Securing the food contract at the Greek Theatre for its affiliate Premier Food Services completed the task at hand as SMG waged a successful bid to manage L.A.’s iconic, 100-year-old amphitheater.
After 40 years under a promoter/operator deal with Nederlander, L.A.’s Recs and Parks Department selected SMG for a one-year management agreement and elected to make it an open venue, welcoming all promoters as well as multiple ticketing agencies.
The road ahead is no small task for the SMG team, which includes Doug Thornton, Steve Tadlock and Michael Krouse. Their ongoing efforts and accomplishments also won them the Venues Today Hall of Headlines award for News. They have been nothing if not in the news consistently for most of 2015.
Tadlock, SMG regional VP who also manages the SMG venues in Fresno, Calif., is heading the operations side of the Greek takeover. Architects have been hired and the city is putting $1.5 million into The Greek in infrastructure improvements.
“Our partner in this is Recreation and Parks. We report to them,” noted Krouse, who also manages the facilities, events and bureau in Ontario, Calif., for SMG. The Rec & Parks Department also operates Griffith Park, location for the Greek, and Griffith Park Observatory. Hollywood Bowl sits right above The Greek.
That makes it one big community of concerns, from traffic to decibel levels to historic integrity. “We were very active prebid and during the bid process getting to know the community groups and their concerns. We brought what we learned into that bid.”
SMG is focused on how to relieve traffic congestion by incorporating greater use of L.A.’s mass transit system. “We call it ‘Get Them Off The Hill,’” Krouse said. SMG is also engaging different grant opportunities to fund some of these efforts. That was “part of our bid and part of the success we had,” Krouse said.
Tadlock is overseeing the operational side of the transition. A lot of equipment was owned by Nederlander or Aramark, the incumbent concessionaire. Procedures and policies, sponsorships and premium seating were in Nederlander’s hands.
“They were living there for 40 years and they moved out,” Tadlock said. “You’re shocked at how much stuff you have after 40 years.”
Unlike most management deals, this is a complete changeover. The city had leased The Greek to Nederlander versus contracting management and food service from SMG.
“If you picked up The Greek and turned it over and shook it, everything that falls out goes. Everything attached stays,” Tadlock said, adding that is an exaggeration but indicative of the task at hand for SMG.
“It’s not our intent to come in and reinvent the wheel and do everything differently. We’re interested in keeping those good things going and identifying areas for improvement,” Tadlock said. And incorporating change inherent in opening The Greek to all promoters. “This is not the normal transitional model.”
Thornton said the mutual goal, working with Premier Partnerships, is to increase the historic $600,000-$700,000 in sponsor and premium cash and kind to beyond seven figures.
Ticketing is also a new model, Tadlock noted. Any ticketing company that wants to be an option can be as long as they invest in the infrastructure of their system. Promoters pick the ticketing company per show.
Per the contract, SMG has to live within an annual operating budget, about $1.4 million, or be at risk. Not only did SMG have to produce that number, but it did so with little historical information, counting on local consultants and its own experience managing hundreds of venues.
“The Greek is an iconic amphitheater and music venue. It’s been there 100 years. It’s well known in the music industry,” Thornton said. “It gives SMG a presence now in the L.A. music market.”
They are looking at 74 shows and about 370,000 attendees next year with the new, open-venue model.
Now, with addition of the food service contract approved Dec. 9, SMG is looking at a holistic approach to improving the customer experience.
“We believe we’ll be able to manage the transition without a lot of drama,” Thornton said. “But we have a lot of work to do between now and April 15 when we kick off.”