Live entertainment venues had a terrific 2016. Our Top Stops facilities reported $2,582,307,550 in gross sales compared to $2,175,870,425 for 2015, a 16 percent increase. Many venues expressed dismay at the outside events that swirled around them in 2016 and interfered with business-as-usual, from the U.S. election to police protests to weather-related events and the economy. Security is a top-of-mind issue for most of our reporting venues; the reason is obvious, the answers are few.
Despite the inside and outside events that threatened to spoil the party, business was good and most of our venue managers were highly satisfied with the robust revenue 2016 brought and looking forward to a healthy 2017.
Of the 21 venues responding to our year-end questionnaire, 14 said business was up, some significantly. Robyn Williams, CFE and executive director, Portland'5 (Ore.) Centers for the Arts, called 2016 “our best year ever,” as did Jason Anderson, GM, Paramount Theatre, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, which hasn’t had it so good since it reopened in 2012.
For our 2016 Top Stop with a capacity of 30,000-plus, it was also the best year since MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, N.J., opened in 2010, according to Ron VanDeVeen, president and CEO.
Both Sandie Aaron, managing director, Cobb Performing Arts Center, Atlanta, and Jan Goodheart, VP, external affairs, Broward Center for the Performing Arts, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., pegged the uptick at seven percent, while Todd Mastry, executive director, Landers Center, Southaven, Miss., quoted a 12
percent increase.
“In fact this was our best year ever,” said Barnaby Hooper, The 02 Arena, London, which was the highest grossing venue in the world in 2016, based on revenue of $160,922,713.
POLITICS PACKS A PUNCH
The contentious 2016 U.S. presidential election definitely impacted business this year at many venues, and managers cited exorbitant media buys, limited TV & radio advertising availability and protests as the main issues.
“Protests after the presidential election were happening almost every night,” said Williams. “Media coverage was intense; traffic was a mess. People were afraid to come downtown so there were a lot of no-shows.”
“With Iowa historically being a swing state in elections, I believe the presidential primaries and election directly impacted attendance,” said Anderson.
“When activity in other places, like the U.S. election, causes instability and volatility in the currencies, it places an incredible strain on our ability to keep par,” said Kevin Donnelly, SR VP, Venues & Entertainment, MTS Centre, Burton-Cummings Theatre, Winnipeg, Manitoba. “We are forced to increase ticket prices, which then discourages a certain segment of every audience, and so you sell less tickets. It is a terrible cycle to get stuck in.”
Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, may have been impacted most of all. “The Democratic National Convention shut us down from May 28 through Aug. 19,” said John Page, president of that arena. Page and his team used the time wisely. “While we were shut down, we were able to fully refurbish all 82 luxury suites and enhance the arena’s WiFi.”
Weather related events blew the roof off many venues this year. “Cedar Rapids experienced our second worst flood to date at the end of September,” said Anderson. “This caused some events to be postponed and a loss in our marketing efforts as much of the community was focused on the preparations, cleanup, and then economic recovery.”
“The weather this year impacted our arena business operations specifically during a blizzard that occurred back in January,” said David Touhey, president of venues, Monumental Sports & Entertainment, which includes Verizon Center, Washington, D.C. The blizzard shut down the city and made for quite the challenge in rescheduling them to a later date in the season.”
“Although we are always well prepared for hurricanes because we live in South Florida, Hurricane Matthew had a profound impact,” said Kim Stone, executive VP and GM, AmericanAirlines Arena, Miami. “It caused us to cancel the first day of a three-day conference.”
The weakness of the Canadian dollar had the biggest impact on Air Canada Centre and MTS Center. “The Canadian dollar weakness ultimately impacts our business as the vast majority of our business comes from the U.S.,” said Wayne Zronik, SVP, music and live events, Air Canada Centre, Toronto. Donnelly agrees. “For sure the economy and the strength, or lack of strength, of the Canadian currency against the U.S. currency was a big factor this year.”
