The Millennium Stadium has been shortlisted for the rugby venue of the year honour at Rugby Expo Awards 2011, which recognises excellence from both the professional and grassroots game.

The Rugby Venue of the Year prize rewards exceptional entertainment, comfort and customer service in Rugby and will be awarded at the annual Rugby Expo award ceremony held tomorrow (Wednesday) in Twickenham.

The event is the showpiece of two days of Rugby Expo which attracts sports professionals, brands and sponsors, exhibitors and delegates, including representatives from the WRU Group’s Commercial department.

The Millennium Stadium bid for the award follows the launch of a £3million investment in ‘Stadium Vision’ – a project which revolutionised the audio and video capability of the venue and transformed fan experience ahead of any other in Europe.

Stadium Vision allows custom-made sport and entertainment to be played out on two giant LED screens and over 450 high-definition video displays with the capability to show individual content throughout the stadium, so improving the customer experience at the home of Welsh sport.

The new system hosts the unique WRU TV channels, offering all the exclusive action, commentary and behind-the-scenes footage, as well as the latest sport from broadcasters such as Sky, BBC and ESPN.

WRU Group Finance Director Steve Phillips was involved in the selection of and the installation of the Stadium Vision project, the first of its kind outside of North America, and will head to Twickenham tomorrow for the Rugby Expo Awards.

“The Millennium Stadium has made huge strides in improving the customer experience at the venue recently with the launch of Stadium Vision, which has been a great success and is the biggest single investment in the stadium infrastructure to date,” said Mr Phillips.

“The project has enhanced the already-thrilling experience of an international match at the home of Welsh rugby for all our fans and has, in turn, proved a major attraction for all our stakeholders.

“There’s been a really exciting response to WRU TV at international games, with fans arriving earlier to catch the unique perspectives from team arrival to match action in greater detailand I’m looking forward to representing the WRU at the Rugby Expo awards to recognise all the hard work and effort behind-the-scenes that has made this possible.”

The news follows the announcement that the Millennium Stadium scooped the award for Environment Sustainability at the International Sports Event Management Awards and was shortlisted for Venue Teamwork by readers of Live UK magazine last month.