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UNM officials look for new name to The Pit

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The Pit, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque

An iconic arena in the Mountain West Conference is looking to rename the home of its mid-major Men’s and Women’s basketball program.

Officials with the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque have announced plans to sell the naming rights to the 15,400-seat arena, officially renamed The Pit in 2009 although colloquially- used by fans since the building first opened in 1966.

University officials are hoping to generate about $10-$15 million for the name, explained Deputy Athletic Director Tim Cass, who said extra cash would help New Mexico shoulder its $3 million annual burden of paying off debt on the facility’s $60-million renovation done in 2010.

“The funding model was predicated on getting a naming gift so it has posed challenges to us to find additional resources,” Cass said.

The current name remains wildly popular and Cass said the university is hoping that the naming rights buyer would keep ‘The Pit’ somewhere in the title, although it’s unclear how this will be accomplished.

“We do not want to lose the name ‘The Pit.’ We feel like it’s iconic to the building,” Cass said. 

Jesse Rybeck with Premier Partnerships, a naming rights agency with offices in New York and Los Angeles (and is not currently involved in the sponsor search for UNM) said that college arena naming rights present an interesting proposition for corporate brands.

“When you’re dealing with a mid-major school that’s not one of the major college conferences, the biggest asset they bring to the table is their regional presence,” he said. “These arenas are an important part of the local community and in a state like New Mexico with a growing population but no major sports franchise, often it’s a chance to get on the ground and build a new customer base.”

College deals typically average $2-$3 million for a Division I school, and run usually for five- to 10-year increments. Rybeck said the 2003 Fresno (Calif.) State agreement for the Save Mart Center was a good benchmark for the Mountain West Conference, equaling about $2 million a year for 20 years. Two other comparable deals for arenas in the Mountain West Conference — Boise (Idaho) State’s Taco Bell Arena and San Diego State’s Viejas Arena, generated $4 million for 15 years and $6.9 million for 10 years, respectively.

Cass said New Mexico would also be open to a naming rights deal for University Stadium, the football team’s home.

Last year the school named the new turf Branch Field because of a $1.5-million gift from the family behind the Branch Law Firm.

Interviewed for this article: Tom Cass, (505) 925-5510; Jesse Rybeck, (646) 741-3053
 


ALSD Presenters Talk Tech

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Chaitenya Razdan from Parking Panda presented technological innovations along with Dorian Pieracci and Daniel Kagan from Ticket Market Solutions. (VT Photo)

REPORTING FROM ORLANDO, FLA. — Technology continues to evolve at a rapid pace and it seems like new technology companies come online each day with hopes of being the next big thing. During the Association of Luxury Suite Directors conference here, June 30-July 3, Chairman Bill Dorsey picked out a few technology companies that he sees as rising stars in a panel called “The Secret Sauce,” and Lua Technologies made an impression during “The Solutions: What Works.”

As the secondary market continues to grow, venues and teams are beginning to try to find ways to work within the market as opposed to just rallying against it.

“The primary and secondary markets are nearly identical sizes now, with only a couple billion dollars in difference,” said Dorsey. “One is $18- to $19-billion with the other being $15 billion, which is the secondary market.”

“If you’re a team and you’re giving away $15 billion to the enemy, it seems like why don’t you become the enemy a little bit,” he added.

Ticket Market Solutions (TMS) allows teams and facilities to become that enemy, in a sense, while maintaining confidentiality.

“It’s an anonymous way for the primary issuer to get involved in the secondary market without having to use a broker as the middleman,” said the company’s Dan Kagan.

TMS puts inventory on more than 500 different secondary market sales channels to help the primary issuer capture secondary-market revenue. They take a percentage of revenue brought in, not per ticket, so the company has an incentive to keep the tickets competitively priced and not liquidate inventory.

“That ensures that we’re not going to cannibalize your tickets, but work as a partner,” said Dorian Pieracci of TMS. “There are sales occurring on the secondary market regardless of whether or not teams choose to be a part of it.”

“There’s a sophistication to how TMS releases tickets onto the market,” he added. “We try to create some sort of parity between the sites.”

TMS currently works with Saint Mary’s College in Moraga, Calif., for the NCAA and Conference Tournaments, some NASCAR tracks, and several professional teams that retain anonymity.

Kagan said that the model works with both premium inventory and events that aren’t selling as well.

“It’s really difficult to price tickets. If people could price them perfectly, there wouldn’t be a secondary market and there wouldn’t be an opportunity for arbitrage,” he said. “By taking your tickets to the secondary market, we allow teams and venues to capture the upside in premium events, and to still capture sales in distressed events.”

One of the pro sports teams saw more than $1.7 million of additional revenue from using TMS during its season. TMS charges a 10-percent fee with a 15-percent channel fee. The channel fee is a cost that’s charged to any person, group or company that tries to sell on any of the secondary markets, which is an intrinsic cost of doing business on the secondary market that TMS will pass on to the venue or team.

Dorsey said that in his surveys of what is important when it comes to premium seating, the most important amenity is parking. He added that parking has become such a hot commodity that venues are even beginning to go outside of their walls because they simply don’t have enough space.

Parking Panda works with local garages and spaces to allow people coming to events to reserve parking spots near, but not at, a venue. One of their main clients is Monumental Sports in Washington, which actually doesn’t own any of parking.

“We help their consumers and attendees make sure they have parking right by the arena, and being able to integrate that at the time of purchase is a great additional revenue source,” said the company’s Head of Partnerships Chaitenya Razdan.

They don’t charge teams for the service, instead making money by partnering with local garages that pay the Parking Panda a transaction fee. Parking Panda will also give the team some of the transaction revenue.

The company has been around for two years and continues to make technologically innovative improvements.

“We have a new technology that we call Koala, because we always try to come up with cute animal names, that allows the customer to open the parking gate through their phone, so we can work with garages without attendants, too,” added Razdan. “Parking is a major pain point for customers, so we’re just making sure we help ensure the fan experience is tremendous from beginning to end.”

Barclays Center has started using Lua Technologies’ secure communications system to keep its staff connected at all times. The mobile product includes real-time messaging, conference calling, file sharing, and accountability features to link all employees together.

“It’s divided into three zones: People, Talk, and Files,” said Lua Technologies’ Eli Bronner. There is an iPhone app, web app, and Android app.

“The interactive directory breaks down everyone by position and department for the most accurate digital reflection of an organization,” said Bronner. “Also, if you click on any message you can see who has and has not read the message, which is great for accountability.”

Lua is used by the Suite Sales, Premium Ticket Sales, and Premium, Suite and VIP Guest Services teams at Barclays Center.

“It has been very helpful for our sales team. Everyone downloaded the app — it was as simple as that,” said Dan Lefton, VP Suite Sales & Premium Seating at Barclays Center. “It’s really cleaned up all of the internal email that clogs inboxes during events.”

“Event check-in is also great. Before, the suites coordinator would have to hit up reps individually, but now it’s efficient to just check Lua and get real-time attendance,” he added.

Interviewed for this story: Eli Bronner, hello@luatechnologies.com; Bill Dorsey, (513) 674-0555; Daniel Kagan and Dorian Pieracci, (415) 459-0180; Chaitenya Razdan, (800) 232-6415

 

Naming Rights: SAP Center

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The rebranded SAP Center in San Jose, Calif.

The new naming rights deal between the National Hockey League's San Jose (Calif.) Sharks and SAP Software came to pass because of a joke.

Sharks' majority owner and SAP co-founder Hasso Plattner had kidded Hewlett-Packard President and CEO Meg Whitman about giving up naming rights to San Jose's arena. Eventually she took him up on the offer and the change from HP Pavillion to SAP Center at San Jose was born.

The Sharks, the city of San Jose and SAP announced earlier this month that SAP would buy out the final two years of HP's deal and extend the contract for an additional three years.

Payments will be split between the city of San Jose, which owns the building, and the San Jose Sharks hockey team. The annual payment will be $1.675 million with total revenue of $8.375 million over five years.

“It makes a lot of common sense to have SAP on the building,” said John Tortora, who was recently named the Sharks' CEO. “By the same token, SAP as a company had to make the right decision for themselves. They had to evaluate the branding opportunity the arena presented to them and do it for the right reasons.”

The reasons, in large part, are because of SAP's recent deluge of opportunities to bring their analytic software capabilities into the sporting realm.

The company, which was founded in 1972, worked with the National Basketball Association to bring historical and advanced statistics to its website NBA.com. They are also working with them to bring analytical data to the San Francisco 49ers as a part of a naming rights deal for the 49ers' practice facility.

In fact, 49ers' CEO Jed York credited SAP's analytical work for their drafting of star quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who led San Francisco to the Super Bowl last season.

SAP is now looking to bring similar technological advances to the Sharks as part of the deal.

“We are going to be working with them to get better analytics to their fans,” SAP Chief Marketing Officer Jonathan Becher said. “We're going to be working with them to do things like scouting and working with them to improve their stadium operations. And because we're the title sponsor, we can kind of use it as an incubation engine to try out all the new things we want to do for the fan experience.”

39614129.jpgThe German-headquartered software company has targeted the 49ers and Sharks because the San Francisco Bay area serves as one of its largest outposts. SAP has approximately 3,500 employees in the region.

But while location played a role in SAP putting its name atop the arena, which has reported 100- percent attendance for Sharks games every year since 2008, the naming rights sponsorship also gives them a chance to use the team as an example of how their business works.

“We don't stick our name any place just for eyeballs,” Becher said. “We're not an impulse buy. People don't see our logo and go buy $5 worth of software. What we're doing is trying to find ways to tell an authentic experience about how a company or venue or organization that we partner with is running better.”

