Features
‘The Growth In This Business Will Continue’: D.LIVE Joins OVG International Venue Alliance
Anke Hesse/ D.LIVE – The magicians Ehrlich Brothers at Merkur Spiel Arena
40,211 people saw the show, which set a world record for most visitors at a magic show
The Oak View Group International Venue Alliance continues its growth into Continental Europe by adding German venue operator D.LIVE to the list of founding members.
Oak View Group (OVG) is Pollstar’s parent company.
D.LIVE operates five venues in total in the German city of Düsseldorf – Merkur Spiel-Arena (54,000 capacity), ISS DOME (13,000), Mitsubishi Electric Halle (7,500), Castello Dusseldorf (3,000), as well as the alltours open air cinema – which have now become first members of OVG’s International Venue Alliance from continental Europe. D.Live venues can accommodate audiences as small as 1,800 and as large as 54,000.
Peter Weihs/ D.LIVE – Merkur Spiel Arena
The 54,000-capacity venue can host stadium-size productions
D.LIVE is also currently working on securing a permit for an Open Air Park with a capacity of 80,000. D.LIVE Michael Brill, told Pollstar in a recent interview that the project “requires an intensive planning-process in order to ensure that all requirements are met for the future. We are confident that the process will be successfully concluded in the next year hoping to take first bookings for 2021.”
The news follows the recent announcement that Silverstone Circuit and the NEC Group in the UK joined the Alliance as founding members.
Ansgar M. van Treeck/ D.LIVE – The ISS Dome
With an official capacity of 13,000
Commenting on the partnership, Sam Piccione, Oak View Group’s International President, said: “We’re delighted to see the OVG International Venue Alliance develop and expand into continental Europe with the addition of D.LIVE group of venues. As with Silverstone and NEC Group, we’ll be helping D.LIVE venues deliver world-class events, content and corporate partnerships. Dusseldorf is an important city in the live event space and we appreciate their trust and vision to join the OVG International Venue Alliance.”
Michael Brill, CEO of D.LIVE Venues of Dusseldorf: “We offer the most diverse portfolio of live entertainment venues in Germany to agents, promoters, sport federations and producers. Our membership of the International Venue Alliance will ensure we grow our market position and we are looking forward to seeing the success of the Alliance as it develops.”
Jörg Eicker/ D.LIVE – The Mitsubishi Electric Halle
Official capacity: 7,500
Brill just renewed his contract as CEO of D.LIVE until at least 2025, following a recommendation by D.LIVE’s bard of directors during a recent meeting. He told Pollstar that, founded in August 2018, D.Live has been a game-changer for Düsseldorf: “By offering a most-unique portfolio of venues with a capacity-range of 3,000 to 60,000, we are able to offer to all promoters a ‘one-stop shop’ with our centralized event-booking department.”
An alliance of venues offers practical advantages: “When the show of ‘Panic at the Disco’ sold out our 7,500 seats at Mitsubishi Electric Halle, we were able to ‘transfer’ the show to the ISS Dome with a capacity up to 13,000 seats,” said Brill.
Highlights in the past year include a magic show by the Ehrlich Brothers at the Merkur Spiel-Arena, where the duo set a world-record for most spectators at a magic show. ISS Dome underwent refurbishment, resulting in new public transport access, refurbished production areas, redesigned public F+B outlets and other measures intended to enhance the visitors’ and promoters’ experiences. “We brought more than 50 new managers to the team who come with a vast experience to bring D.LIVE to the next level in 2020. The company’s turnover doubled within the last 12 months and we are excited about the growth in shows over all venues,” said Brill.
When questioned whether he observed any saturation in parts of the business, Brill replied: “We find that visitors have constantly higher expectations of the overall concert-experience and certainly the level of competition is high. I believe we need to constantly reinvent the way we serve our customers, provide better and more services and be innovative in terms of how to market each event. If this is all done properly, the growth in this business will continue without a doubt.”