Old-world-charm Croke Park Cusack Stand get new lease on life

Article posted by Coliseum, September 10^th, 2026

Image: Coliseum GSVA

Marie Smyth is the Head of Venue Business at the Croke Park Stadium (Ireland) – the home of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). She is an integral part of the iconic Croke Park Stadium and has played a vital role in enhancing the stadium’s corporate offerings. In her present role, spearheading the sales initiatives and overseeing the meetings and events fall under her purview.

Full presentation available exclusively for Coliseum members

Username or Email

Password

Keep me signed in

Lost your password?

In an animated chat with ‘Coliseum’, Marie Smyth, Head of Venue Business, Croke Park, Ireland, talks at length about the Croke Park which has its old-world charm and is deeply rooted in Irish tradition and history. She presents a case study on the €12 million restyling of the Cusack Stand of the venue which started in 2023 and has now been completed. It was a comprehensive renovation aimed at enhancing the corporate facilities and the overall visitor experience.

Croke Park

The 82,300-seat Croke Park is a Gaelic games stadium in Dublin, Ireland. It is the headquarters of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA).

Gaelic Athletic Association

The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) is an Irish international amateur sporting and cultural organization focused primarily on promoting the indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes.

Marie Smyth stated that the Croke Park is not just about big matches, or major concerts but, behind the scenes, “The Croke Park is a major corporate venue hosting conferences, meetings, exhibitions, and banquets throughout the year.”

Premium Experiences

The Croke Park is one of the largest stadiums in Europe. Across the year “We balance different types of events. We do Championship games, we have around 30 matches a year of our own games including two All-Ireland Finals. We have had the National Football League (NFL), we have had soccer and we have had rugby. We host large-scale concerts, corporate conferences and offer premium hospitality experiences.”

Corporate Clients

Smyth said that the corporate clients today expect something different – “They want consistency, spaces they know and they want high-quality finishes.”

Challenge

Smyth and her team faced the challenge of ensuring how a stadium built for iconic sporting moments can also perform as a 365-business venue – “All the events rely on the same physical space within the stadium. So, one of our biggest operational challenges was making sure those spaces can transition smoothly between different uses. What’s hospitality on a Sunday matchday might need to become a conference meeting by Monday morning.”

Smyth informed that they identified the challenge and looked more closely at how the premium areas were performing and realized that “They were extremely successful on matchdays but outside of those days many weren’t utilized. The stadium premium spaces were designed entirely around sport.”

She stated that they did a rethink on what the premium spaces means inside the stadium. Instead of seeing the areas as something only used for hospitality during sport they chose to see them as multipurpose commercial assets – “Spaces that could hold conferences, client entertainment, corporate meetings, as well as premium hospitality.”

Cusack Stand

Refurb The Cusack Stand Premium Level became the focus of the above strategy. In 2024, a 17-million-euro refurbishment of the Cusack Stand was carried out.

Smyth said that the goal was simple but ambitious – create one environment capable of serving multiple audiences.

Cusack Stand Design

Flexibility

The Cusack Stand design centered around three principles. First was flexibility. The spaces needed to adapt between meetings, conferences, hospitality, and client entertainment – “We converted this into three usable spaces. We did this with flexible modular design, folding walls and folding walls across the bars to enclose them and to take them out of the conference environment.”

Premium Aesthetic

The second principle was neutral but premium aesthetic – “Instead of leaning heavily into sports branding the design used materials and finishes that feel appropriate for both corporate events and hospitality.”

Operational Functionality

The third was operational functionality. She added that everything from the circulation routes to the catering points to the audio visual (AV) structure was designed with delivery in mind – “We worked really closely with our AV company AVCOM and our catering team Aramark to avoid any pitfalls that could create issues down the line. We wanted to future-proof the spaces and we realized that the space that works operationally will ultimately perform better commercially.”

Outcome

Smyth asserted that the Cusack Stand redevelopment paid off and “we are seeing real momentum. The midweek utilization of our premium spaces has increased, the corporate clients are using areas that had historically only been active during matchdays. We have also seen higher levels of our peak corporate bookings as high as 25 percent. Interestingly, we are seeing a massive crossover of corporate events and premium hospitality and vice-versa.”

Wrap-up

Key Lessons

Marie Smyth mentioned about the few key lessons learned from the Cusack Stand redecoration project.

Flexibility

She asserted that flexibility has to be intentional – “If the spaces aren’t designed with adaptability in mind from the start it is very difficult to retrofit later. That had been our baseline before the refurbishment and we had moved on based on client requirements and expectations.

Design

The second key lesson she pointed out was that the design will support the operations – “Our operational teams ultimately determine whether a space works well for the events and whether we have client satisfaction.”

Consistency

She wrapped up by stating that the corporate clients value consistency. Reliability and professionalism matter more than novelty.

Marie Smyth added that the key is it wasn’t just about upgrading the interiors but it was also about repositioning part of the stadium for the future – “By aligning the design, operations and the commercial strategy we have been able to transform the premium areas into true year-round business assets.”

Continue following Coliseum for the latest updates on sports venues, stadiums and arena business news worldwide.

Coliseum is dedicated to building a global community of sports and entertainment venue professionals helping create better and more profitable venues.

Become a member of the Global Sports Venue Alliance and connect with stadiums, arenas and industry experts from around the world. Apply for membership through the Global Sports Venue Alliance and access the 365Coliseum Business platform.