The SAP Center was built in 1993 and designed by Sink Combs Dethlefs. The arena has a wireless network for fans already, but Tortora said the Sharks hope their relationship with SAP will work to further improve the building's technology.

“We are going to evaluate their needs, our needs and the needs of the fans as well,” he said. “Fans' input into this process will be critical. Over time, you'll see some initiatives rolled out to enhance the fan experience, to enhance the partnership and to make the building more tech savvy.”

The arena was known originally as “The Shark Tank.” It wasn't until 2001 when naming rights were first sold. In 2002, Hewlett-Packard bought the rights.

Still “The Tank” has been a nickname hard to shake.

“It is catchy and cool,” said Tortora, who worked in the NHL office in New York City for 15 years. “So we recognize the popularity of 'The Shark Tank' name and embrace it to some extent, but we obviously would prefer to get people saying the SAP name.”

Tortora said part of rebranding the new name will come from major concert acts stopping in San Jose throughout the summer such as Bruno Mars, One Direction, Pink and Josh Groban.

As for where the sponsorship might take SAP, Becher said they hope to work with the NHL on improving statistics and arena management around the league. Maybe that will start with a little quip, too.

Interviewed for this story: Jonathan Becher, (415) 694-8554; John Tortora, (408) 287-7070
 

Q&A with Jack Rubin, President of the Tessitura Network

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photo1.jpgJack Rubin, President of the Tessitura Network

REPORTING FROM SAN FRANCISCO — After four intensive days of training, idea sharing and collaboration, the Tessitura Learning & Community Conference, July 14-18, is set to wrap tomorrow with a closing luncheon speech by company president Jack Rubin.

Venues Today caught up with Rubin prior to Wednesday's closing night gala to discuss the lessons learned at this year's conference and hear more about the features in Tessitura's latest solutions upgrade, Version 12.

We’re now on Day 4 of the conference — what have been some standout moments for you during TLCC?

We’re introducing so many capabilities that can help organizations run their businesses smarter and more efficiently and produce more revenue. I’m seeing so many lightbulb moments from the attendees that are learning from both the software and their peers, whether that’s best practices, ideas they’ve never dreamed about or capabilities that they never knew were possible.

A big part of this conference is user feedback on the platform design process. Can you speak to the collaboration that occurs at TLCC?

We’re a community-owned company and utilize a concept of community-driven design. We have an evolving road map and while we’ve launched new releases every year, we realize that our software has so many capabilities that we need our members to tell us where the enhancements would be helpful and how to prioritize them. When we started our new architecture approach in 2009, we had a prioritization roadmap for big concepts. We held a summit in Chicago and continued with online surveys and discussions and then our conferences, where we outlined 14 major goals to accomplish. Users help us ask the question — ‘Is this the right way to go this year, now that we know what worked last year?’ The launch of Version 12 is the biggest functional release in the company and we’re introducing capabilities that impact the entire organization. Both Version 12 and 12.5 are coming out this year and are already in beta. Both will aid in dynamic pricing, utilize the concepts of plans and portfolios, enhance moves management capabilities for development departments and introduce CRM on-the-go with Tessitura Mobile.

During the Roadmapping Keynote with VP of Development Chuck Reif, one of the topics brought up was the importance of understanding constituencies and how individuals within those constituencies are connected with one another. What’s the business application of understanding these relationships?

It’s something we’ve had since we first launched Tessitura, but we’ve enhanced it much further. The idea is that messaging to a potential patron can be tailored to reflect all of their relationships, or perhaps, just certain relationships, whether that be at home, the office or within a community organization. When you call up somebody, you know all of the relationships your organization has with them.

During the keynote with Luke Wroblewski, he spoke about designing mobile with a mobile first mindset. How does that fit in with Tessitura’s strategy.

It’s about common sense and making it easy for people to deal with your organization. Historically, people have taken large screens and shrunk them down which causes consumers to start getting frustrated trying to view tons of information. The new interface capabilities have incredible flexibility to allow you to design both small screen and large screen views. As Luke said, both in his keynote address and follow up deep dive Q&A, it’s not about giving a consumer the most information you can. It’s about delivering the right information in a simple format.

At the end of today’s Roadmapping Session, Chuck Reif mentioned that Version 14 might include some type of line-busting application, similar to what’s used at the Apple Store. What’s the concept in a ticketing space?

We’re serving a growing number of museums, science centers and galleries and, in addition to that, we’ve had a growing number of theaters who want to offer a concierge-type service. For a museum on a busy day, we want to make sure we can drive people through quicker, while a theater might offer a roving service or a solution to quickly move crowds. Now that we have a graphical interface for Tessitura and the ability to move that capability to a tablet is here, part of the release cycle will include an application that allows for a roving admissions desk. Not only can you sell admissions and memberships, you’ll have some additional customer service capabilities. 

What happens after Tessitura concludes?

Well, hopefully after entertaining 1,300 clients for four days, our staff gets a little time to relax and enjoy San Francisco before heading back. More importantly, we have our priorities set and we know what we need to deliver and we’ve got some great feedback this week on adaptations. We’re in production beta with our next release and we’re looking to continue rolling that out over the summer. For the users, there is so much to take back. I just sat through a session that focused on how to go home to your organization and excite the executives or others who weren’t here. They were talking about how to distill out the most valuable ideas that can help transform their organization and operate better. One individual said he returned home last year with 10 major goals that could help an organization and he was pleased that he had already accomplished seven of them. We want people to be able to transfer what they’ve heard and learned from their peers and turn them into actionable, major, operational, revenue-driving, efficiency-producing activities, projects and capabilities that they’ll be able to implement. This is not just about Tessitura — this is a business insights and arts conference.

Contact: Jack Rubin, (888) 643-5778

Hot Tickets for July 17, 2013

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Fleetwood Mac Live 2013 at the Rose Garden in Portland, Ore., June 30. (Photo by Justin Brady)

Fleetwood Mac has wrapped up the 48-city North American run of their 2013 world tour, with the last U.S. show being July 6 at Sleep Train Arena in Sacramento, Calif. Two performances made this week's Hot Tickets, including a $1.5-million gross from Staples Center in Los Angeles, July 3, and a show at Rose Garden in Portland, Ore., that drew an audience of more than 12,000. Next, the band heads to Europe, starting with two dates at the O2 Dublin, Ireland, Sept. 20-22, followed by three performances at O2 Arena in London.

The dream of the 90s is alive on Hot Tickets. Pearl Jam brought nearly 10,000 fans to Budweiser Gardens in London, Ontario. Tickets were a flat price of $69.50 for the July 16 gig. Pearl Jam will play a sold-out show at Wrigley Field in Chicago, July 19, then take a break until Oct. 11 when they'll continue the North American tour at Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh.

HOT TICKETS is a weekly summary of the top acts and ticket sales as reported to VT PULSE. Following are the top 20 concerts and events, the top 5 in each seating capacity category, which took place between June 26-July 17.

15,001 or More Seats

10,001-15,000 Seats

5,001-10,000 Seats

5,000 or Fewer Seats




1) Kenny Chesney
Gross Sales: $2,273,594; Venue: Columbus (Ohio) Crew Stadium; Attendance: 27,571; Ticket Range: $179-$29; Promoter: The Messina Group; Dates: June 29; No. of Shows: 1



 2) Fleetwood Mac
Gross Sales: $1,533,860; Venue: Staples Center, Los Angeles; Attendance: 14,057; Ticket Range: $149.50-$59.50; Promoter: Live Nation; Dates: July 3; No. of Shows: 1

3) Beyonce
Gross Sales: $1,463,194; Venue: Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, Tenn.; Attendance: 14,123; Ticket Range: $254.50-$49.50; Promoter: Live Nation; Dates: July 13; No. of Shows: 1

4) Justin Bieber
Gross Sales: $1,198,621; Venue: United Center, Chicago; Attendance: 14,547; Ticket Range: $95-$45; Promoter: AEG Live; Dates: July 9; No. of Shows: 1

5) Fleetwood Mac
Gross Sales: $1,192,733; Venue: Rose Quarter, Portland, Ore.; Attendance: 12,075; Ticket Range: $149.50-$29.50; Promoter: Live Nation; Dates: June 30; No. of Shows: 1

 




1) Rush
Gross Sales: $1,202,326; Venue: Halifax (Nova Scotia) Metro Centre; Attendance: 13,054; Ticket Range: $120.98-$67.96; Promoter: evenko, Live Nation; Dates: July 12, 14; No. of Shows: 2

2) Pearl Jam
Gross Sales: $635,032; Venue: Budweiser Gardens, London, Ontario; Attendance: 9,687; Ticket Range: $69.50; Promoter: Paul Mercs Concerts; Dates: July 16; No. of Shows: 1

3) The Black Keys
Gross Sales: $530,783; Venue: Charter Amphitheatre, Greenville, S.C.; Attendance: 11,964; Ticket Range: $54.50-$39.50; Promoter: NS2, AEG Live, Frank Productions, C3 Presents; Dates: July 12; No. of Shows: 1



 4) The Go-Go’s
Gross Sales: $245,773; Venue: Pacific Amphitheatre, Costa Mesa, Calif.; Attendance: 7,898; Ticket Range: $51.50-$21.50; Promoter: OC Fair & Event Center, The Pacific Amphitheatre; Dates: July 14; No. of Shows: 1



 5) Alice In Chains
Gross Sales: $239,760; Venue: Budweiser Gardens, London, Ontario; Attendance: 4,801; Ticket Range: $57.10-$31.19; Promoter: Live Nation; Dates: July 11; No. of Shows: 1

 








1) Victor Manuelle
Gross Sales: $321,700; Venue: Radio City Music Hall, New York; Attendance: 5,226; Ticket Range: $95-$55; Promoter: Swing Factory Mgmt. & Promotions, Inc.; Dates: June 29; No. of Shows: 1



