Booking: Arenas & Stadiums (VenuesNow Conference Panel Recap) 

MODERATOR
Michael Owens, SVP, Live Entertainment, Moody Center / Oak View Group

SPEAKERS
Antony Bonavita, EVP, Chief Venues & Development Officer, Rock Entertainment Group | Cleveland Cavaliers
Becky Colwell, General Manager, Kia Forum & VP, Live Events, Intuit Dome, Halo Sports & Entertainment
Geni Lincoln, President, California Region, Live Nation
Jen Sandstrom, VP, Programming & Booking, SoFi Stadium, YouTube Theater, and Hollywood Park
Elyse Scally, VP, Live Entertainment, Legends Global

With the “Booking: Arenas & Stadiums” panel taking place after lunch on Wednesday, moderator Michael Owens, SVP, Live Entertainment at Moody Center / Oak View Group, announced that he was going to “help dust the cobwebs off with a role-playing exercise.” Owens explained he’d get to show off his best agent/promoter impersonation and challenge the panelists to fire back their best counterarguments to common reasons why an artist might not want to play their building. 

The entire panel was a fun time with lots of laughs – and that should be no surprise as life is good – for the most part – in the arenas and stadiums world.

“Stadium business is off the charts, which is a good thing for me,” noted Elyse Scally, VP of Live Entertainment at Legends Global (previously known as ASM Global / Legends). “I think a lot of that is the fan demand, through social media, wanting the grand experience and memory to then post and tell their friends about. I think from the artist’s perspective they’re realizing that’s what the fans want, so they’re building outrageous productions so that the fan then gets to post it and have that moment. As long as the fans keep wanting it and keep buying it, I think stadium plays are here to stay.”

The panel was also an opportunity to get a peek at some friendly competition between arenas and stadiums – and more specifically, the competition in Inglewood, California, as demonstrated by Becky Colwell, who serves as General Manager of the Kia Forum and VP of Live Events, Intuit Dome and Jen Sandstrom, VP, Programming & Booking, SoFi Stadium, YouTube Theater, and Hollywood Park.

“I look at stadium shows and think you could have done five nights at an arena. That makes more financial sense for me,” Colwell said.

In response, Sandstrom noted, “And I look at what you did with 15 plays you had a little while back and that could have been 5 stadium shows.”  

Colwell added, “I see a stadium act and think, what’s their next play? What do you do after you play the largest  venues in the world, maybe you come back down to the arenas and we start talking to them about ‘Hey, let’s do multiple nights, you’re still enormous, you’re beloved, you could come and sit here and not move in and out, it may be cheaper production night. We’ve got two venues to choose from.”

Sandstrom then brought up how she’s now seeing stadium acts that will share production: “The first time I heard that i was like ‘How is that possible?’ And that’s really opened the doors because that cost has come down considerably for each act. For us, it’s almost like running an arena in that we can have one act on a Friday, a different act on a Saturday and close it out with someone entirely different on Sunday. … And PS, Becky and I get along great. We’re very fortunate that LA does well, all of our buildings are busy all the time. That’s the true goal. As long as we’re both busy, we’re good.”

What to do about young people drinking less – “at least compared to back in the day,” as Owens said – and how that affected F&B caps, was a big topic during the discussion, with Owens asking if any venues were making up for the sales with cannabis products. 

“I’m not drinking less, definitely drinking a lot more,” quipped Antony Bonavita, EVP, Chief Venues & Development Officer at Rock Entertainment Group / Cleveland Cavaliers. “They are drinking something, they may not be drinking alcohol. There are a lot of new products out there. People are eating … We’re trying ready hard to make sure we’re a place for everyone, whether it’s vegan, peanut-free, all of that. We really try to dig in and understand, especially demographically, the market. … We gotta pay attention and keep evolving.”

Colwell pointed out the need to come up with creative food packages and drink specials, along with merch pop-ups, including the day before a show if possible.

Sandstrom added that one example of creativity that became FOMO for fans wanting to get their hands on the product was the Cowboy Cocktail Cup supporting Beyoncé’s “Cowboy Carter Tour” at SoFi Stadium, which was awarded the Best New Concept In Food & Drink as part of Pollstar’s Excellence In Concessions Awards earlier this year. 

Outside of Rolling Loud selling weed on site at its California edition, held March 15-16 at Hollywood Park, Sandstrom said, “That’s a step and that’s coming I think.”

Another panelist said, “We’re looking into it … not going to say anything on the record but it comes up a lot.”

Owens brought up the polarizing political environment in the U.S. and asked if panelists were seeing an impact to their respective businesses, particularly on the Latin and regional touring front. 

Commenting on shows held at the Moody Center in Austin, Owens noted, “We’re seeing a reduction in drop counts, fans are reluctant to show up out of fear and artists  are canceling or choosing not to tour.”

In California, Geni Lincoln, who serves as President, California Region for Live Nation, said that the promoter is in a highly successful Latin market, especially in Southern California – “I’d say to be totally honest, it continues.” Lincoln went on to reference Shakira’s shows in Los Angeles and Fresno, as well as MANA breaking the record at the Forum in Inglewood and the big numbers younger artists like Peso Pluma was doing. 

Scally added, “California venues still doing well, but i think across the board yes, there’s been a reduction in Latin programming across the board.”

To make one’s venue stand out – especially those in secondary markets – it’s all about showing you care. 

“We want to be memorable because we’re not a must-play stop. We want to take care of the stage manager, the promoter who’s traveling with [artists], get the hotels they want or figuring out what type of chocolate they want,” Bonavita said. “We just do everything we possibly can to be memorable. … [It’s] taking care of truck drivers, giving them a place to shower and clean towels, so they remember Cleveland and we treated them right. We try to dig in and understand what really drives them, what’s important to them … and encourages [staff] to focus on the entire team, not just the artist.”