The relocation of the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame to Cambridge marks a fundamental shift in how the country tells its sporting story. Long housed in Dunedin, the Hall of Fame is now stepping into a new era at the Grassroots Trust Velodrome, where history, technology and participation will converge in a way New Zealand sport has not seen before.
Established in 1990 to celebrate the nation’s greatest sporting figures, the Hall of Fame has always been about preserving legacy. But its move north transforms it from a largely static museum into a living, breathing experience embedded within one of the country’s most active high-performance and community environments.
The Hall of Fame will be integrated within the Velodrome on its upper level and will be a modern, interactive exhibit designed not just to honour champions, but to inspire future ones. The positioning on the concourse allows visitors to engage with New Zealand’s sporting heritage while remaining connected to live activity on the track and infield.
Technology plays a central role in bringing that vision to life.
Alongside the Hall of Fame will sit the “PlayLAB”, situated in the Velodrome infield. Scheduled to open in September 2026, PlayLAB is designed to inspire movement through 10 gamified sports activities. It’s aimed particularly at youth, the experience builds rhythm, balance, mental focus and reaction speed, giving tamariki and rangatahi transferable foundations to thrive in sport.
Visitors can try a range of activities, test their skills, and explore the biomechanics behind how the body moves. Most importantly, they’ll have fun being active with friends, whānau, and colleagues - and may even discover a new sport to pursue.
The PlayLAB development has been heavily influenced by Sport Waikato and the University of Waikato – ensuring it is appealing to youth and achieves movement and learning outcomes.
A large-format LED screen (11x6m) will also be installed on the concourse and viewable from the infield, stands and meeting rooms. It will be utilised for corporate and community events and enable the sharing of content from the Hall of Fame and PlayLAB.
This pairing of Hall of Fame and PlayLAB is intentional. One looks back, preserving the stories of those who defined New Zealand sporting success; the other looks forward, encouraging participation and discovery. Together, they create a full-circle experience, inspiration leading directly to action. The goal is simple: get more people, especially
youth, off the sidelines and into sport.
To mark the reinvigoration of the Hall of Fame, sporting icons Richie McCaw and Dame Valerie Adams were inducted at the Halberg Awards in February 2026, the first inductees in over five years. Their inclusion underscores the Hall of Fame’s ongoing relevance, bridging generations of achievement.
Importantly, this is not just a facility upgrade; it is a repositioning of the Velodrome itself. With the broader rebranding to a multi-use arena, the site is evolving beyond cycling into a destination that combines sport, education, community and entertainment. The addition of the Hall of Fame, PlayLAB, and advanced digital infrastructure reinforces that ambition, creating a space that serves elite athletes, school groups, families and visitors alike.
Cambridge’s status as a high-performance sport hub makes it a natural home for this next chapter. Already recognised as a base for elite athletes and national programmes, the town provides both credibility and accessibility. Embedding the Hall of Fame here ensures it is not just a repository of history, but is also an active part of New Zealand’s sporting ecosystem.
Ultimately, what is being built is not simply a museum or an attraction. It is an experience designed to connect story with movement, legacy with participation, and inspiration with opportunity.
The Hall of Fame is scheduled to open at the Grassroots Trust Velodrome in late 2026.
The PlayLAB and LED screen are being built in August for a September opening. This staged rollout reflects the scale of the development, with different elements of the precinct coming online as they are completed.
Visitors will be able to experience the Hall of Fame as part of a wider day out alongside track cycling, community programmes, events, and the PlayLAB activation.
General enquiries and future bookings will be handled through the Velodrome’s reception, website, and events team, with spaces also available for group visits, school programmes, and
corporate functions.
The Hall of Fame will sit within a broader ecosystem of bookable experiences, from school visits aligned to curriculum learning, to hosted events, to interactive sessions in PlayLAB. Schools in particular are expected to be a major audience, with the ability to book full-day experiences that combine education, physical activity and exposure to elite sport.
In the lead-up to opening, the Velodrome is encouraging people to stay connected for updates, with announcements around ticketing, programming and launch events expected closer to completion.
