Minor League Baseball's Charlotte (N.C.) Knights fill the stands at BB&T Ballpark on opening night, April 11. (Photo by Buren Foster/Charlotte Knights)
The construction boom continued in 2014, with more than 30 facilities opening during the calendar year representing more than 750,000 seats across countries including the United States, Australia, Canada and Russia. Mega events such as the FIFA World Cup and 2014 Olympics spurred builds in Brazil and Russia, while megaprojects such as Singapore Sports Hub added millions of square feet of programmable space.
Kicking Off With a Bang
You only have one chance to make a first impression, and many venues that opened in 2014 took the old adage to heart.
“When your soft opening is Blake Shelton, that’s big,” said GM Brian Crowne of Walmart Arkansas Music Pavilion (AMP) in Rogers, Ark. The facility wrapped up construction just in time to host the country superstar June 7. Even bigger, in a charity deal with naming rights sponsor Walmart, tickets for the opening show cost just $5-$10, leading to the more than 7,000-capacity venue’s first sell out.
The $11-million facility provides a permanent home for the Walmart AMP brand, which has been producing summer concerts for 10 years.
McLane Stadium in Waco, Texas, at Baylor University, opened doors Aug. 28 before its first Baylor football game Aug. 31. GM Scott Neal said that the first game stands out because of the theatrics involved with opening a new home for a beloved brand.
“The former stadium was 60 years old, so seeing the excitement on the fans’ faces when they came into the new stadium was incredible,” said Neal. “We opened doors early and everyone came running in to see the venue.”
Secret Service blanketed the building because former president George Bush performed the coin toss.
Sept. 12 saw the true meaning of a stress test in Allentown, Pa., with a sold-out Eagles concert opening the $177-million PPL Center.
“We had to take advantage of the opportunity,” said GM for Global Spectrum Gunnar Fox. “You can’t turn down the Eagles — it was a great way to make a splash.”
Global Spectrum opened the $110-million Alaska Airlines Center in Anchorage that same week with a student-run Alabama Shakes date Sept. 13, before two nearly sold-out nights with Tim McGraw in October.
SMG opened Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls, S.D., Oct. 3, bringing Jason Aldean, Florida Georgia Line, and Tyler Farr to a sold-out crowd of 10,536 people. GM Terry Torkildson is no stranger to openings, having been on the opening team for several SMG facilities. This one was a particular success, with food and beverage per caps reaching nearly $25 and merch per caps exceeding $5.
The $54-million BB&T Ballpark in Charlotte, N.C., brought Minor League Baseball’s Charlotte Knights back to downtown for the first time in decades, drawing about 9,600 attendees per night with 72 home games and 31 sellouts, including the opening game April 11.
Breaking it in/Growing Pains
Though there seems to be an inherent public love affair that comes with opening a facility, being the new kid on the block isn’t without its challenges.
As Crowne put it, “with any project built quickly, you’re going to find little things you wish you had done differently.” Luckily, in the case of Walmart AMP, those small annoyances consisted of wishing an outlet was in a different place. The facility did increase its shore power bays for tour buses after realizing that seven bays just weren’t enough to handle 10 buses bringing Tim McGraw, who performed at the building Aug. 7.
By that time, most of the traffic kinks had been worked out, with the facility parking nearly 5,000 cars and getting everyone out of the lots in about 35 minutes.
In the couple of days before the first Baylor football game, Neal said that SMG encouraged the university to host some minor activities.
“It’s good to have a couple of events to kind of ramp up and figure out where we needed to make some changes,” said Neal, who added that small tweaks were necessary in various parts of the operations, from parking, lighting, and staffing to guest services.
“Anyone who’s opened a venue can agree that you plan for as much as you can, but until you go live and realize the flow of people, there’s only so much you can do,” he added.
Alaska Airlines Center’s top concern has been traffic control costs such as flagging, staffing and signage. The municipality requires the police department to do a certain amount of traffic control for public venues, for which costs were higher than anticipated.
“We’re working closely with the municipality to find a way with the traffic engineers to reduce the number of people required to control traffic,” said GM Chris Orheim, who said that since opening, the amount of traffic-control staff has already been cut in half.
Dan Rajkowski, COO at BB&T Ballpark, Charlotte, N.C., said that the main issue at the stadium has been that it feels too new.
“We did a lot of decorative type things throughout the season to make it look a little more lived in, like putting pictures on the walls and hanging jerseys, as well as putting out landscaping and graphics.” From a physical standpoint the building added more power, ceiling fans, and additional tile work.
SMG was part of the process for Denny Sanford Premier Center from the idea’s conception, since the management company already ran the existing arena and convention center. Torkildson said that being involved so early hedged potential opening problems.
