Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify the required leadership styles and skills for stadium management, and examine the relationship between transformational and transactional leadership styles and the skills approach: technical, human and conceptual skills. Design/methodology/approach A quantitative methods approach was used to gather the data, using a sample of 212 registered individuals in stadium settings. Findings The results revealed that there are significant relationships between leadership styles and the skills approach: technical, human and conceptual skills. More importantly, leadership styles were found to be equally important even though the effect between these styles and the skills approach: technical, human and conceptual skills, varied in the three levels of management. Further details have been reported in the results. Research limitations/implications The paper provides an insight into the relationship between leadership styles and the required skills, using a quantitative methods approach. While this is an appropriate method, in-depth interviews are needed to understand why/why questions in stadium settings. Practical implications Managers should be carefully selected in the three levels of management because unqualified people can have negative consequences on the reputation of a stadium and the hosting of major events. An effective selection program focusing on mid-level managers is essential. Originality/value This research represents the first attempt to investigate and understand the relationship between leadership styles and the required skills, using evidence from stadium settings.