Voices From The Trenches: Jeff Meyer, Feld Entertainment

Here he explains how Feld is structured and why he’s not a professional golfer.

What exactly brought you into this business?

I graduated with a BS in Commercial Recreation from The University of Colorado. Yes, a BS in Commercial Recreation (how to recreate and make money – sign me up!) and planned to get into the golf business in some way. The golf profession didn’t quite work out as, after a round with friends, we were sitting at the 19th hole over lunch and saw an ad in the Rocky Mountain News asking if anyone was interested in traveling the country to represent The Greatest Show On Earth as a regional marketing director.

I responded on the back of a napkin from the restaurant and stuck a stamp on it. The next thing I knew, I was on a plane to the Washington, D.C., headquarters of Feld Entertainment as one of their newest promoters. It was the fall of 1987 and I’ve never looked back. Twenty-eight years and counting. It’s been a terrific run with an incredible company.

How does the makeup at Feld work when it comes to booking?

We are vertically integrated at Feld in all aspects of the business. My team is responsible for booking all Feld events in the United States and Canada and promoting them as well. We do everything in-house. It’s the most efficient way for us to operate – completely integrated between the booking team, the event marketing and sales staff, and the rest of the organization, with 100 of us booking and promoting 3,000-plus annual performances domestically.

We are joined at the hip with Rob McHugh (senior VP of international sales and business operations) and his Feld team to make sure we are coordinated globally with our routes as well. Rob has a similar setup for all of the other countries worldwide. Collectively, we play 75 countries and more than 5,000 performances annually.

I have a buddy that takes her kids to all the “On Ice” shows but said she has never seen anything like the demand for “Frozen.”

It’s been one of the hottest properties we’ve ever had in the portfolio. In fact, Pollstar listed the One Direction tour as No. 1 in the Year-End Top 100 Worldwide Tours for most tickets sold for any 2015 tour – we’re a privately held company and don’t provide our numbers but I can tell you that we sold at least 1 million more tickets than they did in 2015 – and we only played the U.S. and Canada!

So long, elephants. The times are changing. Will there be new elements in the circus to compensate?

The elephants will certainly be missed but to put it in perspective, they are only in the show for less than 10 minutes now. The Felds and their creative teams are always pushing the envelope to bring families the most incredible acts from around the globe. The Greatest Show On Earth will reach new heights as we head into the future with our new productions and I can promise that the fans will be sitting on the edge of their seats with what they will witness.

Speaking of the times, what are some of the most significant technological advances of recent Feld tours?

Our Marvel Universe Live! arena tour pushed all boundaries of technology for us with lighting, sound and video. It was the most ambitious project in our company’s history. Thirty trucks, 150,000 pounds in the air, 150-plus points. A great investment toward the start of a new franchise for this organization.

Jerry Weintraub said, “Something comes along every 10 years that knocks all the dishes off the table.” Do you see any major, sweeping changes on the horizon?

Virtual reality is here and will only get better – how will it fit with live events? Stay tuned.

You have three shout-outs to others in the industry.

Ken Wachter (Pres/CEO PMI Entertainment) – longtime mentor, friend. Class act! Ernie Hahn (AEG) – brother from another mother. Ralph Marchetta (Phoenix Suns/US Airways Center) – was there from the beginning. What do these three guys have in common? They are stand-up people that do it the right way. They live their lives with perspective and are all about relationships.

What is the best/worst concert experience you’ve ever had?

Best: ALL events at Red Rocks amphitheater – no better place to see a concert.

Worst: Red Rocks (1984), Red Rocks. Never heard a note of the concert as a friend slipped and fell off the rocks prior to the start and was rushed to the hospital!