 2) Guy, Tony! Toni! Tone!, Dru Hill, SWV, Al B Sure
Gross Sales: $250,340; Venue: Greek Theatre, Los Angeles; Attendance: 4,777; Ticket Range: $120-$15; Promoter: Nederlander; Dates: July 5; No. of Shows: 1



 3) Brendon Clark Invitational
Gross Sales: $215,613; Venue: Newcastle (Australia) Entertainment Centre; Attendance: 3,430; Ticket Range: $160-$50; Promoter: Professional Bull Riders; Dates: July 6; No. of Shows: 1



 4) Ian Anderson
Gross Sales: $214,595; Venue: Greek Theatre, Los Angeles; Attendance: 4,329; Ticket Range: $85-$12.50; Promoter: Nederlander; Dates: July 6; No. of Shows: 1

5) WWE Live
Gross Sales: $155,000; Venue: U.S. Cellular Center, Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Attendance: 4,100; Ticket Range: $65-$15; Promoter: World Wrestling Entertainment; Dates: June 26; No. of Shows: 1

 








1) Celine Dion
Gross Sales: $2,112,720; Venue: The Colosseum at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas; Attendance: 15,456; Ticket Range: $250-$55; Promoter: Concerts West, AEG Live, Caesars Entertainment; Dates: July 2-6; No. of Shows: 4



 2) The Addams Family
Gross Sales: $663,382; Venue: Keller Auditorium, Portland, Ore.; Attendance: 14,764; Ticket Range: $78.75-$23.75; Promoter: US Bank Broadway Across America Portland; Dates: June 25-30; No. of Shows: 8

3) Gregory Charles
Gross Sales: $349,088; Venue: Vintage Theatre, Montreal; Attendance: 4,012; Ticket Range: $106.52-$48.20; Promoter: evenko, Les Productions Gregory, Inc.; Dates: July 10-14; No. of Shows: 5



 4) Marisa Monte
Gross Sales: $291,310; Venue: Beacon Theatre, New York; Attendance: 4,732; Ticket Range: $90-$44.50; Promoter: Bowery Presents; Dates: June 26, 28; No. of Shows: 2

5) Guns N' Roses
Gross Sales: $262,124; Venue: Metropolis, Montreal; Attendance: 2,105; Ticket Range: $144.55-$120.46; Promoter: evenko, Live Nation, Greenland; Dates: July 14; No. of Shows: 1

 




The Weekly Hot Tickets chart is compiled by Daniel Gray. To submit reports, e-mail HotTickets@venuestoday.com or fax to (714) 378-0040.

New GM in Glebe Island

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Malu-Barrios.jpgMalu Barrios likes opening buildings. It's a challenge she's tackled with AEG Ogden before at Darwin Convention Centre in Australia's Northern Territory, where she stayed for five years. Barrios is set to do it all over again at Sydney Exhibition Centre at Glebe Island, an interim facility for conventions and exhibitions during the construction of International Convention Centre Sydney, due for completion in December 2016. The Glebe Island facility will be open for the 2014 season. 

"It's always very exciting and rewarding to put together the best possible team and open a brand new venue," said GM Malu Barrios. "Having had the opportunity to oversee this in Darwin and now in Sydney with such a great company as AEG Ogden makes it even more rewarding."

"Plus, contributing to Darwin's growth and recognition as a business events destination was most gratifying," she added. 

The Darwin Convention Centre opened July 2008, containing facilities for conferences and exhibitions with up to 4,000 delegates. Prior to her time at Darwin Convention Centre, Barrios served as GM of Sydney Showground for five years, operated by the Royal Agricultural Society of  New South Wales. Before that, she spent six years at the AEG Ogden-operated Brisbane (Australia) Convention and Exhibition Centre as events director.

Now, all of the focus is on preparing for events at Sydney Exhibition Centre at Glebe Island.

"Immediately following AEG Ogden's appointment, we commenced detailed discussions with each exhibition organiser and hirer to determine their needs," said Barrios. "We will soon commence staff recruitment and training in readiness for the venue opening for business in early 2014."

A person would be remiss to operate an interim venue without also looking ahead to the future. 

"The New South Wales Government has greatly assisted the industry by providing this interim facility at Glebe Island for the three years that ICC Sydney will be under construction," said Barrios. "Our involvement as operator now provides the opportunity for a seamless transition for events and staff to the new venue from the beginning of 2017."

Though executive positions have not been determined for the ICC Sydney facility, many of those at Sydney Exhibition Centre at Glebe Island will have the opportunity to move to positions at the new venue.

Congratulations 2013 Silver Spoon Award Winners!

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Venues Today 2013 Silver Spoon Award Winners and Honorable Mentions


BEST SUSTAINABILITY INITIATIVE FOR 2013

Minnesota’s Target Field ‘Roots for the Hometeam’

Sportservice and the Twins have teamed up with teenage students in Minneapolis and St. Paul for a program that gets young people into gardening. The foods grown in the program are used in the salads sold at Target Field. The vegetables the program uses are grown at community gardens. At the Emerge Homegrown Garden in north Minneapolis, students grow some two dozen plants, including collard greens, kale, broccoli and cabbage. About 20 percent of the produce grown at Emerge Homegrown will end up in salads at Target Field. Students also work at the stand selling the salads at Saturday/Sunday games during the summer. Profits go to the organization.

HONORABLE MENTION GOES TO:

Vancouver Convention Centre Donates To United We Can

In 2013, Centerplate’s executive team at the Vancouver (B.C.) Convention Centre executed a sustainability program that combined the dual goals of environmental and economic partnership and responsibility: United We Can. All of the building’s recyclables – wine and liquor bottles, and pop and beer cans and bottles – are donated to United We Can. Because those can be returned for money, this program capitalizes on opportunity while creating full-time and part-time jobs for low-income residents. To date, Centerplate has donated nearly 500,000 beverage containers, a value of $24,000 to this charity, allowing them to employ low-income residents to carry out social enterprises that benefit the local community.


BEST NEW CONCEPT IN FOOD AND DRINK FOR 2013

The Kitchen Experience

The Kitchen Experience brings Ovations’ chefs out to the floor, allowing them to interact with guests and demonstrate the execution of cuisine being freshly prepared. Large overhead adjustable mirrors capture the entire show and guests can tell the Chef directly how they would like their food cooked. The Kitchen is modular and can be strategically placed in any event space. Ovations at the Sioux Falls (S.D.) Convention Center invited city officials to the Center for a hands-on presentation of The Kitchen in March 2013. This new concept has been added to the wedding menu package in Sioux Falls.

HONORABLE MENTION GOES TO:

Edgar’s Cantina at Safeco Field in Seattle

To create Edgar’s Cantina, Centerplate, along with the Seattle Mariners, removed 384 seats from the center field bleachers at Safeco Field to make room for the two-level restaurant and bar. Located on the “Home Run Porch” in the outfield, Edgar’s features an innovative “Northwest Mex” menu created by Chef Ethan Stowell, avid Mariner’s fan. The cantina features a line of signature cocktails created by Seattle legend Anu Apte, owner of the Rob Roy lounge. These new drinks are all made with Zac, the specialty mezcal that the Cantina’s namesake, Edgar Martinez, and business partner Gene Juarez import from Mexico.


BEST NEW MENU ITEM FOR 2013

Beer Shakes

Minor League Baseball’s Charleston (S.C.) RiverDogs at Joseph R. Riley, Jr. Park and their Director of Food and Beverage John Schumacher introduced Beer Shakes made with beer and ice cream. They introduced three flavors involving local Palmetto Brewery, a regional brewery Sweet Water, and international brewery Guinness. Flavors include Palmetto Espresso, Porter Chocolate, Sweet Water Pale Ale 420 Strawberry, and Guinness Caramel. Each Beer Shake costs $6.

HONORABLE MENTION GOES TO:

Kuku Paka

Oregon Convention Center in Portland has introduced Kuku Paka. Executive Chef Allan Wambaa, from Nairobi, Kenya, introduced the dish. Kuku Paka is a Chili-Rubbed Draper Valley Chicken Skewer with an Oregon Hazelnut Crust seared on an Evo grill and served over West India Spiced Biryani Rice, which includes raisins, nutmeg, cinnamon, cardamom, and coriander. It is served with Tangy Njugu sauce —Kenyan style peanut sauce — and cabbage slaw.

 


 

International Soccer Comes to U.S. Stadia

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Real Madrid is one of eight teams participating in the Guinness International Champions Cup. (Photo by Real Madrid)

For millions of fans around the globe, soccer is the go-to sporting event. RSE Ventures’ soccer division, Relevent Sports, is hoping that passion will translate to the United States for their first International Champions Cup 2013.

The elimination-style tournament is an anomaly in soccer, where competitions are classically played in a round-robin style, where each team meets all other competitors on scheduled dates. The International Champions Cup (ICC) pits eight teams from across the globe — including the Premier League’s Chelsea F.C., Spanish League’s Real Madrid, and Major League Soccer’s LA Galaxy — against each other in a 12-day competition that meets its apex at Sun Life Stadium in Miami.

Relevent Sports CEO Charlie Stillitano said that the format of this tournament was very important to Steve Ross, owner of Sun Life Stadium, the Miami Dolphins, and co-founder of RSE Ventures with Matt Higgins.

According to Stillitano, Ross set out with the idea of an international soccer tournament with Miami as the focal point. 

“Steve Ross and Matt Higgins have a big stadium renovation planned for Sun Life Stadium and believe in Miami as a great soccer market,” he said.

Ross was set on having ICC structured a certain way, not sticking with the traditional round robin system. “We set up a couple of different groups and [Ross] said, ‘that’s not a tournament, a tournament is elimination like the NCAAs,’” recalled Stillitano.

