Green Jumps To FedExForum

Jim Green has jumped ship as head of Beaver Productions‘ Memphis office, the region’s leading concert promoter, and landed as booking director for the FedExForum. The Forum has been feuding with Beaver for the better part of a year over its city-granted noncompete agreement that gives the arena the right of first refusal for events and can block shows from playing other venues in town.

Beaver Productions President Don Fox, who has booked shows in the nearby Desoto Civic Center rather than contend with the non-compete, couldn’t be reached for comment at press time. But FedExForum VP of arena operations Steve Zito told Pollstar he hopes to put the spat behind both parties.

“Let me say that we’ve had great discussions with Don Fox and certainly look forward to doing business with Don and Beaver in this facility,” Zito said. “I’ve known them over the years and I’m glad the past is the past.”

FedExForum has realigned its operations somewhat, providing an opening for a new booking manager.

“In the past, [booking] had been kind of independent of arena operations. After looking at the organizational structure, it made sense to put it under arena operations,” Zito said. “So we created this new position of booking director that reports to me.

“We had a couple of very qualified candidates. But when it came down to it, Jim’s familiarity with Memphis is such that we decided to go with him.”

FedExForum, home court of the Memphis Grizzlies NBA team, opened last September to great fanfare but has not booked a large number of concerts. However, it does have Destiny’s Child, Kenny Chesney, and Loggins & Messina on the books in the next month.

Though Beaver Productions has promoted some shows at FedExForum, the company has opted to take others — notably Velvet Revolver and Mötley Crüe — across the state line to the DeSoto Civic Center in Southaven, Miss.

Zito hopes that situation can change, and clearly believes Green is the man who can help make that happen.

“With the resources that the Grizzlies bring to the table, which is something new to Memphis, through group sales and in-house marketing and advertising capabilities and so on, it just makes it really one-stop shopping,” Zito said.

“That’s the beauty we want to extend to the promoters who use this building. That’s where we are headed. Certainly, the past is the past and we want to do more events here. That’s our goal.”

— Deborah Speer