The Year In Venue Development: Building The Live Infrastructure

The live entertainment momentum continues to reach new heights, and the venue industry has done its part to match the demand of the artist, athlete and fan. First-class venue development has continued at a rapid clip, with creative mixed-use projects, major arena renovations and new clubs and theaters springing up in 2023.

There is no better example of raising the bar in the bells-and-whistles department than Sphere, MSG’s modern marvel of technology acting as a beacon — figuratively and literally — on the Las Vegas Strip, where it takes something extraordinary to get noticed, let alone light up the skyline. The $2.3 billion project pushes the envelope in technology with its exosphere providing high-profile messaging opportunities to the point that some forget about what’s happening inside: One of the world’s biggest bands of all time is holding a regular residency there, with U2 kicking off its “U2:UV Achtung Baby Live at Sphere” show at the 20,000-capacity venue in September.

With Sphere as an example of a shiny new object in a city already known for glitz and glamor, other new venues coming online this year show a commitment to revitalizing longstanding communities or growing alongside developing markets.

The Charm City known as Baltimore got a refresh with CFG Bank Arena, an extensive $250 million renovation of the old Royal Farms Arena that has transformed the city’s live music scene. Kicking off April 7 with Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, the venue has gone on to host everyone from the Eagles to Monster Jam to Billy Strings to KISS. The project was privately funded and spearheaded by Oak View Group, Pollstar’s parent company.

In Clarksville, Tennessee, F&M Bank Arena has set out to — and gone a long way toward — establish an entertainment district in downtown Clarksville, 50 miles northwest of Nashville, which helps set up Montgomery County as a destination for sports competitions, family tours and concerts. Owned by Montgomery County and managed by Sabertooth Sports & Entertainment, F&M Bank Arena officially opened Sept. 15 with a concert by Justin Moore.

Similarly, the new Steelhouse in Omaha, Nebraska, is putting that market on the
map for concerts as a state-of-the-art 3,000-capacity indoor venue designed to attract touring productions. It is the newest addition to the Omaha Performing Arts (O-pa) collection of venues. It opened May 12 with a concert by The Killers, and has since hosted Counting Crows, Elvis Costello, Blackberry Smoke, Matt Rife and many others.

In St. Louis, CityPark is the new home of Major League Soccer’s St. Louis City SC, being called the first of the next generation of MLS venues. The 22,500-seat facility in many ways solidifies the downtown sports and entertainment corridor and serves as a catalyst for additional development in the city’s inner core. The $458 million project fits into the city’s downtown while offering the latest amenities and premium opportunities, including 3,300 premium seats within the facility’s 28 suites and 32 pitch boxes.

Venue development is taking place on the club side and in already-saturated major markets, too, such as The Bellwether in Los Angeles, a 1,600-capacity, 45,000-square-foot venue. It’s a partnership between Teragram Presents and Another Planet Entertainment, taking an existing structure once owned by Prince that had gone through several facelifts and required a lot of work ahead of its July 11 opening with Phantogram.
Another example is the indoor/outdoor Salt Shed in Chicago, the latest venture from 16” On Center’s Bruce Finkelman and Craig Golden, the team behind prominent Chicago-area clubs Empty Bottle, Thalia Hall, Evanston SPACE, Beauty Bar and The Promontory. The multi-venue site, built on a vacant former Morton Salt warehouse, features the 5,000-capacity Fairgrounds, which opened last year, and The Shed, a 3,600-capacity indoor performance hall that opened in February.

The renovated $20 million Shed has hosted artists including Big Gigantic, Cigarettes After Sex, Death Cab for Cutie, Fleet Foxes, Galantis, Japanese Breakfast, Run the Jewels, The Postal Service, The Roots, Thundercat, Tove Lo and Ween.