Having an elimination tournament presented some challenges for the ICC from a marketing perspective because, until the games begin, it’s unclear which teams will be playing each other at each specific date.

“It’s very difficult to have a tournament that isn’t round robin in soccer because it’s not yet an established property,” said Stillitano. “It’s very different when you have the NCAA Final Four or the US Open in tennis where people will buy tickets for any given day and see some great players.”

“I think we’re trying to sell it by really just speaking honestly about it,” he added. “We have 35 of the top 100 players in the world. It’s remarkable the amount of talent you’re seeing.”

Two venues, Dodgers Stadium in Los Angeles and MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, will host doubleheaders, bringing four teams to the city. The finals at Sun Life Stadium, Aug. 6-7, will bring all eight teams to the field.

“It’s very different with single games. If you’re looking at one-offs, you can have a little advertising and if you have good ticket sales, you’ll end up doing well,” said Stillitano. Because the costs are higher in a tournament, ticket sales alone won’t always make an event a financial success. “In a tournament you’re looking at three areas you have to get right: tickets, sponsorship and TV.”

Tickets for the double-header at Dodgers Stadium, Aug. 3, start at $25, with pricing up to $550 for baseline club sideline seats. Stillitano said that even with four teams playing in one day, it’s important to keep tickets affordable for families.

“We can’t double the price — it’s not right for the fans,” he said. “A lot of the financial burden falls on us and on Steve Ross. We try to make it up with sponsorship and television deals, but it’s quite a challenge.”

Guinness has been secured as a title sponsor, and Insignia Sports & Entertainment’s Matt Grandis said that more sponsors will be announced this week.

“A tournament like this has never been done in the U.S., so it generates more buzz for sponsorship as well,” said Grandis. “We’re building a new property and investing a lot into it, but we’re excited about the opportunity to work on this as a property and build a great sponsor roster.”

schedule_teams_with_corners.jpg(Photo by Relevent Sports)

The sponsorship platform is international, with sponsors being brought on for the entire event, not just one game. Insignia Sports & Entertainment, part of RSE Ventures, also handled the television deal with Fox. The tournament will be broadcast in the U.S. on Fox Soccer, with other deals extending the reach to 150 countries. Also, the Real Madrid game at Dodger Stadium will be shown on the main Fox station.

When it comes to choosing the venues for the tournament, Stillitano said it was a combination of picking a good market and securing iconic venues. He said that baseball stadiums work particularly well for summer soccer because their teams are in season and can promote.

“In the summer, if we’re dealing with NFL stadia it’s tough because they’re not in season, but if we’re dealing with baseball and they have a home game, they can promote a game coming up a few days later,” said Stillitano.

Brad Hansen, senior event coordinator at San Francisco Giants/AT&T Park, said the stadium has had a few Relevent Sports staff on the promenade for promotions during recent baseball games. As of July 23, about 10,000 tickets had been sold for the Juventus versus Everton match.

There have been a couple of challenges from an operations perspective. First, the broadcast areas need to be moved due to the location of the field. For baseball, the press box and broadcast area is behind home plate, which would put the media at the very corner of the soccer pitch. For ICC, AT&T Park is moving the broadcast booths to its luxury suites, which means the venue loses out on potential single-game suite sales.

“It’s a challenge because we usually sell those suites to customers and, if we have the ability, we typically try to keep the suites next to the broadcast areas empty, too,” which means sacrificing more sales, said Hansen.

Also, with a baseball game on July 28, and both soccer teams practicing at the stadium July 30, there isn’t much time to convert the field. Dodger Stadium is also undergoing a field conversion to host its first-ever soccer match.

“There were some logistics figuring out how to hold a soccer match, but when we got into the details we realized that we could do this, and we think it’s going to be the first of many,” said Dodgers President Stan Kasten during a press conference. “This field, which has held so many kinds of events over the years, is going to be world class for the soccer competition, and we’ll be able to restore it to world class for the next time Ryu (Hyun-jin, Dodgers pitcher) takes the mound.”

Relevent Sports is responsible for conversion costs, which Stillitano said is more than a $100,000 investment at each venue.

He said that converting the field in baseball stadia is easier and less expensive than football stadia in a way because they are smaller and already have natural grass in the outfield; however, it’s also somewhat more stressful.

“It’s much trickier with baseball because you’re talking about taking the mound down and building it up again, which is sacred in most places,” he said.

It is worth the hassle and expense of conversion since international soccer teams won’t play on turf.

“There is still very much a mental block against turf,” Stillitano added. “In the rare times when teams have been willing to play on turf — no matter how good the surface is — they’ll invariably rest players, and you don’t want that.”

“You want both teams going full strength for a great game,” he said. “That’s why we make the commitment to put grass in.”

Relevent Sports plans to make the International Champions Cup a yearly tournament, although it hasn’t been decided whether the format will be changed to a round-robin style in the future.

“I think it will always be sort of a knock-out final,” said Stillitano. “U.S. fans are sophisticated enough to know that, if you bring enough talent to the table, any two of these eight teams playing each other will be a great final.”

“If I take off my promoter hat and stop stressing about whether people are going to come or not, I get excited and think, ‘Yes, I would 100 percent pay to go as a fan,’” he added.

Interviewed for this story: Brad Hansen, (415) 972-1800; Stan Kasten, (323) 224-1301; Charlie Stillitano, (212) 500-0795
 


Supercross Continues to Grow

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millsaps32daytona09.jpgDavi Millsaps has been racing for 10 years. 

In 2014, Supercross' schedule will feature a Giant.

Feld Motor Sports recently announced that the 2014 Monster Energy Supercross slate will include an April 26 event at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.

The 80,566-seat stadium is home to the National Football League's New York Giants and New York Jets. It is also set to host the Super Bowl in February 2014.

“This will be the closest motor sports event to New York City,” said Juliette Feld, executive vice president and producer at Feld Entertainment. “It fills a demand in the marketplace, not only in the New York area, but along the whole East Coast.”

The only events Supercross has held in the East over the past several years have been at the Rogers Centre in Toronto, the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Ga., and at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla. The Giants and Jets' old home, The Meadowlands, did host races for a five-year stretch in the late-80s and early 90s.

“There's such a strong fan base in the New York area already,” said Denny Hartwig, director of Public Relations at Feld Entertainment. “We have fans who, on an annual basis, will jump in the car and drive to Atlanta, Toronto or Indianapolis. We've had such a strong response already on our message boards and within the industry.”

MetLife Stadium has also received a strong response from riders. Davi Millsaps, who has been racing for 10 years and finished in second place in 2013, said performing in the New York City area provides exposure for the sport and its athletes.

“The stadiums we already go to are big and when we get sellouts, it's great. But the surrounding area is usually nothing compared to MetLife,” Millsaps said. “We're going to the media capital of the world. It's a great opportunity to get Supercross' name out there.”

Supercross competitors will face a unique challenge at MetLife Stadium. This will be the first time riders set their tires down on the 7,000 cubic yards of dirt being brought into the stadium. Millsaps said each venue uses locally sourced dirt for its track, so every course reacts differently.

Weather could also play a role in the event. Millsaps, who was born in Florida, is hopeful for a nice spring day. But in New York, there's always a chance of rain or even snow.

“I'm hoping it won't be as cold as it gets in January or February,” he said. “I'm hoping for mid-60s. But the weather can always be a factor when it's an outdoor event.”

“Hopefully we'll have amazing weather,” Feld said. “If we have inclement weather, it will certainly effect how some of the riders perform and some of them are really unbelievable at it. But we will be there no matter the weather.”

Outside of the gem event at MetLife, the Supercross schedule has a mix of indoor and outdoor events, but the only dates that could face weather issues are March 8 at Daytona International Speedway and April 12 at CenturyLink Field in Seattle, Wash.

Supercross is bringing Ford Field in Detroit, Mich., back after a five-year absence. And they will return three events to Angels Stadium in Anaheim, Calif. The home of Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim has become iconic in the sport like Daytona Speedway to NASCAR or Fenway Park to baseball. Anaheim has hosted more than 60 events in the history of the sport.

“Anaheim is the foundation,” Feld said. “It's where a lot of our fans are based. We start every season there and fans come from all over the country to the events there. A lot of the riders are from there and practice there. It's become an incredible tradition.”

The announcement of the new schedule comes on the heels of wrapping a 2013 season that drew 848,480 fans – more than 50,000 per event – which was a 2% increase in attendance from 2012. Feld said the fast-paced environment of races has become more and more appealing to modern sports fans.

“Supercross is a sport that is made for the way our attention spans are today,” she said. “There are a series of qualifying races leading up to the main event, then the main event is 20 laps and about 20 minutes. So, as opposed to watching a game that's two or three hours, you are really only focusing for 20 minutes, even though our total event goes around three hours. It goes far in terms of keeping fans' attention.”

With MetLife Stadium on the docket, Feld Entertainment is looking to keep their numbers on the rise in 2014 and long term by introducing more East Coast sports fans to motorsports and Supercross. Feld hinted at the possibility of more events

“We are definitely talking with other venues about opportunities,” she said.

While Supercross has been advancing since the famous 1972 Super Bowl of Motocross at the Los Angeles Coliseum, it is still a regional sport. Millsaps said he expects 2014 to be a springboard for bringing motorsports more popularity on the East Coast.

“I think the biggest step for the sport since I've been around will be next year,” he said. “It's been mostly the same venues since I started back in 2004. So going to New York will be huge for us.”

Interviewed for this story: Juliette Feld, (703) 448-4000; Denny Hartwig, (630) 566-6305; Davi Millsaps

Meeting Industry Says Bankruptcy Not Hurting Bookings

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With Detroit Mayor Dave Bing announcing that his city filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection last week, the largest U.S. city in history to take this measure, many are questioning the Motor City’s viability to host conventions and events in the coming months.

