2020.[11]
HK$62.7 million in pre-construction funds for the Kai Tak Multi-purpose Sports Complex was approved by the Legislative Council Finance Committee members on 3 July 2015.[12]
On 23 June 2017,the Hong Kong legislators in the finance committee granted cash for the HK$31.9 billion sports complex in Kai Tak after a six-hour debate. 36 lawmakers green-lit the sports park,with 21 voting against it.[13]
On 28 December 2018,the government announced that the contract for the design,construction and operation of the Kai Tak Sports Park would be handed over to Kai Tak Sports Park Limited,a subsidiary of New World Development and NWS Holdings established specifically for the project.[14]
The groundbreaking ceremony of the Kai Tak Sports Park was held on 23 April 2019.[4]
Facilities
Kai Tak Sports Park is designed around a covered Kai Tak Sports Avenue,an indoor and outdoor pedestrian walkway starting at the Station Square (the connection to the park linking new MTR stops Kai Tak station and Sung Wong Toi station) and takes people all the way to the Dining Cove overlooking the Victoria Harbourfront.[5]
The main stadium has flexible pitch system which can be switched between natural turf for premier football or rugby events,to other surfaces for a variety of sports,entertainment,and community events.[15][16] The facility has been designed to meet the standards of major international events with customisable staging and seating configurations that cater to various events and crowd sizes.[17]
The sports park's Indoor Sports Center provides a large multi-purpose space with retractable seating to host major competitions or events of up to 10,000 seats and to accommodate sports courts for community use.[2] A 5,000 seat Public Sports Ground is also provided for hosting school athletic events,athletic training and local league games.[2]
Other facilities include more than 8 hectares of open spaces,[16] outdoor ball courts,a children's playground,a health and wellness center,a bowling center and retail and dining outlets.[2] An event village will also be built to house international athletes visiting from other regions and countries.[17]
The government has imposed strict performance indicators for the Kai Tak Sports Park with a penalty of HK$500,000 for every day if the operator fails to meet usage requirements in the main stadium,HK$100,000 for the indoor centre and HK$50,000 for the public ground accordingly.[19] The time for operational acceptance is 1,640 days (54 months) from the commencement of the contract (1 February 2019). This means that the park should be finished by June 2023.[14]
In June 2022,the Commissioner for Sports,Yeung Tak-keung,blamed the COVID-19 pandemic for the delay in opening dates to 2024,saying suppliers had faced difficulties in shipping construction materials to the territory,he added that the contractor won't be penalised for the delay,as no one could have foreseen the COVID-19 pandemic when the contract was signed in 2019.[6]
Notable events
Sports
Kai Tak Youth Sports Ground hosted its first rugby match in November 2024,where Hong Kong beat Brazil with a score of 38–17.[20] The main stadium hosted its first annual Hong Kong Sevens in 2025. Over 110,000 fans attended the three-day tournament.[21]
Hong Kong will co-host the 2025 National Games of China with Guangdong and Macau,with the Kai Tak Sports Park as part of the hosting venues.[22][6] The stadium will host rugby sevens,and the arenas will host men's handball,fencing and bowling.[23]
1 2 "Sports park construction starts". Hong Kong's Information Services Department (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). Archived from the original on 25 September 2021. Retrieved 12 July 2019.
↑ 洪戩昊 (2 March 2025). "啟德體育園JJ林俊傑5月開演唱會 成華語歌手第一人"[JJ Lin from Kai Tak Stadium will hold a concert in May and become the first mandarin singer]. HK01 (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). Archived from the original on 3 March 2025. Retrieved 3 March 2025.
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