OVG’s Arena Alliance Awards & GOAL Medal Winners Announced at VNC 2025

Bridgestone Arena’s David Kells and Prudential Center’s Tyler Bates were among the executives honored on Tuesday evening during an event celebrating Oak View Group’s Arena Alliance Awards, as well as GOAL medal winners.
The ceremony took place Sept. 9 at Jalisco Underground at Resorts World in Las Vegas following the Opening Reception for the 2025 VenuesNow Conference.
Kells, who serves as Chief Venues Officer for Bridgestone Arena and the Nashville Predators was named the Venue Operator of the Year. Bates, who is the Vice President of Booking at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, is the Venue Booker of the Year. The other OVG Arena Alliance Awards winners include Robby Yam, Sr. Event Manager of Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, as the Event Manager of the Year and Carrie Samek, Vice President of Events and Media Marketing of Rocket Arena in Cleveland, as the Marketing Professional of the Year. The Kia Forum in Inglewood, California, was awarded Best Venue Hospitality.
See below for the full list of venues and organizations that received GOAL medals.
GOAL (Green Operations & Advanced Leadership), is a sustainability network for live event venues, founded in 2021 in partnership between Oak View Group (Pollstar‘s parent company), Fenway Sports Group, the Atlanta Hawks, and Jason F. McLennan.
This year, VenuesNow Conference expanded to three days with a new half-day of programming focused on sustainability that was curated in partnership with GOAL. VNC continues through Thursday.
Climate Pledge Arena
Moody Center
Co-op Live
UBS Arena
Anfield
Target Field
State Farm Arena
Subaru Park
Kaseya Center
Fenway Park
Spectrum Center
Grand Casino Arena
Acrisure Arena
Rocket Arena
Wrigley Field
Gainbridge Fieldhouse
Chip Ganassi Racing
Yas Marina Circuit
PHX Arena
Benchmark International Arena
Foley Ent – Lee’s Family Forum
Canada Life Place
BOK Center
PPG Paints Arena
Mullett Arena
Arvest Convention Center
Enterprise Center
CFG Bank Arena
Beaver Stadium
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