Birmingham, U.K., and New York, N.Y. (May 1, 2026) – Sports Illustrated Tickets and Aston Villa Football Club today announced a 12-year strategic partnership, naming Sports Illustrated Tickets as the Club’s Official Fan Experience Partner beginning with the 2026-27 season.
Under the agreement, Sports Illustrated Tickets will help reimagine the fan journey across Aston Villa Football Club, delivering a seamless, fan-first experience for all matches and events at historic Villa Park. The collaboration will introduce a portfolio of premium hospitality destinations, immersive fan experiences and original Sports Illustrated storytelling activations throughout the stadium.
At the heart of Villa Park’s offering is the Sports Illustrated Warehouse, a 3,500-capacity, multi-use venue for pre- and post-match activations, live entertainment, premium hospitality and year-round programming. Sports Illustrated Tickets will serve as the Official Ticketing Partner of this space effective immediately. The partnership also introduces Club SI and the Sports Illustrated Tickets Plaza, expanding Villa Park’s experiential footprint while embedding SI’s iconic storytelling throughout the supporter journey.
It unites one of English football’s founding clubs with one of the world’s most iconic sports and cultural brands – reimagining how supporters access tickets, experience matchdays and engage with Aston Villa beyond the pitch.
“This long-term partnership with Aston Villa brings together premium hospitality and Sports Illustrated’s iconic storytelling to deliver authentic, unparalleled fan experiences like only an SI brand can deliver,” said David Lane, CEO of Sports Illustrated Tickets. “By creating a unified platform, we’re transforming how supporters engage with Villa Park across matchdays, year-round sports and entertainment events, as well as digital and in-person experiences alike. This partnership also marks an important step in our continued growth across the UK and European market.”
New Hospitality Destinations at Villa Park
In addition to the Sports Illustrated Warehouse, the alliance will debut Club SI and the Sports Illustrated Tickets Plaza, two complementary hospitality destinations that elevate Villa Park year-round.
Club SI – An immersive hospitality pavilion blending Sports Illustrated’s iconic storytelling with curated editorial content, premium food and beverage offerings and a modern social environment celebrating Aston Villa and the wider sporting world.
Sports Illustrated Tickets Plaza – A core matchday fan destination featuring pre-match entertainment, stage and big screens, social space, food and beverage offerings, and more.
“We are delighted to be partnering with such an iconic, world-renowned brand in Sports Illustrated Tickets,” said Francesco Calvo, President of Business Operations at Aston Villa. “Their desire to create fan-first experiences aligns with our vision to make Villa Park a go-to venue not just on matchdays but throughout the year.
“We hope their expertise will help turn the Sports Illustrated Warehouse into a first-class experience for our supporters and the wider community in the West Midlands and beyond.”
Storytelling and Technology-Driven Fan Experiences
Central to the collaboration is a series of Sports Illustrated Tickets fan experiences inspired by SI’s legacy of capturing sport’s biggest moments.
Faces in the Crowd captures real-time supporter reactions and turns them into personalized Sports Illustrated Fan Covers or commemorative match tickets.
SI Defining Moments is a curated editorial mosaic blending world-renowned SI photography, historical reporting and award-winning original content with Aston Villa’s achievements. Interactive displays throughout Villa Park connect generations of supporters and enable fans to collect and redeem rewards.
Brand Integration and Fan Rewards
Sports Illustrated Tickets and SI will feature stadium branding, digital and social integrations, and play a central role in Aston Villa’s fan rewards program, providing unique benefits and exclusive access for supporters.
About Sports Illustrated Tickets
Sports Illustrated Tickets, part of the Sports Illustrated family of companies, is a leading live events marketplace. Its diverse portfolio includes a global secondary market with more than $2.5 billion in inventory and over 50 million tickets across sports, concerts and theater; a best-in-class primary blockchain ticketing platform that manages venues and events; and, through acquisition, North America’s largest ticket asset trader, leveraging 20 years of proprietary data to help partners buy and sell inventory across the world’s top marketplaces. Together with one of the most iconic and trusted brands in sports, these capabilities enhance the fan experience and create an unparalleled, rapidly accelerating competitive advantage.