2026 Impact 50 Honoree: Michael Smardak

Michael Smardak
Founder & Co-CEO
Outback Presents

BY THE NUMBER: 30. the years Outback is celebrating as it begins a strategic partnership with AEG Presents.
Activity outside of work that keeps you sane? “It’s a self-indulgence, but my sickness of collecting sneakers.”

Having not only built and remained one of the most active independent concert promoters in the industry, founder and co-CEO Mike Smardak seems more than ready to continue that growth in a big way.

“I’m extremely proud of our strategic partnership with AEG Presents,” he says following a deal with the world’s second-biggest concert promoter. “We share the same vision for comedy’s growth trajectory and look forward to identifying new opportunities to expand our international business while continuing to grow our domestic reach. We’ve invested tremendous effort into building our team for the future, and the additions of Jackie Naparlo, Shane Shuhart and Christine Melko-Ross mark the next phase of our growth as we continue cultivating deeper relationships with our venue partners and artist teams.”

Smardak says there’s much to look forward to, including the conclusion of Nate Bargatze’s epic, 18-month tour “Big Dumb Eyes Tour” and Shane Gillis’ largest headline gig yet, a whopper, too, at Lincoln Financial Field in front of 70,000 fans.

“(Comedy) is not always a wheels-up-to-wheels-down model like a music tour, it’s about sustaining consistent weekend business, routing strong markets effectively and putting artists in the right rooms,” says Smardak, who notes other upcoming tours and dates by Nikki Glaser, Leanne Morgan and the fourth year of 312 Comedy Festival. “We aren’t impervious to broader economic challenges, but this structure gives us the ability to recalibrate and adapt more strategically to changing buying patterns, particularly during periods of high inflation. We just want to keep doing good business.”

He suggests any “Blue Dot Fever” is due to more transparency facing the public and a more savvy customer.

“It means that the fans are feeling more informed and we need to more readily adapt to their buying patterns,” Smardak says. “Just like the education of all-in ticket pricing, we will find a way to bridge the gap and do what we do best, which is promote.”