First Look: TEAMS Europe ’27 Heads to the Home of Champions

Following a successful fifth edition in Birmingham, UK, earlier this year, TEAMS Europe is heading to Manchester from March 23—25, 2027, and prospective attendees can now register their interest to attend and exhibit. With preparations well underway for the event, staffers from Northstar Meetings Group and its flagship SportsTravel media brand, which produces TEAMS Europe, had the chance last week to tour the venues that will welcome the conference for the first time.

Sessions and activations on the 2027 agenda will take place across the 80-acre Etihad Campus, comprising the Etihad Stadium (home of Manchester City FC) and the new Radisson Blu Medlock Hotel, in the eastern part of Manchester.

Taking place each year, TEAMS Europe is the premier gathering for the sports-event industry. Bringing together the leaders who are shaping the future of sports tourism, the conference hosts event organisers from international sports federations, professional and semi-professional leagues, mass participation events, youth sports, and esports, as well as destinations, venues, hoteliers, and industry suppliers that are eager to grow their share of the global sports travel market.

Here is a sneak preview of some of the exciting venues you can expect to visit at TEAMS Europe ’27:

Etihad Stadium

Since 2003 the Etihad Stadium has been the home of a club that has won three Premier League titles, seven FA Cups and one Champions League crown. The venue was purpose-built for the 2002 Commonwealth Games and featured an athletics (track & field) track around the pitch, but it has since undergone multiple renovations to be transformed into a modern football/soccer stadium.

Anchored in the heart of the Campus, which also features the elite City Football Academy training facility and Joie Stadium (home of Manchester City Women and the club’s EDS and Academy teams), the stadium is located about 1.5 miles east of Manchester city centre, and has become one of the city’s most dynamic destinations for conferences, meetings, and events.

With demand soaring for season tickets thanks to the club’s investment off the pitch and success on it, a newly-redeveloped 7,000-seater North Stand has just opened, taking the stadium’s capacity from 55,000 to 62,700. That stand has now been renamed as the Pep Guardiola Stand to recognise Manchester City’s legendary outgoing manager, and it means that the Etihad Stadium is now the fourth-largest club stadium in England, behind only Old Trafford, the London Stadium, and the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

The Pep Guardiola Stand has been redeveloped to include expansive fan concourses, additional bar areas (including the new City Hall), high-end VIP hospitality spaces with private pitch-view seats, and more. Alongside a covered fan park that will accommodate up to 6,000 people, enhanced transport links, a museum experience, new Club Store and restaurants, these feed into the club’s plans to create a long-term “entertainment destination” for all sorts of demographics on the Etihad Campus, from football fans to concertgoers and business travellers.

The Medlock, a Radisson Blu Hotel, Manchester

The Medlock, a Radisson Blu hotel, is opening in September in partnership between Manchester City and Radisson Hotel Group. The 401-room, upper-upscale hotel is now live for bookings, and is suitable for business and leisure visitors, as well as those attending matchdays at the Etihad and Joie Stadiums and events at Co-op Live.

The name of the hotel was inspired by the River Medlock, which flows underneath the Etihad Campus and connects the area to the city.

Operated by Valor Hospitality and part of the Radisson Blu portfolio, The Medlock has been designed with unique Mancunian touches throughout and includes specific design elements that draw on the city’s longstanding industrial heritage.

TEAMS Europe Key Information

Registration to join TEAMS Europe ’27 will officially open on September 15, whether you are an event organiser or rights holder in the sports events industry. You can already register your interest at this link.

If you are looking to meet qualified international sports event organisers and rights holders actively sourcing host destinations and venues over the next 36 months, this is your opportunity as a supplier to book a table-top for TEAMS Europe ’27. Early-bird rates will end on October 31.

More details on the 2027 event agenda, networking opportunities, and educational sessions will be announced in due course.

Earlier this year, Northstar Meetings Group and SportsTravel also announced the expansion of the TEAMS brand to Asia Pacific. The inaugural TEAMS Asia Pacific will take place at Marina Bay Sands, Singapore, from April 21—22, 2027.

Learn more about TEAMS Asia Pacific at this link, including details on how to register to attend and book your table-top.