“The bankruptcy filing has raised a great deal of concern for meeting planners and boards who have committed to Detroit,” said Bill Bohde, senior vice president, sales and marketing, at the Detroit Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau (DMCVB). “We’ve sent out letters to clients who have committed to hosting an event here, are considering Detroit as their host city or who have considered holding events here in the past to let them know that this situation will not impact conventions or the services we will provide.”

The DMCVB is an independent, nonprofit economic development organization, which receives 90 percent of its funding from taxes on hotels and motels. The organization also receives membership dues from the corporate community, private sector, trade and service organizations.

The bankruptcy filing is the first step by Detroit emergency manager Kevyn Orr to overhaul the finances of the former hub of the automotive industry, which is mired in billions of dollars in debt as a result of loss of population and tax revenue, in addition to mismanagement of the budget.

“This bankruptcy has to do with legacy bills, pensions owed to city workers and medical benefits,” Bohde said. “It has nothing to do with current cash flow.”

Eligibility for bankruptcy protection won’t be revealed for one to three months, but the goal is to seek protection from creditors and unions who are renegotiating $18.5 billion in debt and other liabilities.

Bohde said he expects other struggling bigger cities with pension problems, including Chicago, New York and Baltimore, to take similar steps in the near future.

In Detroit, there are positive signs that a turnaround may be on the horizon. This month, a 367-room, eight-suite Crowne Plaza Pontchartrain - Detroit Convention Center Hotel opened for business.

Also, the city’s Cobo Convention Center is expected to complete a $279-million renovation next year.

Formerly managed by the city, operational control of the convention center transferred to the Detroit Regional Convention Facilities Authority under a collaborative agreement by the Michigan State Legislature, City of Detroit and Wayne, Oakland and Macomb Counties on Sept. 15, 2009. In 2010, the DRCF awarded the operations contract for the building to SMG, and the facility is funded by its own revenue and the state of Michigan. 

The Cobo Center is in the final stage of a three-phase $299-million Capital Improvement Project, with the bulk of the improvements scheduled for January 2015 completion. Convention center officials plan to build a 30,000-sq.-ft. atrium and redevelop the convention center's 40,000-sq.-ft. Grand Ballroom. 

There are also plans to redevelop the south side of the building along the Detroit River to reorganize space and create prefunction areas, new meeting and breakout rooms, two new junior ballrooms and integrate the space with the new Atrium. There are also plans to build leasable office spaces that will help generate more income for the convention center.

“We are a self-sustaining organization,” Bohde said. “If there is a budget deficit, we rely on the state, not the city, unlike many other convention centers.”

As part of the bankruptcy protection, a restructuring plan for the city has been developed to ensure that services essential to businesses and visitors will continue.

The DMCVB expects it will be business as usual, despite the filing.

“We have had tremendous support,” Bohde said. “No one is pulling their conventions out of Detroit.”

Interviewed for this article: Bill Bohde, (313) 202-1800
 

Teams Use WealthEngine for Suite Sales

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A rendering of the new Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., home of the 49ers. The 49ers is one of WealthEngine's sports clients. (Photo from Levi's Stadium)

Though WealthEngine has been around for more than two decades, the analytics, research and marketing company based in Bethesda, Md., has only recently gotten into the sports game. As big data and analytics make their way from the clubhouse to the front office, WealthEngine has created a new tool for helping teams price their suite and premium seating inventory, inking a deal with the San Francisco 49ers in 2010 through Legends Hospitality Group, which has a sales consulting contract for the National Football League team.

“About a year ago the ALSD (Association of Luxury Suite Directors) conference — which I didn’t know from my ABCs — had just ended and we started getting calls left and right from different sports teams interested in learning more about us,” said Sr. VP, Head of Sports Practice at WealthEngine James Dean. “The reason was that some representatives from the 49ers sales and marketing team were on a panel at ALSD 2012 and started talking about WealthEngine, which we had no idea about.”

“We probably picked up a half-dozen customers just from that and, all of a sudden, we’re in the sports industry,” he added.

WealthEngine is joining a growing number of companies getting in the sales lead generation business. Firms like Turnkey Sports and Entertainment and JCA are helping teams prospect single ticket buyers and determine if they can be upsold to season ticket or premium seat status using public records, transactional history and behavioral modeling often based on profiles of their most avid consumers.

Prospect lists can include more than a person’s name, address and phone number, but also their business information including title and number of employees, their number of properties with real estate values, marital status, and age. Information even reaches into a person’s interests, listing their hobbies, sports played, favorite spectator sports and charitable giving.

“Ultimately, it’s great, rich intel to develop a rapport from a sales perspective. You really understand what a person’s wealth looks like,” said Dean. “The more you get to know your customer, you can create a better fan experience and set marketing and advertising.”The WealthEngine data is ‘agnostic,’ in that it can be integrated into existing ticketing and CRM systems. Each prospect is given a wealth score, taking into account the net worth, liquidity, total assets and income.Different types of packages are available, depending on how much data a team or company requires as well as how many IDs are needed for the sales force. The platform works as a yearly subscription, with the lightest spend coming in at around $2,000-$3,000, all the way up to around $50,000.

“The average sports team spend at this point is probably about $5,000-$8,000,” Dean added.
The 49ers use the data for prospecting at the new Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif.

“WealthEngine has been really great from a macro level for getting in front of a lot of people,” said Mike Drake, director of Levi’s Stadium suite and premium sales. He added that it’s been especially valuable when looking at a new stadium, because history shows that just around 30 percent of suiteholders follow a team to a new venue.

“Information about an individual is very important because you can tailor your pitch around a person’s interests or what they might be worth,” said Drake. “If you find an individual and understand the company they are with and have the research on it, you can tailor that pitch to a longer-term suite deal because you know they have ‘x’ number of employees and are worth ‘x’ amount.”

So far, suite sales for Levi’s Stadium are ahead of schedule. About 85 percent of the available suites have been sold with contracts averaging more than 14 years.

“Our renewal rate in the sports business, though we’re new, is at 100 percent, which is generally unsustainable,” said Dean. “But the buzz is based on reality.

“Ultimately, WealthEngine is a solution that helps clients sell their product.”

Interviewed for this story: James Dean, (240) 722-4373; Michael Drake, (408) 579-4403 

Bankruptcy no road block for Detroit Red Wings

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Joe Louis Arena, Detroit

Detroit may have lost half its residents, most of its city services and the bulk of its industrial base, but it still has hockey. And not even the nation's largest municipal bankruptcy in history can slow plans to build a new arena for the Detroit Red Wings with taxpayer dollars. 

Earlier today, the Michigan Strategic Fund Board unanimously approved the Downtown Development Authority's request to use economic development taxes to build a new arena to replace the aging Joe Louis Arena, another city-owned property. While the city is facing some outside criticism for using public money for a private entity, the plan appears to have widespread support in Detroit and comes amid news that the Red Wings will finally be moving to the Eastern Conference, after years of complaints that its placement in the Western Conference meant too much travel for players and late broadcasts that dragged on until 2 a.m. 

“Instead of two trips to Western Canada and two trips to California, it's one trip to each,” Red Wings' General Manager Ken Holland said. “We'll have more road games on at prime time for our fan base and, other than the two teams in Florida, we'll be within an hour flight or so of every team in the Eastern Conference.”

And as early as 2016, teams like the Buffalo Sabres, New York Rangers and the Pittsburgh Penguins will be playing four games a year at the new arena, part of a $600-million entertainment district anchored by the popular hockey team owned by Little Caesars Pizza founder Mike Illitch.

Brian Holdwick, an executive VP for the Detroit Economic Growth Corp, explained that no money from the city's beleaguered general fund will be used to pay for the stadium. Instead, money will come from an incremental revenue fund with statutory rules barring it from being diverted into the city's General Fund. Critics have pointed out that the funding could be used for other downtown projects — Holdwick said the new arena also includes an additional $200 million in mixed-use urban development. 

The project was first revealed near the end of last year when the Illitch family said that the development hinged on passage of state legislation that allows for use of Downtown Development Authority funds. That legislation passed in December.

The state legislation allows Detroit's Downtown Development Authority to collect up to $15 million a year for the project. According to the DEGC, the primary public funding mechanism for the project will be about $12.8 million per year in property taxes. The Authority will contribute another $2 million each year, and Olympia Development will pay another $11.5 million annually. Together, those three commitments will be used to retire 30-year bonds through the Michigan State Fund.

The news comes after a March decision by the NHL's Board of Governors to approve a plan to move Detroit and the Columbus Blue Jackets to the East and the Winnipeg Jets to the Western Conference. Last week, the league officially announced realignment, which will place Detroit in a division with fellow Eastern Time Zone teams Buffalo, Boston, Florida, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto and Tampa Bay. The NHL was forced to realign after the Atlanta Thrashers were moved to Winnipeg before the start of the 2011-12 season, where they played in the Eastern Conference for two seasons. 

The Red Wings were the only Eastern Time Zone team in the Western Conference, which often meant major playoff games stretching past 2 a.m.

“This year we played Anaheim in the playoffs,” Holland said. “The start times are at 10:00 and 10:30 at night. Same went for games in the past against Los Angeles and Vancouver. When the games start that late, the fans don't get the opportunity to see the whole game because they have to go to work the next day. We don't want to assume anything, but we're hopeful to make the playoffs this year and have our fans watching games that start at 7:30 or 8:00.”

The team's front office will have an opportunity to capitalize on far more games against what fans call the “Original Six” teams. They will now see the Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, Boston Bruins and New York Rangers four times at Joe Louis Arena.

