A billboard celebrating Mohegan Sun, Uncasville, Conn.'s 20th Anniversary.
Mohegan Sun, Uncasville, Conn., turned 20 in October; its world famous Mohegan Sun Arena has existed for 15 of those years. To mark the celebration, Mohegan Sun Arena set out to break records: the most concerts in 30 days, highest attendance in 30 days, biggest number of superstar artists playing in 30 days and highest grossing 30-day revenue in the history of the venue.
They knocked it out of the park and succeeded in breaking every record.
Inside Mohegan Sun Arena
“It was an incredible month,” said Tom Cantone, senior vice president of sports and entertainment, Mohegan Sun. “We had 101,000 people come see shows at Mohegan Sun in the month of October; that was a 226 percent increase over October 2015. We did 15 concerts. It was the most events we’ve done in one month. Our gross showed a 231 percent increase over last year. Hotel/concert packages were up 321 percent over last year and revenue from the packages was up 287 percent.
“The Arena became the new ‘Mr. October,' to borrow a sports analogy,” said Cantone. “Anything that was going on and happening was going on here; in a big way; in a championship way that drew the attention of the country. Many of the artists that played for our anniversary were not on tour. It was the only appearance and performance of the year for some of the artists.”
Major artists playing at Mohegan Sun during their 20th Anniversary included Bruno Mars, Carrie Underwood, Tim McGraw, Fergie, Kevin Hunt, Sam Hunt, Megadeth, Sia, Kiss and LL Cool J. “Mohegan Sun Entertainment produced the Kevin Hart show,” said Cantone. “We also produced Fergie and Bruno Mars. We were very fortunate to secure these acts for our big anniversary.”
“It took me over a year to book October,” said Cantone. “My first calls were to Tim McGraw and Bruno Mars. It was not easy getting the kind of talent we wanted to secure; it was a major effort. It’s a lot harder to create a date than to book one. But when you create a date the event becomes a special event.”
Tom Cantone, senior VP, sports and entertainement, Mohegan Sun, Uncasville, Conn., and Kevin Hart celebrate the 20th Anniversay.
Thirty celebrities walked the red carpet over the course of the two weekends that Bruno Mars and Kevin Hart played. “We also had VIP’s that flew in from all over the country on those two weekends especially just to see our A-List concerts,” said Cantone. “It had a huge impact on the commerce it generated not only here but at area hotels which saw as much as 26 percent revenue increases in October.”
McGraw was actually the very first artist to play the Mohegan Sun Arena in 2001. In a sentimental gesture he was the first artist to play the 20th Anniversary Oct. 1.
Kiss rerouted their tour to play. “That is symbolic of how the artists view Mohegan Sun. Our relationships really made this October historic,” said Cantone.
The social media impact of the Mohegan Sun’s 20th anniversary splash can’t be underappreciated. “We were the number one ranked venue of our size on social media for the month of October,” Cantone boasted. “We had the highest unique engagement page views of all the resorts in the United States on Facebook; 59 million engagements, which was 65 percent higher than our nearest competitor. Our Twitter presence exploded, too. That means more people engaged in our content than any other resort in the country in October.”
Cantone arrived at Mohegan Sun in 2007. “Our goal was to make our venue as popular as the stars who play it,” he said. “We weren’t ranked or anything back then and now we’re in the top three destinations in the world every year. The arena is a major driver for the resort and the enterprise.”
In the past 10 years, Mohegan Sun has produced over 2,000 shows and entertained over 10 million people. There are 10,000 seats in the arena. “At most concerts the seating range is from 6,500 seats to 9,000 seats,” explained Cantone. “Most shows are produced downstage, but some of the artists have round 360-degree productions and those we can sell out the full 10,000 seats.”
The biggest event in Mohegan Sun history was 10 consecutive sellout shows in a row by Billy Joel in 2008. “We had 100,000 people attend the shows and grossed over $10 million,” he said.
The most memorable event for Cantone happened five years ago. “Connecticut had an epic blizzard,” said Cantone. “We had Bon Jovi here; they were already in-house when the blizzard hit. It was a state of emergency; all the roads were closed. Since Bon Jovi was all set up for their show they decided to go ahead and play, so all of our employees and the hotel guests who were stranded here were treated to an intimate, and free, Bon Jovi concert. It was unforgettable.”
Jennifer Lopez, who played Mohegan Sun’s 15th anniversary, was also memorable. “Jennifer Lopez was the hottest music act in the country at the time,” said Cantone. ”She didn’t have a tour. I was lucky enough to secure her only date of the year. They rehearsed in Los Angeles, flew here to Connecticut and stayed for a week. She performed her only date on the planet that year, for 8,000 Mohegan Sun guests.
She later told us that she got calls from venues all over the world who wanted to book that show.” The exposure Mohegan Sun got from Lopez’s special appearance “lasted for months.”
In addition to the arena shows, there were an additional 96 artists that played shows in one of the five smaller Mohegan Sun venues. “No property in the nation did that kind of entertainment in one month. LL Cool J. broke the attendance record for our Wolf Den space,” said Cantone. “There were over 2,000 people packed into that room to see him.”
Cantone said that Mohegan Sun was the beneficiary of great timing: “Bruno Mars debuted his new single, “24K Magic," live to our arena crowd,” said a delighted Cantone. “He then went to our nightclub and spun records. Kevin Hart performed on the night his new movie was released. Carrie Underwood and Tim McGraw both received Academy of Country Music awards just prior to coming here.”
Cantone credits his 100 running staff members and 500 supporting staff members for the flawless execution of the 20th Anniversary. “Our skilled technicians are the best,” he said. “My hat is off to my crew who make every event shine.”
Other big events at Mohegan Sun included three consecutive sellout shows by Prince shortly before he died; Bruce Springsteen made his long-awaited casino debut at Mohegan Sun in 2014. “I waited 25 years to book Springsteen,” said Cantone. One Direction performed their first U.S. show at the arena. “It was their very first show on U.S. soil. They were the rage at the time and we had a Beatles-like response from screaming fans.”
“We don’t sell tickets, we sell memories,” said Cantone. “It’s definitely ‘mission accomplished’ with the 20th Anniversary program. On November 1, we had an exhale party where I got everyone together. We all exhaled together with smiles on our faces for quite an accomplishment.”
Interviewed for this story: Tom Cantone, (808) 862-4412