Leiweke Purchases ‘Venues Today’

Tim Leiweke isn’t quite ready to wrap 2016. This morning the CEO of the Oak View Group announced one more strategic acquisition for 2016 – trade publication Venues Today.

– The Real

Full disclosure, I worked at Venues Today from 2006 to 2014 as managing editor and it was my experience working with Publisher Linda Deckard that inspired me to launch Amplify.

It’s all a bit delicate, but I’ll do my best to explain the transaction. What is Venues Today? It’s a print and online trade magazine based in Huntington Beach, Calif., with a modest subscriber base. Most of the content focuses on entertainment facilities with a folksy writing style that emphasizes original reporting.

Leiweke has tapped former Billboard editor Ray Waddell to oversee Venues Today as SVP of Media and Conferences. The acquisition reunites Waddell with Deckard, with whom Waddell worked under at the now defunct Amusement Business.

Now the tables are turned – Waddell is not only in charge of the Oak View Group’s latest property, he’s taking over Deckard’s company, something she first created in 2002 with an initial investment from Pace Concerts’ Mike McGee, Florida Panthers President Peter Luukko and Ovations founder Ken Young.

For me, the dynamic between Waddell and Deckard will be fascinating to watch. Deckard is staying on as publisher and will manage the company’s newsroom. That arrangement sounds tricky  — Deckard is going to have to cede some power if Waddell is really going to take the brand to the next level. I emailed Deckard for comment but did not hear back. The whole thing has been super hush-hush.

The bigger question in all of this is why did Leiweke buy Venues Today? Couldn’t he have just used that money to build his own platform? We don’t know what Leiweke paid, but we do know what he’s getting, and that’s a pretty solid foundation to build a larger media platform.

Leiweke wants to build an industry conference and Venues Today already co-produces three events. They’ve also got a pretty strong data and directory team and Venues Today is a known brand, especially in the facilities world.

Leiweke also announced an investment in SportTechie earlier this year, and I’ll be watching how the two companies work together.  SportTechie is a great platform and could take VT to the next level. As Deckard would say in her column sign off, God Grant them a happy union and an unambiguous leadership hierarchy.