Laurie Jacoby Named BSE Global Executive Vice President, Chief Entertainment Officer

Courtesy BSE Global – BSE Bound
BSE Global named Laurie Jacoby as Executive Vice President, Chief Entertainment Officer.

BSE Global announced the hiring Monday of Laurie Jacoby as Executive Vice President, Chief Entertainment Officer.

Jacoby will oversee programming and marketing at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., encompassing the booking of concerts, non-tenant sporting events, family shows and award shows at the arena.

“Laurie is one of the most talented and respected executives in the entertainment business and we are thrilled to welcome her to the BSE Global family,” said BSE Global CEO John Abbamondi in a statement. “With experience in booking shows and events at award-winning and globally-recognized venues, she is exceptionally qualified to lead programming efforts for Barclays Center. I am looking forward to Laurie leveraging her expertise to bring an incredible slate of events to Brooklyn.”

Jacoby echoed Abbamondi’s sentiment in a statement of her own.

“I am proud to join BSE Global, an organization that is committed to elevating the standard for the entertainment industry,” Jacoby said. “Barclays Center has built a reputation as being a place where artists and fans alike can come together to have the ultimate live event experience and celebrate their mutual love of music. What the arena has been able to accomplish since opening is remarkable and I am excited to build on that success.”

Jacoby begins her new role March 1.

Jacoby previously served as Senior Vice President of Concerts and Entertainment at Madison Square Garden Entertainment, where she won the Pollstar Award for Venue Executive of the Year three times, including in 2019 and 2020.

But her 22-year career with the company came to an end in August 2020, when her position was among the hundreds of jobs cut by the company due to the coronavirus pandemic.

In a Pollstar interview that followed the news, Jacoby was already looking ahead to the return of live events.

“I think there’s going to be a whole new way that people are going to experience a show,” Jacoby said.

When asked about her personal plans going forward, Jacoby said, “I just want to be around creative people and feed off their energy.”

She’ll have a prime opportunity to that across the East River in Brooklyn. Since opening nearly a decade ago in September 2012, Barclays Center has established itself as a staple of national arena tours; when The Weeknd announced a 2022 world tour last week, the itinerary included two plays at Barclays Center and two plays at Madison Square Garden.

The arena’s top box office report is a sold-out, two-night October 2012 stand by Barbra Streisand that grossed $9.33 million. Other highlights include Jay-Z’s sold-out, eight-show, venue-opening run ($7.36 million) and three sold-out shows featuring Drake and Migos in 2018 ($5.74 million).

Barclays’ final concerts before the coronavirus shutdown were three Celine Dion gigs, which grossed $6.99 million.