“It's exciting going into a new conference,” Holland said. “There's an unknown aspect about it. People are asking 'are we big enough, are we good enough to play against the East?' That sort of uncertainty is what makes things exciting for our players and fans.”

While the team has played for packed houses – selling 100 percent of tickets in 2013 – they are confident that new rivalries and increased broadcast exposure to a younger audience will help sustain them as one of the league's most well-supported teams.

“Considering the market, hockey isn't the hardest sell in Detroit,” Southern Illinois Sports Administration Professor and former NHL lawyer Jeff Levine said. “That said, a team that's been successful like the Red Wings will be able to build their fans not having to choose anymore between sleep or staying up watching hockey.”

Levine said Detroit's new schedule will also allow Eastern Conference opponents to see the 11-time Stanley Cup champions, which may give attendances around the East a spike.

“It's comparable to the New York Yankees,” he said. “Not only do their fans exist all around the East, but their fans travel well. It will give many of their faithful a chance to see their team more times per year than they ever would have in the past. That helps everyone.”

The one drawback both Holland and Levine cited will be a reduced number of times seeing the Chicago Blackhawks. The Blackhawks and Red Wings played this season in the Eastern Conference Final and the two are widely considered the league's most fierce rivals.

Detroit opens the season Oct. 2 against the Buffalo Sabres.

“Opening night in any sport always has a little more energy to it,” Holland said. “But this one will be a little extra special.”

Interviewed for this article:  Ken Holland, (313) 396-7444; Jeff Levine, (248) 939-7864

New Asst. GM in Lowell, Mass.

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Venues_Today.jpgGlobal Spectrum has named David Aiello assistant general manager and director of Marketing for both Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell and Lowell (Mass.) Memorial Auditorium. Aiello, a five-year Global Spectrum employee, previously served as director of Marketing at Roanoke (Va.) Civic Center, where he also participated in the second annual Global Spectrum Leadership Institute. He first joined Global Spectrum as Marketing manager at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. Aiello earned his master's degree in Sport Administration from the University of Louisville ( Ky.).

Toronto's Exhibition Place Selects Ovations Food Services

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Direct Energy Centre, Toronto

Ovations Food Services has been selected to provide catering and concessions for Exhibition Place and Direct Energy Centre, Toronto, in an 11-year deal. Ovations will pay Exhibition Place an undisclosed percentage of sales and will invest more than $1 million in equipment and improvements.

Arlene Campbell, general manager of Exhibition Place, said catering for the three exhibition halls involved annually generates more than $3 million. That does not include sales during the biggest annual events on the 192-acre campus, the Canadian National Exhibition and the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair. Ovations will contract separately with those clients.

Kraig Pomrenke, director of business development for Ovations Food Services, said Ovations will definitely introduce its new Kitchen Experience, winner of Venues Today’s inaugural Silver Spoon Award for Best New Concept, and its Bar Experience, to attendees at Exhibition Place. Both concepts bring chefs to the public to demonstrate cooking and take direct orders. Pomrenke said both can also be set up as breakout sessions during shows.

The firm will handle concessions and catering for about 100 events doing 250 event days at the 160,000-sq.-ft. Direct Energy Centre, the 60,000-sq.-ft. Queen Elizabeth Building and the 100,000-sq.-ft. Better Living Center. Exhibition Place operates at 55 percent occupancy, Campbell said. It is owned by the city of Toronto.

Exhibition Place is a 192-acre campus drawing 5.3 million visitors a year. Campbell said HKH Hotels of New York is building a 400-room boutique hotel across the street from Direct Energy Centre which is scheduled for completion in time for the July 2015 Pan Am Games which will be held in Toronto.

Ricoh Coliseum, which is managed by Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment and has in-house concessions, and Allstream Centre, where concessions are handled by Centerplate, which used to also have the three buildings Ovations contracted, are also on campus. Centerplate provided catering for Direct Energy Centre since it opened in 1987, Campbell said. They were finalists with Ovations for the new contract and remain at the conference center, so Campbell has “the best of both worlds.”

“We’re excited about Ovations, their fresh concepts and energetic team,” Campbell said. The firm was judged on “financial returns, marketing and their product offerings,” Campbell said. She also expects Ovations to bring in new bookings through its North American marketing arm.

The contract term is through November 2024 because that is when Allstream Centre also comes up for renewal, Pomrenke explained.

Direct Energy Centre has seven permanent concessions stands and plenty of opportunity for portables. “We believe it has been underperforming,” Pomrenke said. “We saw it as an opportunity to grow the space and events there." Ovations has already met with show organizers who use the venues to understand their needs and desires. “They liked our ‘everything fresh’ culture,” he said.

Bradley Fletcher has been brought on as general manager for Ovations at Exhibition Place. He began his new job July 11.

Interviewed for this story: Arlene Campbell, (416) 263-3000; Kraig Pomrenke, (813) 909-2178, X102

Hot Tickets for July 24, 2013

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PacAmpCrowd_2010Stage.jpegThe Pacific Amphitheatre in Costa Mesa, Calif., had a packed house. (OC Fair & Event Center, Costa Mesa, CA)

OC Fair & Event Center's Pacific Amphitheatre in Costa Mesa, Calif. kicked off its Toyota Summer Concert series July 12 in conjunction with the Orange County Fair. Already, three concerts have made our Hot Tickets chart. Alan Jackson had the venue's highest gross so far, nearly $450,000, for his July 17 show. Tickets started at $45.50, with a top price of $95.50. Though the B-52s brought more people to their July 18 show, a lower ticket price starting at $29.50 meant a smaller gross. A reggae night featuring Steel Pulse and Iration had the largest crowd, with 7,877 people. The concert series finishes Aug. 11 with a performance by Roger Hodgson, from Supertramp. Upcoming shows include Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, July 25; Weezer, July 26; The Flaming Lips, July 31; and Roger Daltrey of The Who, Aug. 10.

Justin Bieber continues a string of high-grossing North American concerts. He charted four times this week with arena shows. Bieber's July 17 performance at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia and his July 13 show at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland were attended by more than 15,000 fans each. The performances on Hot Tickets, including a July 15 date at First Niagara Center in Buffalo, N.Y., and a July 3 show at AmericanAirlines Arena in Miami, all grossed more than $1 million. Next up, Bieber heads to Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, July 28, and then has two shows at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., July 30-31.


HOT TICKETS is a weekly summary of the top acts and ticket sales as reported to VT PULSE. Following are the top 20 concerts and events, the top 5 in each seating capacity category, which took place between July 3-24.

15,001 or More Seats

10,001-15,000 Seats

5,001-10,000 Seats

5,000 or Fewer Seats




1) Beyonce
Gross Sales: $1,320,925; Venue: Toyota Center, Houston; Attendance: 11,935; Ticket Range: $250-$45; Promoter: Live Nation; Dates: July 15; No. of Shows: 1



 2) Justin Bieber
Gross Sales: $1,243,008; Venue: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia; Attendance: 15,065; Ticket Range: $95-$45; Promoter: AEG Live; Dates: July 17; No. of Shows: 1



 3) Justin Bieber
Gross Sales: $1,148,356; Venue: Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland; Attendance: 15,084; Ticket Range: $95-$39.50; Promoter: AEG Live; Dates: July 13; No. of Shows: 1



 4) Justin Bieber
Gross Sales: $1,148,022; Venue: First Niagara Center, Buffalo, N.Y.; Attendance: 14,789; Ticket Range: $95-$39.50; Promoter: AEG Live; Dates: July 15; No. of Shows: 1

5) Justin Bieber
Gross Sales: $1,141,554; Venue: AmericanAirlines Arena, Miami; Attendance: 13,945; Ticket Range: $95-$45; Promoter: AEG Live; Dates: July 3; No. of Shows: 1








1) Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour by Cirque du Soleil
Gross Sales: $3,309,946; Venue: Olympic Park, Seoul, South Korea; Attendance: 32,367; Ticket Range: $223.45-$53.63; Promoter: Cirque du Soleil, Mast Entertainment and Media; Dates: July 10-14; No. of Shows: 7



 2) Bob Dylan & His Band
Gross Sales: $960,052; Venue: Midway Stadium, St. Paul, Minn.; Attendance: 14,223; Ticket Range: $67.50; Promoter: Jam Productions; Dates: July 10; No. of Shows: 1



 3) Alan Jackson
Gross Sales: $448,638; Venue: Pacific Amphitheatre, Costa Mesa, Calif.; Attendance: 6,615; Ticket Range: $95.50-$45.50; Promoter: OC Fair & Event Center, The Pacific Amphitheatre; Dates: July 17; No. of Shows: 1



 4) The B-52's
Gross Sales: $255,103; Venue: Pacific Amphitheatre, Costa Mesa, Calif.; Attendance: 7,763; Ticket Range: $49.50-$29.50; Promoter: OC Fair & Event Center, The Pacific Amphitheatre; Dates: July 18; No. of Shows: 1

5) Steel Pulse, Iration
Gross Sales: $204,409; Venue: Pacific Amphitheatre, Costa Mesa, Calif.; Attendance: 7,877; Ticket Range: $49.50-$19.50; Promoter: OC Fair & Event Center, The Pacific Amphitheatre; Dates: July 13; No. of Shows: 1








1) Cirque de Soleil Quidam
Gross Sales: $1,334,666; Venue: Patriot Center, Fairfax, Va.; Attendance: 18,207; Ticket Range: $105-$22; Promoter: Cirque du Soleil; Dates: July 17-21; No. of Shows: 7



 2) Jeff Dunham
Gross Sales: $326,320; Venue: Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville, Conn.; Attendance: 5,684; Ticket Range: $60-$50; Promoter: Creative Artists Agency; Dates: July 13; No. of Shows: 1



