Eric Bresler, newly named executive director and GM of Chase Center, San Francisco, and Dale Adams, AEG Facilities director of nonconcert events and now also GM of Gila River Arena, Glendale, Ariz., for the company in 2014, when their offices were side by side in AEG L.A. headquarters. (VT Photo)
In the space of one month, Dale Adams, VP of event development for AEG Facilities, added GM of Gila River Arena, Glendale, Ariz., to his duties and his L.A officemate one door down, Eric Bresler, left AEG Facilities to become executive director of the new Chase Center in San Francisco being built by the Golden State Warriors.
Adams has already relocated to Glendale, where AEG Facilities takes over July 1. “We’ve talked to the staff, Spectra has been very helpful,” Adams said of the firm that is moving out as AEG moves in.
The changeover occurs Fourth of July weekend and no major events are planned until Duran Duran Aug. 3, so there will be time for orientation and acclimation. “We’ve been in contact with local promoters and the city, and talk to the Coyotes every day,” he said.
“I love this space,” Adams said. “It’s like LA Live on steroids. The whole area has grown like crazy, with a movie theater, restaurants, Dave & Busters. This is a great opportunity. This is the event space for Arizona.”
The Arizona Coyotes had operated the arena, subcontracting to Spectra. Adams is working through all the subcontractor deals now. AEG Facilities was hired by the city of Glendale. Adams will have about 25 full-time staff and has already picked Sean Langer, formerly with KFC Yum! Center, as ops director, and Michael Gerber, formerly with Citizens Business Bank Arena, Ontario, Calif., as director of guest services. Gracie Pugliese remains director of marketing.
Bresler, on the other hand, is the second arena specific hire on board for the Golden State Warriors. Chase Center, part of a $1 billion development, privately funded by the Warriors basketball team owners, will be in the Mission Bay district. Bresler answers to the first arena hire, Stephen Collins, Chase Center COO, who is thrilled to be assembling a team, which he expects will number about 100 fulltime when all is said and done.
The arena opens in 2019. The preview center, dubbed The Experience Center, opens in October and is a block from the 11-acre Chese Center site, Collins said. The arena will eventually have 30,000 sq. ft. of office space, housing as much of the staff, including 200 people on the team side, as possible. But for now, arena staff has two offices, one in Oakland where the Warriors currently play and one downtown at the Experience Center.
Based on his experience overseeing the $1 billion rebuild of Madison Square Garden in New York and the $200,000 renovation of the Forum in Inglewood, Calif., Collins knows it’s time to gear up. The Warriors have closed on the land and submitted preliminary designs to the city. They will be on site by January and start full blown construction in April 2017, with a 28-month construction window. Besides the arena, they are building two office buildings, three underground parking garages, 550,000 sq. ft. of retail and a large plaza the size of Rockefeller Center.
Bresler’s marching orders when he starts with GSW Arena LLC in mid-July will revolve around marketing the building and getting out into the community, Collins said. Over the next two months, he will be adding key staff on a regular basis. Like the Garden, Chase Center will be mostly self-op, he added.
Bresler said he never intended to leave AEG Facilities until he got the reach-out from the Warriors. He first met Collins because of Alex Diaz, GM at the Garden, who used to work with Bresler at the Miami Heat.
He envisions the culture as similar to the Miami Heat, where everyone was a Heat employee. He sees his first duties as “learning the organization, who everyone is and how to best make sure we are all working together for the betterment of the organization and arena and, second, learning the market. I need to become a member of the community, make sure we’re doing all the right things to impact the community.”
Bresler was with AEG Facilities as VP of event booking and development, for eight years. Before that, he was VP of arena bookings and marketing for the Heat Group and AmericanAirlines Arena. He began his career in Miami at Joe Robbie Stadium and later joined the Charlotte (N.C.) Coliseum, before moving to Amalie Arena, Tampa, as director of marketing.
Adams has been with AEG Facilities for six years and counting. Interviewed while moving into his new home in Glendale, a 14-minute commute from the arena, he was thrilled with the change in lifestyle, having endured a 60-90 minute commute to AEG headquarters in L.A.
Prior to joining AEG Facilities, he worked briefly for Premier Exhibitions, Atlanta. He also opened Prudential Center, Newark, N.J.; and Coliseo de Puerto Rico in San Juan. He spent six years working for Feld Entertainment and then two more after stints with Leisure Management International (LMI), Ponchartrain (La.) Center and Lakeland (Fla.) Center.
Interviewed for this story: Dale Adams, dadams@aegworldwide.com; Eric Bresler and Steve Collins, (510) 740-7548