SECURITY TOP OF MIND
Security, how to best prepare for the worst, and how to pay for it, took on a life of its own this year. Oak View Group, the venue alliance company started by Tim Leiweke and Irving Azoff, thinks it’s such an important part of every venue’s future they’ve created a stand-alone consulting company, Prevent Advisors to battle it.
Many of our reporting venue managers worldwide agree. “Global security threats and terrorist attacks have heightened security requirements throughout Australia,” said Steve Hevern, AEG Ogden and GM, Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney, Australia. “Security was the biggest change in 2016,” said Terry Torkildson, Denny Sanford Premier Center, Sioux Falls, S.D. “With the attacks in Paris and Orlando, adjustments came quickly to security measures within venues.”
Many venues highlighted the cost of new security measures, including Scott Mullen, iWireless Center, Moline, Ill., and Felix Frei, CEO, Hallenstadion, Zurich, Switzerland, who saw significantly higher show expenses. “We adapted our security concept and processes,” Frei said. Goodheart and Williams both said they added costs because they had to add additional security to buildings and events.
Sadly, security issues hit home most closely in Orlando venues this year. In just one weekend, singer Christina Grimmie was shot and killed by a deranged fan while greeting fans after a concert at Plaza Live Theater followed quickly by the mass-killings by an unhinged lone-gunman at Pulse nightclub.
“Without question, the mass shooting at the Pulse nightclub back on June 12 had a tremendous impact on us,” said Allen Johnson, executive director, Orlando Venues, which oversees Camping World STADIUM and Amway Center. “It was unexpected and it hit our community hard. Our Orlando Venues team, along with numerous other cities, county, state and federal law enforcement agencies worked together in the recovery effort. The entire Central Florida community pulled together in support, and it was beautiful to see how the worst brought out the best in all of us.”
INNOVATIONS IMPACT TICKETING AND PARKING
Many venues reported innovations that improved their performance this year, many citing technical advances making operations easier. Mullen said automated parking operation, Park Hub, produced better controls in terms of reducing loss by accepting credit cards vs. handling cash. Stone liked the VenueNext mobile platform that allows for new sales opportunities ranging from seat upgrades to the ability to highlight merchandise and showcase food & beverage offerings.
Edward “Tex” Dike, GM, AXIS at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, said enhanced price yielding tools improved the bottom line.
Advances in ticketing were also heavily valued. Ticketmaster’s new scaling tool helped Mastry find the right number of seats at the right price point, selling more seats to ticket buyers. “This tool is quickly making highlighters and Excel obsolete for scaling a show and doing so with 100 percent accuracy,” he said.
Donnelly liked the way mobile phone ticket ordering is gaining traction. “No box office line-ups and no lost tickets,” he said.
“Mobile ticketing was an eye-opener,” agreed Page. “We used paperless tickets for Adele (two shows) and saw the future of ticketing.”
“We created an app with Mobile Roadie for the building that integrates with Ticketmaster and gives easy access to building information for our guests.” said Tyler Baldwin, director, bookings and events, Orleans Arena, Las Vegas.
Zronik pointed to “secondary market verified ticketing” as a game-changer this year. “Legislative changes in the province of Ontario last year opened up the secondary ticketing market in the province,” he said.
WEBSITE UPGRADES AND SOCIAL MEDIA
Website upgrades worked well at Wells Fargo Center and Orpheum Theater. “The redesign enhanced the mobile purchasing experience for our customers and has led to an increase in mobile ticket sales,” said Page.
“We completed major upgrades to our websites in 2016 which streamlined the ticket purchasing experience and improved the mobile purchase process,” said Joan Squires, president, Omaha (Neb.) Performing Arts, which includes Holland Performing Arts Center and Orpheum Theater. “It also allowed customers to plan the entire evening including making dinner reservations and reserving valet parking.”
Social media and the use of engaging customers electronically were also on display in 2016. “We do e-blasts pre-event to offer pertinent information about the event. And post event, to ask for feedback via surveys,” said Aaron.
On the stadium level, guests are increasingly utilizing social media to ask questions or address concerns while attending an event, VandeVeen added. “What we are seeing is that they want an immediate response without having to leave their seat.”
