Macon (Ga.) Centreplex in action.
Spectra by Comcast Spectacor won the bid to serve as the new manager of the 9,250-seat coliseum and 2,688-seat auditorium at the Macon (Ga.) Centreplex, and appointed industry veteran Monty Jones Jr. as general manager of the complex. Spectra and Jones began the new, 10-year contract on July 1 and replace previous manager Noble-Interstate Management Group.
Jones relocates from the Gila River Arena in Glendale, Ariz., which is now under the management of AEG Facilities. The move keeps Jones close to family in the Southeast while also keeping the 12-year Spectra employee working for the same company, two moves he cited in the transition as being important.
Monty Jones, Jr.
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“It was a great opportunity to stay with Spectra,” Jones said. “It has been a great run of 12 years with the company. With the situation in Glendale and the management change, I wanted to keep my loyalties to Spectra, plus the opportunity to get back to the Southeast and being able to stay closer to family was very important.”
“This was a very attractive opportunity for us, and quite frankly one that we’ve been following for the past nine months,” said Trent Merritt, regional vice president for Spectra. “We have several other properties throughout Georgia and the Southeast region that will allow us to leverage our abilities with regard to booking, food and beverage service and commercial rights. We feel that Spectra will really be able to add value to Macon-Bibb County and the users and patrons of the facility by increasing the number and types of events, initiating a number of professional management programs and initiatives that didn’t previously exist and creating positive community relations. None of this happens overnight but it is all aimed at driving the bottom line and maximizing the customer experience.”
Noble-Interstate, SMG and Pinnacle Venue Services also bid for the new contract.
“We gave notice that an automatic renewal would not occur,” said Mayor Robert Reichert. “We wanted to bid out the management, but we invited Noble-Interstate to bid. Spectra’s enthusiastic response throughout the process, their reputation and references from other venues in the region and terms of their proposal clearly impressed us.”
Macon-Bibb County will continue to own the facilities while Spectra will now provide certain food and beverage services and commercial rights services to the facilities that had previously been run in-house.
“Spectra Food Services & Hospitality will handle the F&B moving forward,” Merritt said. “We have a very short turnaround time for transition, so obviously some issues like menu items will take some time to establish but we do expect to significantly upgrade the quality and service of the F&B offerings, again all focused on driving the bottom line and customer experience.” There are some other significant changes that guests can expect to see under the new management.
“The initial focus will be improved appearance, maintenance and cleanup,” Reichert said. “Then we have the concession operations, marketing, booking and ticketing option improvements slated in the near future. We definitely believe that guests will see big changes and improved changes.”
“We are exploring the things that have been here and trying to expand on those things,” Jones added. “We are looking to expand on the content that was here and get to the point where this is a constant moving machine. We want to be great stewards to Macon-Bibb County.”
Both the coliseum and auditorium have held a number of events over the last several years, but Spectra has ambitious plans to increase those offerings.
“Our goal is to really ramp up the booking and marketing efforts in order to increase the volume and profitability of events,” Merritt said. “We will be focused on bringing in additional concerts, family shows, local and regional events and a variety of sporting events. We also look forward to working very closely with the Macon Mayhem (of the Southern Professional Hockey League) in their second year in Macon.”
Spectra has three other similar sized properties within a 200-mile radius of the Macon Centreplex, which can help create synergistic opportunities to increase bookings, maximize resources and reduce expenses for all three properties. The other venues are the James Brown Arena and William B. Bell Auditorium in Augusta, Ga.; the USC Aiken (S.C.) Convocation Center; and the Donald L. Tucker Civic Center in Tallahassee, Fla.
Jones, in fact, worked in Augusta and cites the similarities between that experience and his new position. Prior to that, he worked for Spectra venues in South Carolina and Chicago.
“We are taking over city-managed facilities, the same concept with an arena and auditorium that was in Augusta,” he said. “Macon is a very progressive town and the fourth largest city in the state. There are plenty of opportunities for Spectra for the venue with our food service presence and ticketing as well.”
“The coliseum and auditorium are terrific properties for us to add to our roster of facilities,” Merritt said. “As operators we thrive in the secondary and tertiary markets. Macon-Bibb County fits perfectly in our southeast region where we can create exciting new entertainment opportunities for the region. We look forward to working with the commissioners and Mayor Reichert in helping enhance the customer experience in Macon.”
Interviewed for this article: Monty Jones, (803) 361-1777; Trent Merritt, (813) 748-7367; Robert Reichert, (478) 751-7170