Leading The Charge: Christy Castillo Butcher Continues to Build On Legacy With World Cup, Super Bowl

Every city has its luminaries who have propelled live entertainment to new heights and reshaped their markets. Los Angeles has a rich history of legends at local venues who started a movement, like Claire Rothman, who helped make the Forum an iconic arena during the “Showtime” Lakers era. Or Larry Vallon, who helped make Universal Amphitheater one of the most beloved venues on the West Coast; and Lee Zeidman, who ran Staples Center/Crypto.com Arena from its inception and helped turn it into a global brand.

Another person well on her way to becoming a Los Angeles venue luminary is Christy Castillo Butcher, whose leadership at SoFi Stadium since its opening in Sept. 2020 has propelled the Inglewood landmark to the top of Pollstar’s venue charts and reshaped the stadium experience for artists and fans in L.A., making her a well-deserved Pollstar Women of Live Cover Honoree.

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Though SoFi Stadium has only been open for five and half years, the $5 billion home of the L.A. Rams and Chargers of the NFL is already one of the most influential buildings in live entertainment, hosting a Super Bowl in 2022, drawing soccer fans from across the globe with dozens of international matches and attracting some of the biggest music acts, including megastars like Taylor Swift, Bad Bunny, Beyoncé, The Rolling Stones and BTS. The 70,000-capacity venue has grossed more than $633 million and moved 3.65 million tickets since July 2021, according to box office reports submitted to Pollstar.

“2025 was a record-breaking year for SoFi Stadium and Hollywood Park, and I am proud of the team for successfully managing 36 global events alongside a full NFL schedule and international soccer matches in advance of the FIFA World Cup,” says Castillo Butcher, senior vice president of booking and programming at SoFi Stadium and Hollywood Park.

Castillo Butcher and her team’s work helped the venue finish No. 3 on Pollstar’s 2025 Year End Worldwide Top 100 Stadiums chart with a whopping $236 million grossed. With that success at the box office, it’s no wonder it took home the Stadium of the Year statue at the most recent Pollstar Awards.

And to think it all could have ended up very differently nearly eight years ago.

When approached by the executives behind the development of the stadium and Hollywood Park, Castillo Butcher was at a crossroads in her life. She was approaching 19 years working for AEG Presents booking Staples Center (now Crypto.com Arena) and Microsoft Theater (Now Peacock Theater) in Downtown L.A. and was thinking about stepping away from the business.

“My [twin] girls were going to be 9, and I thought I needed to be more physically present over the next nine years,” says Castillo Butcher. “I didn’t want to regret it.”

Castillo Butcher was contacted by stadium execs and offered an opportunity to spearhead events at L.A.’s shiny new venue, but she was determined to make time for her family.

“My initial conversation with them was like, ‘No, it sounds amazing, but it’s going to be somebody else’s amazing opportunity. This is just the wrong time for me.’”

The organization understood her position but didn’t move on from its favorite candidate. They continued engaging with the seasoned venue executive and were willing to be flexible with her so she could be present for her family and book entertainment at the stadium.

It was ultimately an offer she couldn’t refuse.

“I thought, ‘I’ll be able to do this because of the generous flexibility they were giving me at the time,’” she says. “… I owe it to the organization that I work for, to their vision, that they believed in me and allowed that flexibility.”

As a female executive in a male-dominated industry, it was refreshing for Castillo Butcher to see the SoFi team’s openness and willingness to discuss balancing personal life and work. It set the tone for what to expect at the Inglewood stadium and only furthered the notion that communication is essential in this business.

“I don’t know what it’s like to be a man. I think that’s what we need: to be open to that and open to learning from each other and our differences,” Castillo Butcher says. “In order to accomplish what we’re accomplishing, it takes a village, and we need each other.”

It also takes a diverse group to pull off what SoFi Stadium has achieved over the past five years. Castillo Butcher believes having a workforce that reflects the community is good for business and can influence others to pursue the same in their companies.

“It’s good business to have women at the table, to have people of different backgrounds and ages at the table because we’re serving so many demographics,” says Castillo Butcher, who added that industry women like Melissa Ormond of AEG and Jenna Adler of Creative Artists Agency helped her overcome some challenges with their “nuggets of wisdom,” and such camaraderie is needed to elevate and encourage women in the industry.

“Audiences really appreciate that, and it starts to tell a story,” she says.

Castillo Butcher’s story at SoFi Stadium began in October of 2018, nearly two years before it opened, and she made a statement with the venue’s first live shows booked in 2021: everyone is welcome. She made sure the inclusivity of SoFi Stadium’s team was reflected in the programming, and the venue’s show history proves it with diverse acts like Los Bukis, BTS, Paul McCartney, Kenny Chesney, The Weeknd and Red Hot Chili Peppers, an L.A. staple, gracing L.A.’s biggest stage in the first two years following the pandemic shutdowns.

“Christy has always understood that great venues are more than just buildings; they’re cultural platforms that reflect the artists and fans they serve,” Hans Schafer, Live Nation’s senior vice president of global touring, says. “Over the years, she’s been a genuine supporter of the growth of Latin touring and the importance of creating space for those artists on the biggest stages.”

Schafer previously worked at AEG and often worked with Castillo Butcher when she was at the L.A. Live venues. Their paths continue to cross, most recently with booking iconic Mexican band Los Bukis, who concluded their reunion tour with a two-night stand at the stadium in February.

“It was an incredibly meaningful tour for the Latin community, and the fact that the band chose to open and close their reunion at SoFi Stadium speaks to the kind of trust and partnership Christy has built with artists and promoters,” Schafer says. “Her vision, openness, and genuine respect for the culture behind the music have helped make SoFi not just one of the most successful venues in the world, but one of the most culturally relevant as well.”

Castillo Butcher’s ability to build and maintain strong relationships has helped her book the biggest global acts, but her legacy as a venue executive in the live entertainment industry is much more than the list of artists she’s hosted in one of her buildings.

She admits to wondering about her legacy, asking herself, “What are we leaving behind?” Castillo Butcher believes it’s bringing younger people, especially women, up with her to run venues and teams, and she’s not wrong with that answer. SoFi Stadium has women in various executive roles, including Jenn Sandstrom, VP of booking and programming.

“When I’m building a team, as I’ve been able to do here and at my previous employer, I build with smart women around me, with a diverse group of ages and backgrounds,” Castillo Butcher says. “It’s just always been one of my north stars.”

But as Schafer alluded to, Castillo Butcher’s legacy goes beyond the confines of a stadium. In a city that oozes culture in nearly every corner, from the architectural design of Downtown L.A. buildings to the taco truck in the San Fernando Valley to historic movie theaters in Hollywood, it’s no easy feat to successfully contribute to SoCal’s vibrant, busy scene in such way that it makes Angelenos not only feel like it belongs but also like it’s always been there.

Only someone born in a hospital on Sunset Boulevard, who grew up in Rowland Heights and graduated from Cal State Fullerton — an Angeleno through and through — could instill SoCal flavor into every venue they worked, from the Anaheim Arena (Now Honda Center, where she began her career) to L.A. Live and now SoFi Stadium and Hollywood Park.

That’s Castillo Butcher’s magic touch, her legacy, one that not only kicks the door open but also demonstrates how to approach the path beyond it that can lead to balance, success and fulfillment. That’s a north star worth following.