“With Mortenson Construction as the contract manager and Sink Combs Dethlefs as architect, we were on budget and ahead of schedule, so we actually got the building a few weeks early to get in there and work with the systems,” he said. So far, the major problem has been climate control, which isn’t a surprise when the weather is so unpredictable.
“We’re learning the ins and outs of the heating system in an area that can have a difference of 40 degrees overnight,” said Torkildson, who recalled a fall day where it was 80 degrees, only for the temperatures to dip below freezing two days later. The facility uses a combination of electric heating and natural gas. “Our heating bill can be pretty high,” he added.
The Meaning of Multipurpose
Facility types may range, but all have a singular goal: going multipurpose.
Neal is no stranger to getting directly involved in adrenaline-pumping events. When he worked at Long Beach (Calif.) Arena and Convention Center, he rode in a racecar during the city’s annual Grand Prix. At McLane Stadium, he’s found a new way to get to work.
“We did ‘Over the Edge,’ which is rappelling, and people were able to rappel 118 feet from the roof,” said Neal, who added that footage was broadcast on the video board so that friends and family could watch. Though he’s no stranger to a catwalk, Neal called the experience the scariest thing he’s ever done. “I was literally hanging by a thread,” he said, adding, “maybe that’s the way I should come to work from now on.”
University venues have an extra edict to make multipurpose part of their everyday operations. Alaska Airlines Center not only has the arena bowl, but also a 5,000-sq.-ft. strength and conditioning facility, a 2,400-sq.-ft. sports medicine facility, a secondary cardio gym, locker rooms, coaches’ offices, a walking path, and a restaurant open six days per week.
“It’s a little different from buildings I’ve been in in the past that were open for events, because we’re open to the public every day, 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.,” said Orheim, who added that the long hours require extra costs for security and maintenance, with the university covering costs associated with ancillary activities.
Afraid of the Dark
Being so multipurpose helps facilities keep the lights on, with Neal commenting, “our motto is that we’re afraid of the dark, so we try to make sure something’s happening, whether it’s rappelling, football, or a private event.”
Walmart AMP embraced diversity to keep talent coming in with country being the biggest success, but also seeing opportunities with concerts like Steely Dan, Santana, and Foster the People. Crowne and his staff are currently considering season ticket packages for 2016, but are enjoying a slight reprieve at the moment.
“I’m really looking forward to not wondering whether the venue is going to be built on time,” Crowne said, with a laugh. “As any project at this level, it kind of grows as you realize there are more things to do, so now that the venue is here we’re able to watch it breathe and operate.”
With baseball season wrapped up, BB&T Ballpark is used for events like beer festivals, holiday parties and corporate events, with MLB exhibition games and collegiate games already booked for next year.
“Basically anything that will keep the lights on and keep the building busy,” said Rajkowski.
Between events like Tom Petty, WWE, Harlem Globetrotters, Judas Priest, and college basketball, PPL Center will host 140-160 large events this year. In the new year, the facility is bringing in family entertainment starting with Disney on Ice in January and Monster Jam in March, both of which Fox expects to sell near capacity.
PPL Center’s club area, serviced by Ovations, holds smaller meetings, banquets and luncheons, keeping the facility busy most days.
If Cher hadn’t canceled dates on her recent tour due to illness, Denny Sanford Premier Center would have had six large concerts in its first month of operation, between public and private events. As it stands, the resident hockey team is averaging around 4,000 attendees per game, with both its opening night and a ‘Paint the Ice Pink’ breast cancer awareness night nearly sold out.
The Sioux Falls facility will bring in some new events to the region in the coming year, with Professional Bull Riders Built Ford Tough series debuting at the building March 13-14.
“There’s a demand for those shows but, historically, we haven’t had the gross capacity to bring them in. People are tired of having to drive to Omaha, Neb., or Minneapolis to see those shows, so we’ve been able to be very competitive in securing events,” said Torkildson, who is also looking forward to Cirque du Soleil capping off 2014, as well as the facility’s first dirt conversion with Monster X Tour, Jan. 31.
“The mayor is very nervous about our first dirt event, when we’ll be getting his brand new building dirty in January, but we’ve assured him that we have a plan in place,” said Torkildson.
Diverse, dirty and in-demand, facilities that opened 2014 are ready to show off for years to come.
Interviewed for this story: Brian Crowne, (479) 443-9216; Gunnar Fox, (610) 224-4625; Scott Neal, (254) 710-8100; Chris Orheim, (907) 786-4908; Dan Rajkowski, (704) 274-8203; Terry Torkildson, (605) 367-7288