 3) LL Cool J
Gross Sales: $255,210; Venue: Greek Theatre, Los Angeles; Attendance: 5,867; Ticket Range: $80-$15; Promoter: Nederlander; Dates: July 7; No. of Shows: 1



 4) Alice In Chains
Gross Sales: $148,092; Venue: Roy Wilkins Auditorium, Saint Paul, Minn.; Attendance: 3,612; Ticket Range: $41; Promoter: Jam Productions; Dates: July 9; No. of Shows: 1

5) PBR Touring Pro Division RMEF Big Bull Tour
Gross Sales: $145,540; Venue: Germain Arena, Estero, Fla.; Attendance: 6,404; Ticket Range: $75-$10; Promoter: HBarH Bucking Bulls, Inc., Robinson Bulls, Inc.; Dates: July 19-20; No. of Shows: 2








1) Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour by Cirque du Soleil
Gross Sales: $1,423,647; Venue: Convention Hall at ExCo, Daegu, South Korea; Attendance: 18,371; Ticket Range: $224-$53.76; Promoter: Cirque du Soleil, Mast Entertainment and Media; Dates: July 17-21; No. of Shows: 7



 2) Mindless Behavior
Gross Sales: $196,895; Venue: Fox Theatre, Atlanta; Attendance: 4,190; Ticket Range: $46.50-$36.50; Promoter: AEG Live; Dates: July 20; No. of Shows: 1



 3) Alabama
Gross Sales: $194,290; Venue: Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater, Fla.; Attendance: 1,958; Ticket Range: $125-$69; Promoter: AEG Live SE, Ruth Eckerd Hall; Dates: July 6; No. of Shows: 1



 4) Ian Anderson
Gross Sales: $167,446; Venue: War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco; Attendance: 2,347; Ticket Range: $99.50-$39.50; Promoter: Goldenvoice, AEG Live; Dates: July 8; No. of Shows: 1

5) Cyndi Lauper
Gross Sales: $166,710; Venue: Beacon Theatre, New York; Attendance: 2,796; Ticket Range: $95-$30; Promoter: Live Nation; Dates: July 10; No. of Shows: 1





The Weekly Hot Tickets chart is compiled by Daniel Gray. To submit reports, e-mail HotTickets@venuestoday.com or fax to (714) 378-0040.

Aramark Selected for New Vikings Stadium

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vikings-stadium-plaza-cx-600.jpg

Rendering for new People's Stadium, Minneapolis.

Aramark's has been selected to negotiate with the Minnesota Vikings and stadium officials to provide food and drink in the new football stadium. The selection makes the Philadelphia-based concessions company a shoe-in for the new the $975-million People’s Stadium, scheduled to open in 2016 on the site of the team's current home, the Metrodome, in downtown Minneapolis.

Aramark is the current concessionaire for premium levels at the Metrodome, while Centerplate had handled concourse level concessions. The new agreement with the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority essentially gives Aramark full control of concessions at the building.

Competition for the contract had been fierce and Aramark was chosen out of a field of six applicants that had included Levy, Centerplate, Legends and Delaware North’s Sportservice.

“They came in, made a strong proposal in terms of their creativity with food selection as well as the financial aspects,” said Michele Kelm-Helgen, chair of MSFA.

“They also had a lot of good design expertise to offer and we thought it was critical to select them early in the process so that they could be involved in the design of the facility.”

A final deal has not been reached and Kelm-Helgen said details of the contract would not be released until after an official agreement had been reached.

Aramark serves 13 National Football League venues and has several clients in Minneapolis, including TCF Bank Stadium, as well as all campus dining at the University of Minnesota and the corporate headquarters for 3M and UnitedHealth Group.

As for the food itself, fans should expect a high-quality, modern offering, on par with what is available for Minnesota Twins games at Target Field.

"The Twins have set a high bar, and it's a great experience at the ballpark," said Lester Bagley, Viking' vice president of public affairs and stadium development. "We need to try to match or exceed that, and we're confident we'll deliver that with this team we've selected."

Kelm-Helgen is part of a four-part committee involved in selecting outside contractors for the stadium that also includes Minnesota Vikings’ Project Executive Don Becker and CFO Steven Poppen.

“Next, we will be looking to select a building operator and marketer and we’re getting ready to begin accepting RFPs,” she said.

Interviewed for this article: Michele Kelm-Halgen, (612) 335-3319; Lester Bagley, (612) 448-3934

Paramore Go Ticketless for Current Tour

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Paramore know their audience is young, plugged-in and eager to see their favorite band put on a torrid live show. After ripping through clubs in the spring and moving to bigger venues on their current South American tour, the Franklin, Tenn., trio led by fiery singer Hayley Williams are gearing up for their fall "The Self-Titled Tour," which will bring them through arenas and amphitheaters across North America.

With support acts Metric and Hellogoodbye in tow, the tour is slated to kick off on Oct. 15 at KeyArena in Seattle, Wash., before moving through Honda Center in Anaheim, St. Louis' Fabulous Fox Theater, Patriot Center in Fairfax, Va., and winding down at The Arena at Gwinnett Center in Duluth, Ga., on Nov. 27.

"We had them last time around on the Honda Civic Tour and it always does well at our location and we’re excited about them returning" for their only L.A. market show, said Jo-Ann Armstrong. "They hit that young demographic, in that middle age group, and their lead singer has crossover appeal. I think she appeals to people the same way Gwen Stefani did when she was first starting off with No Doubt."

Tickets for the tour go on sale on Friday (July 26) after pre-sales for the group's fan club, Facebook followers, Live Nation mobile app users and Citi card members. But, in keeping with their young fanbases' highly wired, mobile existence, where available, the band selected paperless tickets for some of the best seats in the house in an attempt to prevent scalping and reward their die-hards for using mobile devices instead of traditional ordering methods.

"With past tours, we realized that not all of you are getting the access to the tickets we wanted you to have," the band wrote in a note to fans about their new ticketing policies. "We knew we had to address this issue for future tours. So, in doing that, we want to put this ticketing policy in place which will help explain how you can get your tickets to our shows.

 First, and foremost, it is of utmost importance to us that every ticket we sell is affordable to our fans. Seriously, we fight people about this! It's a big deal to us. Unfortunately, despite our best attempts, tickets often get into the hands of scalpers or secondary ticketing systems and are then sold for ridiculous prices."

That said, they instituted the paperless system, which will offer the closest-to-the-stage tickets after fans show photo ID at Will Call. A limited number of tickets will include a chance to win a meet and greet with Paramore before the show and a limited amount of "excellent" tickets will also be released at the same time as the general public on-sale through Ticketmaster's Platinum Ticketing Program, which will give fans more direct access to some of the best seats in the house for a slightly higher price, also keeping those tickets out of scalpers' hands. There is also a six-ticket limit, and the band promised to try and implement those rules at as many shows as they can on the tour.

The outing in support of their first new album in three years is also priced at a level that appeals to the target audience, with many tickets in the $40-$50 range. The tour will also include the band's first-ever headlining show at New York's Madison Square Garden and an appearance at November's Voodoo Music + Arts Experience festival in New Orleans. 

Interviewed for this article: Jo-Ann Armstrong, (714) 704-2400

Urinal Gaming Systems Make a Splash

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The consoles at Coca-Cola Park are sponsored by Lehigh Valley Health Network and feature the game, 'On the Piste.' (Photo by Coca-Cola Park)

Note: Originally posted April 10, 2013.

Fans at Coca-Cola Park in Allentown, Pa., home to Minor League Baseball’s Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs, are taking longer than usual in the restrooms these days. The stadium has enhanced the way that male fans take a bathroom break with the installation of four Urinal Gaming Systems.

The system, installed at eye level above a urinal, is the first of its kind in the United States, and provides a hands-free, sanitary way to play games in the men’s restroom.

“It shows up to four, 10-second ads intermixed with video clips, then a sensor detects a person approaching the device and shifts it into gaming mode,” said Ed Gundrum from Captive Media, the United Kingdom-based company that makes the system.

So far, there is one device in each of the four men’s restrooms at Coca-Cola Park.

The idea to bring urinal entertainment to the park started a few years ago. Facility GM Kurt Landes said he had an idea for a carnival, water-pistol-type game, but turning the idea into a reality became too much of an undertaking.

“In the process, we found Captive Media in the U.K., which was doing a different type of game with urinals,” said Landes. The company wasn’t quite ready to expand to the U.S., but stayed in touch over the years and, this past fall, it all came together.

“For a minor league facility which focuses on everything we can but the game itself, because the players are sent to us by (Major League Baseball’s) Philadelphia Phillies, we focus on controlling the experience and the atmosphere,” added Landes. “Now, you hear cheering in restrooms where you’ve never heard cheering before.”

There are seven games that a venue can choose for the device, including trivia, action-adventure games, and drawing. Currently, the units at Coca-Cola Park offer one game: On the Piste. Sensors detect the direction and speed of the user’s urine, which controls a toboggan on a snowy mountain. There are penguins on the mountain, which the user maneuvers to try to avoid.

After playing the game, the user receives a password so that they can log in later that night and see where their score landed on the leaderboard. A couple of times each night, the leaderboard is actually displayed in real time on the LED screen at Coca-Cola Park.

Captive Media offers customizations of the games in order to personalize them to a venue or tie in with a sponsorship.

“It’s fairly reasonable to do if it’s just an adjustment,” said Gundum. “Right now we have a tobogganing game where you hit penguins as you speed down the slope, so if you want to hit bottles of a brand of beer instead, that’s fairly inexpensive for us to do.”

An animation of how the system works, courtesy of Captive-Media.

Guests spend an average of 55 seconds at the device, and there is a sanitary benefit to bringing in the games.

“We have found that it keeps the washrooms clean because not only are people watching where they’re aiming, but they’re really enjoying their experience and tend to take better care of the entire washroom as a result,” said Gundrum.

