THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM

Everyone agreed on the biggest highlights in the content world of Feld Entertainment: buying the circus, licensing Disney on Ice, going international, buying Live Nation Motorsports, and most recently, adding Sesame Street.
Taking the elephants out of the circus and housing them at the existing Center for Elephant Conservation last year and, closing the circus, later this year, have changed the entire content dynamic, but that change was underway long before now. Society changes and Feld Entertainment changes with it.
“We’ve cultivated our own brands and own events, but we also have one of the longest standing licensee relationships with the Disney Co. in Disney on Ice. There is a lot of interest with other content providers, other brands, retail or consumer products, in connecting with their audiences through experiences,” said Juliette Feld, COO. She predicts those partnerships will grow.
“We’re about providing solutions and opportunities,” she said, citing branding ops like America’s Best Eyewear, which they will activate at Monster Jam events where folks who come in to get an eye exam get tickets to the show.
Acquiring Live Nation Motor Sports in 2008 was a turning point for Feld Entertainment. It informed all the ice show and circus on new ways of doing business — and vice versa — and, most importantly, brought a demographic into the Feld fold that had been missing.
“With the purchase of Motor Sports, we grew by a third overnight,” added Alana Feld, EVP. “It opened up our world through a similar but somewhat different audience.”
Juliette noted it expanded the demographic Feld product addresses. “We really represent the lifecycle. We talk about our production and audience being multigenerational. People who came as children bring their children. Parents and grandparents come to our events with children and grandchildren.”
“But there is this window of time between being a child and before becoming a parent we missed. Now we are also capturing that audience,” Juliette said.
“We plan to be around for 50 more years and beyond. Always looking ahead. My grandfather believed in that, it’s why he acquired Ringling. He wanted to control the quality and he didn’t want to sell a product he didn’t wholeheartedly believe in. That is the principle that drives the company. We create experiences and products we can stand behind and are proud to put our name on. We will continue to do that forever,” Juliette promised.
Being a parent (her kids are two and new) has opened Juliette’s eyes to the beauty of shared experiences. She is also thrilled that millennials as a generation put value on experiences more than material goods. “That’s good for our whole industry as well,” she said.
The launch of Marvel Universe Live was another benchmark for Feld Entertainment. “It’s a huge production, biggest tour to go out, a new genre of stunts and story in one show. I do produce that show and I’m very proud of it,” Juliette said. This is the third year of the tour and right now it’s in Europe.
Felds launched Monster Jam University several years ago and developed a new roster of drivers, much as her grandfather launched Clown University 50 years ago.
Licensing the Sesame Street Live brand to go out this year is another benchmark for Feld, said Alana Feld. “We’re approaching it as trying to mimic all the incredible aspects of the show on TV, especially how modern the show has become, the vibrancy of the music.”
New projects are always in the offing for Feld Entertainment. “We’re really looking at entertainment differently. How to engage fans more, make them part of an experience,” Alana said. “There is an audience that wants to touch, interact and live a brand in some way. That’s something we’re looking to roll out in the next couple of years. Millennial parents and the kinds of experiences they want for their families and other audiences out there.”
“It’s an audience we’re very interested in.”