Features
Hodges Named Nederlander CEO
Alex Hodges, who came to
Though the move was expected, Nederlander Organization chief James Nederlander made it official in an announcement Jan. 18 in which he praised Hodges for helping the company thrive in a down economy and raising its profile with bookings at venues including the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles.
“Alex has played an essential role in cultivating the company by bringing some of the most memorable concert bookings into our venues,” Nederlander said. “Since rejoining our company, Alex has done an outstanding job guiding the team to success, even in a down economy. I am confident that with his focus, vision, vast experience and strong relationships in the industry, the company will continue to thrive.”
Hodges has served as the chief operating officer for Nederlander Concerts since 2007 and will continue to cover some of those duties. He managed the talent and marketing departments, plus concert operations, for Nederlander venues including The Greek Theatre and the Pantages Theatre in Los Angeles, the Santa Barbara Bowl, the Grove of Anaheim, RIMAC Arena and Field at UC San Diego, Raley Field in Sacramento and the San Jose Civic Auditorium.
The iconic Santa Monica Civic Auditorium is the next expected to come online upon completion of a renovation project.
Hodges looks forward to building on the success he and Friedman built.
“In the last four years, given the changes in the industry and the economy, as the economy started shifting downward we tried to pull back in open-promotion venues and be very careful,” Hodges told Pollstar. “In doing so, we still did arena shows and prospered well in terms of core venues and also in third-party venues. We did more shows last year in open promotions than the year before, and we’re always available and open to do an arena show or outdoor show.
“Sales were off and there were more canceled shows, but we executed last year on a model of small changes that can make big differences and we’ll continue to do that because it works,” Hodges said. “Ticket prices have dropped a bit in the aggregate over the last two years, by an average of $8 at the Greek, yet we had better per-show attendance and better bottom line numbers in 2010, even with the economy.
“Moving forward is to look at our models and try to address each show specificially as to what should be the model for pricing and how to achieve, given results. Certainly the agents sell to the promoter but we have same goal: for the fans to be happy and for us to walk away with a successful event at every level.”
Hodges stressed that his team continues to look for serious opportunities to add to the company’s core portfolio of venues.
“We’re constantly looking at how we can add to that profile where we have unique and strong relationships with the venue operators and owners,” Hodges said. “I think a venue needs somebody that is thinking about them every day.”