Qudos Bank Arena liked their photo booth activation which involved the taking of a photo at the arena and posting
it on Instagram/Twitter/Facebook. Johnson increased the solicitation of customer feedback using e-card surveys post-event.
Stone used digital technology to handle mobile ticketing and mobile payments.
Hooper uses online ticketing for those with specific access needs. “Before, those that required dedicated disabled access tickets would need to call our customer contact center, but this can now be booked easily and simply through the O2 website,” he said.
Other improvements cited included a naming deal for Qudos Bank Arena; expansion of hospitality areas at Verizon Center and Omaha Theater; allowing beverages into the theater at Portland’5 Centers for the Arts; starting a new business intelligence group at AmericanAirlines Arena and the opening of a new bar and restaurant at Holland Performing Arts Center.
New LED lighting helped a number of venues. “New powerful LED light installation in the arena for arena sports was a hit; the full arena is now on 100% LED lights,” said Frei.
Renovations helped Nick Checota, owner and entertainment buyer, Wilma & Top Hat Lounge, Missoula, Mont. “The addition of a world-class sound system, lighting system, sound consoles and upgraded Green Room facilities has officially put The Wilma on the map for venues to play,” he said.
Innovations in concessions were evident by the Launch Test Kitchen at Verizon Center and the implementation of in-seat ordering at Air Canada Centre.
MORE VENUES, MORE TALENT IN THE POOL
Many venues expressed that the available pool of touring talent and strength of non-concert events made the biggest impact on 2016.
“The return of the stadium tour was the biggest surprise of 2016,” said Johnson.
“The Paramount Theatre will have more sellouts in 2016 than our other years combined,” said Anderson.
Air Canada Centre was host to several large-scale international events including the 2016 NBA All Star game and World Cup of Hockey. These events, combined with an excellent concert calendar, means the building has been busier than ever, according to Zronik.
“MetLife Stadium had a record year in 2016 with 42 events compared to 36 in 2015,” said VanDeVeen. “The total does not include 20 annual NFL Giants and Jets games. Our greatest growth in 2016 was in concerts and soccer.”
Mullen and Baldwin both pointed to increased competition as having a major impact on their business this year as well. Mullen is competing with a new casino venue and the constantly growing number of outdoor festivals, which “is limiting the number of shows and is diluting discretionary spending for patrons we are trying to reach.”
Las Vegas is in a building boom…and festival boom, which is making radius clauses a headache for venues like Baldwin’s.
LOOKING AHEAD TO 2017
All of our reporting venues agreed that 2017 is already looking like it will be a banner year at live entertainment venues.
Williams is looking forward to hosting the Broadway smash, Hamilton. Mullen said that 2017 is shaping up to be one of his biggest years in a long time, “primarily due to the popularity and number of touring country artists.” Hevern expects it to be “a bumper year for securing content at the arena.”
Touhey is looking forward to adding a new Arena Football League team, the Washington Valor, to Verizon Center’s schedule.
Mastry sums up 2017 expectations this way: “For many, the election seemed to call for doom and gloom, but the sun did come up and I expect to see a continued rise in the number of shows and ticket buyers for 2017.”
Interviewed for this story: Sandie Aaron, (770) 916-2802; Jason Anderson, (319) 398-5211; Tyler Baldwin, (702) 365-7469; Nick Checota, (406) 544-7440; Edward “Tex” Dike, (702) 785-5828; Kevin Donnelly, (204) 926-5503; Felix Frei, +41 44 316 77 11; Jan Goodheart, (954) 765-5814; Steve Hevern, +61 2 865 4350; Barnaby Hopper, +44 20 7536 2600; Allen Johnson, (407) 440-7070; Todd Mastry, (662) 470-2102; Scott Mullen, (309) 277-1309; John Page, (215) 389-9558; Kim Stone, (786) 777-4771; Terry Torkildson, (605) 367-7288; David Touhey, (202) 628-3200; Joan Squires, (402) 345-0202; Ron VeanDeVeen, (201) 559-1534; Robyn Williams, (503) 274-6565; Wayne Zronik, (416) 815-5962