Though the price of the system wasn’t released, there is both a leasing and a purchase option. Landes said the price wasn’t prohibitive even if he hadn’t found a sponsor to help cover the cost.

With the lease option, shipping, on-going support, access to the latest games, and phone support to help with installation, are included. Coca-Cola Park found a fitting sponsorship with Lehigh Valley Health Network and its Urology department. Not only do the games entertain, but now they also promote an important message about prostate cancer awareness.

According to The American Cancer Society, nearly 240,000 cases of prostate cancer will be diagnosed in 2013.

“The games have really created a dialogue between men and, with the health message that we have with the Lehigh Valley Health Network, they will hopefully create a dialogue between men and their doctors, too,” said Landes.

Coca-Cola Park bought the four machines outright, and Landes said installation was a slow-paced challenge.

“We’re the first in the U.S., so the process of turning a U.K. unit into an American unit is tricky” he said. “It’s different as far as plumbing valves, mechanics, internet, electric — we had to work really closely for six months to make the game work in an American facility.”

“There are things you don’t even think about,” he added. “For instance, the water pressure in an American toilet is different than the water pressure provided in the U.K., so we had to figure that out.”

Despite difficulties with the installation, the units have been functioning at the ballpark since the beginning of the season. When asked about his overall response to having the Urinal Gaming Systems in Coca-Cola Park, Landes said, “I’m as happy as an IronPig in mud.”

Interviewed for this story: Ed Gundrum, (978) 474-0187; Kurt Landes, (610) 841-1244

Behind the Scenes at WFA’s Feature Fair Tour

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WFA members meet at Baja Blues Restaurant, Bar & Grill at the Orange County Fair in Costa Mesa, Calif., before beginning their behind-the-scenes tours. (VT Photo)

REPORTING FROM COSTA MESA, CALIF. — Standing on the stage of the Pacific Amphitheatre in Costa Mesa, Calif., members of Western Fairs Association are hot. Many wipe their foreheads in the summer heat or rub sore muscles from two 12-hour days of walking and learning. Somehow, every one of the around 50 fair managers and service members standing around is smiling and listening intently. Welcome to the Western Fair Association’s Feature Fair Tour.

The Feature Fair Tour has been going on for about 15 years, though to WFA Executive Director Stephen Chambers, it still feels like a relatively new program.

“It used to be that the WFA board of directors would visit a fair during the summer board meeting,” said Chambers. “The directors realized that if we’re making all of the plans for a few people to come, we might as well open up the opportunity to all of our members.”

The WFA board picked Orange County Fair in Costa Mesa as its 2013 Feature Fair. The fair runs July 12-Aug. 11, with the tour landing in the middle, July 23-25. The first night served as an opportunity to catch up and have dinner after a cruise of Newport Harbor, and also a chance to get settled in and prepare for a couple of 8 a.m.-mornings.

Chambers said the OC Fair stood out as the right choice for a few reasons, not the least of which is because it’s “deep into a very major master plan.” The WFA surveys its members to see where they would like to go for the Feature Fair Tour. Members were especially interested in how the fair has built its midweek attendance with We Care Wednesdays, a promotion in which fairgoers receive free admission and a carnival ride with a specified donation between noon and 4 p.m.

WFA_Meet.JPGWFA President and CEO of the Washington State Fair in Puyallup Kent Hojem, Ray Cammack Shows' President and CEO Guy Leavitt, RCS' Chris Lopez, Butler Amusements' Rich Byrum, and WFA Executive Director Stephen Chambers meet up during the Feature Fair Tour. (VT Photo)

OC Fair Interim CEO Doug Lofstrom has been involved in planning the Feature Fair Tour itinerary for months. 

“Our part was fairly simple, but I started working with (former OC Fair CEO) Jerome Hoban on this concept back in September,” said Lofstrom. “The idea was that I was going to come on board and work with him and the WFA team as a liaison.”

Hoban made the move to Alameda County Fair in Pleasanton, Calif., in April to serve as its CEO, and Lofstrom stepped into the interim position at OC Fair.

“I had been working on the Feature Fair Tour before, so I kept it prominently on my desk and purposefully did not burden the fair staff with a lot of planning,” said Lofstrom, who added that planning consisted of a lot of emails and a couple of days of scheduling.

The Feature Fair Tour schedule included tours of We Care Wednesdays, Centennial Farm, Action Sports Arena, Hangar Building, Ray Cammack Shows’ carnival, the Pacific Amphitheatre renovations, and the administration.

Another reason the WFA board chose OC Fair was the opportunity to tour Ray Cammack Shows, a large operation that tours California’s San Diego County Fair in Del Mar, OC Fair, Antelope Valley Fair in Lancaster, and LA County Fair in Pomona. RCS also provides the midway for Arizona State Fair in Phoenix, Pima County Fair in Tuscon, Ariz., and Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo.

WFA_Wine.jpgThe Feature Fair Tour ended with a wine tasting from the Orange County Wine Society. (VT Photo)

Chris Lopez, VP Safety, Legal & Governmental affairs for Ray Cammack Shows, said that providing a behind-the-scenes tour of the operation was a no-brainer. The Feature Fair Tour also provided an opportunity to educate fair executives on the importance of seasonal H-2B workers to carnivals.

Much of RCS’ tour focused around the education and arrangements of the 260 H-2B visa workers that travel with the operation, 160 from Mexico and 100 from South Africa.

“Without those skilled workers, some of whom have been coming back to work for us for more than 10 years, I could provide maybe 30 rides, which is half the size of the entertainment and attractions we have at the Orange County Fair,” said Lopez.

Lopez said he wanted to stress the importance of those seasonal workers to the fair staff because “we don’t know if some of the members read the emails about this or who provides their carnivals, but we know that their carnival providers rely on these workers just like us.”

“Every little bit helps, from reaching out to their fair boards or writing a letter to politicians,” he added.

Participating in the tour was more of an opportunity to show off than it was a sales pitch.

“We didn’t do this to get more business,” said Lopez. “It just gives them the opportunity to see what we do and maybe take questions back for their carnival providers. It’s basically sharing info and sharing data.”

“Plus, we love to show off what we do,” he added.

Lofstrom said that the Feature Fair Tour gave the opportunity for the staff that isn’t necessarily very active in WFA to get to tell the story.

“I’ve known this team for a long time so I know what they’re capable of doing and their passion and dedication. You just show them the general direction and off they go,” he said. “My role all along was basically behind the scenes instead of doing all the tours.”

“When we get to the behind-the-scenes stuff, the staff really has a chance to shine,” he added.

Interviewed for this story: Stephen Chambers, (916) 927-3100; Doug Lofstrom, (714) 708-1543; Chris Lopez, (602) 237-3333
 

Naming Rights: AT&T Stadium

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The new logo for AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, home of the NFL's Dallas Cowboys.

It’s been a long time coming. AT&T has expanded its sponsorship of the National Football League’s Dallas Cowboys to include the naming rights for AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

According to Stephen Jones, COO and Exec. VP for the Cowboys, the team targeted AT&T as a potential naming rights partner from the very beginning.

“We actually approached AT&T right about the time we put a shovel in the ground to build the stadium,” said Jones. “We were going along a good path and then the same thing happened to a lot of people: the economy turned upside down and made it very difficult to do these type of things, which we completely understood.”

“We were able to rekindle the fire here in the last several months and were able to get something done,” he added.

AT&T has been a founding sponsor of the stadium since 2009. With this agreement, the partnership deepens to include the naming of the stadium and an expanded technology service.

Already, the capacity for the AT&T 4G LTE cellular phone network has been doubled within the stadium, plazas and parking lots. Next up, the Cowboys and AT&T will nearly double the capacity of the WiFi network inside AT&T Stadium.

“Our goal is always to be best in class when it comes to connectivity and technology,” said Jones. “This will enable our fans to be able to access WiFi all at once and make it easy for them to connect with their friends outside of the stadium.”

There are also plans to enhance the Cowboys’ mobile app by adding maps and way-finding technology.

“This is a big opportunity to showcase our leading-edge technologies in a way that will give our customers and community a world-class, mobile-first experience,” said AT&T Spokesman Fletcher Cook.

Details of the contract, including its length and monetary value, weren’t specified, but Jones did say that the team will pay for the signage changes to integrate the AT&T brand into the stadium. The goal is for the majority of the signage to be up by the NFL season opener on Sept. 8, though some of the more sophisticated signage including incorporating the AT&T globe and name onto the roof may take more time.

“The AT&T name will have a tremendously increased presence inside and outside the venue, including the scoreboard, stadium roof and other fixed and electronic assets,” said Cook. “We’ll reach millions of fans in the stadium and millions more who watch event broadcasts.”

The Cowboys and AT&T brokered the naming rights deal directly, with some consulting and feedback from Legends. The exact financials of the deal aren’t clear, but the city of Arlington will receive a set dollar amount from the partnership each year.

“It was part of our original deal with Arlington that if we had a naming rights partner, they would participate,” said Jones, who added that the city will receive $500,000 annually from the agreement. He would not confirm public estimates for the naming rights deal of $17-$19 million per year.

During the press conference to announce AT&T Stadium, Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones said this isn’t the most expensive naming rights deal, but it’s the best relationship. Other recent naming rights deals include a $700-million, 30-year agreement for proposed-NFL stadium Farmers Field in Los Angeles, and the 49ers Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., signed a $220-million, 20-year naming rights agreement earlier this year.

In addition to Cowboys games, AT&T Stadium will host the 2014 AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic, 2014 NCAA Men’s Final Four, and the first-ever college football playoff national championship game in 2015.

Interviewed for this story: Fletcher Cook, (415) 318-4202; Stephen Jones, (817) 892-4161
 

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