Don’t think of the Midwest as flyover states; there’s serious money to be made between the coasts. Cumulatively, the venues on Venues Today’s 2016 Midwest Top Stops charts were up a solid seven percent over 2015, reporting concert and event grosses of $368 million, up from $321 million. In-demand acts, higher ticket prices, the improving economy and good fortune in routing account for the increase, according to the venue operators interviewed.
The $113-billion U.S. Bank Stadium, Minneapolis, opened in July 2016. Since then, it’s hosted 168 million guests. “It’s an amazing building and has performed extremely well,” said Patrick Talty, GM. “Building openings are tough, but we’ve done a great job of hitting the ground running and meeting high expectations. In fact, we’ve been more successful than we predicted.”
The first event was a sold-out Chelsea vs. AC Milan international soccer game. “We blew it out of the water,” said Talty. “This was quickly followed by back-to-back Luke Bryan and Metallica concerts.” Vikings football followed, then three Monster Truck shows, a Supercross — plus another 400 events.
Tickets ranged from $25-$200 and Talty said the venue easily met its $6.75 million net operating guarantee. Per caps were around $2 for college baseball and went as high as $29 for the bigger events.
Food and beverage (F&B) is provided by Aramark. “The catering operation is exceeding all expectations,” he said. “Minneapolis is a foodie scene, and Aramark did a great job of finding local flavors the people love. We have craft beers, celebrity chefs and Aramark went out their way to include minority suppliers such as T-Rex cookies and Lola’s Wings.”
Security is provided by Monterrey Security. “We have a strong integrated command center with a lot of technology in place,” he said. “We’re constantly looking at how to make a better fan experience and keep everyone as safe as we can.”
Talty’s prognosis for the rest of 2017 is equally sunny. “X-Games are coming this summer, Guns N’ Roses, Coldplay, and Justin Bieber are booked, and there’s a little thing called Super Bowl 52 headed to U.S. Bank Stadium in February 2018. The world will be watching,” said Talty.
Talty said he’s focused on fan engagement and that every venue in the world needs to be just as focused. “Without fans coming, we’d have an empty building,” he said.
“We had a really good year,” said Jack Larson, Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, Minn., VP and GM, who said the venue was up 10 percent in revenue in 2016. He attributes the bump to the success of the Minnesota Wild hockey team, the healthy number of concerts they put on and crowd-pleasing state tournaments.
“We opened the Adele tour in July,” said Larson, “We also did the sell-out Prince tribute, Bruce Springsteen, Mumford and Sons, Def Leppard, and Blake Shelton. The Earth, Wind & Fire show was a big success.” Tickets ranged from $30-$250.
Larson also praised the performance of his family shows, Disney On Ice and The World’s Toughest Rodeo.
Larson said that it was “a really good year” for F&B, which is provided by Levy Restaurants. “We changed a couple of clubs into all-inclusive areas that have been very well accepted,” he said. “We did chef-takeovers in our Jack Daniels Old No. 7 Club, and we were up around 10 percent in F&B as well last year.”
Improvements included a new hospitality area/bar/restaurant called The Reserve on the suite level. “We do special promotions that bring people up there,” he said. Xcel Center is evaluating what they will remodel next. “We’re 16 years old and are looking at what we can do to enhance the fan experience.”
BOK Center, Tulsa, Okla., was named ‘Arena Of The Year’ by the International Entertainment Buyers Association (IEBA) in 2016 and winning the award was the highlight of the year for GM Jeff Nickler. “We’ve been nominated every year since we opened in 2008, and to finally take the award home was a great acknowledgement of the 100-plus staff we have here who make the magic happen everyday.”
Tulsa has become a strong rock market, said Nickler. Big shows included Iron Maiden, Coldplay, Billy Joel, Justin Bieber, and Carrie Underwood. BOK Center was the highest-grossing date on the Pentatonix tour. “A lot of big shows across all genres of music really helped us in 2016.”
Nickler said he saw higher ticket prices across the board in 2016. The ticket price range was $25 to $250. “The average ticket prices were well over $100, which is unusual for our market,” he said.
A redesign to the concession stands in 2015 brought a whopping 75-percent-increase in F&B in 2016. BOK Center also spent $250,000 upgrading security with new magnetometers, adding additional security cameras and additional security protocols. “A lot of this wasn’t in place until this year,” he said. “The conversation really was security here this year and industry wide.”
2017 is looking just as prosperous for BOK Center. “We’re already trending way ahead of 2016,” he said.
“We celebrated our 20th Anniversary in 2016, and it was a big year,” said Richard MacKeigan, SMG regional GM and regional booking director, Van Andel Arena, DeVos Place and DeVos Performance Hall, Grand Rapids, Mich. “We hosted 31 concerts in 2016, the highest number of concerts in 18 years and a 30 percent increase over the average number of concerts the arena has hosted each year throughout its 20 years. The success of these bookings has allowed the SMG-managed venues in Grand Rapids to enjoy their best fiscal performance in history.”
To commemorate their 20th Anniversary, they hosted the “I Love the 90s” tour. “We carried the 90s theme throughout the whole night, including 1990s concessions prices, which were very well received by our guests,” said MacKeigan.
Hot shows were Garth Brooks, who set the venue record for most tickets sold for a single engagement with six shows over four days; Paul McCartney, who broke the venue record for highest grossing ticket sales for a single event and Kanye West, who brought in the heaviest production the venue has ever seen, weighing in at over 200,000 pounds.
MacKeigan said the 2016 Grand Rapids market “has been responding very well the last 18 months or so. Shows that should do well are doing great and shows that are back annually or every other year are seeing double digit increases over their last play.” He sees more traction on larger acts that, at first look, may appear too large for his market but “are taking a chance and seeing success.”
Ticket prices ranged from $12 for family shows up to $253 on the high end for concerts. Quite a few events also offered VIP packages. The complex’s 2016 budget was $11 million.
The arena’s concessionaire, Savor…catering by SMG, enjoyed their best year in sales in 2016 due in part to the 20th anniversary and the ongoing success of the Grand Rapids Griffins hockey team.
Some of the new items introduced to concessions were mac and cheese with toppings, a pizza sub and the Grub Tub, which is a cup with a bowl-like attachment that allows patrons to hold a meal and drink in the same hand. They also offered a cheeseburger or chicken tender Grub Tub with a soda of the guest’s choice.
Their restaurant, The Intermission, introduced a Cuban sandwich; jalapeno bacon chicken poppers and chicken drummies. They also added new items in the suites: The Taste of India package with Alu Chole, garbanzo beans and tomato sauce with basmati rice, samosa and pakora with a dipping sauce and they introduced a gluten-free dessert, The Sweet Street Sampler.
Improvements to the building included large-scale interior and exterior upgrades to LED lighting. Next year, they are “looking at continuing projects to keep the building and its systems modern and fresh, including exterior painting, HVAC upgrades, elevator upgrades and a few others,” MacKeigan said. “We have a long-term capital plan, and we work closely with the Grand Rapids Griffins of the AHL, our primary tenant, our SMG corporate office and the Grand Rapids-Kent County Convention/Arena Authority, our owners, to assess opportunities that provide the best return.”
Van Andel Arena bought several walk-through metal detectors in 2016 and notifies their patrons for each event through e-mail with security measures specific to the event they’re attending.
MacKeigan’s outlook for 2017 is strong. “The Griffins continue to draw well and are playing well, and have clinched a spot in the playoffs,” he said. “Concert activity looks good with good shows on the books, including Chris Stapleton, Red Hot Chili Peppers and The Who.”
“2016 was the best year we've had since we opened,” said Steve Miller, SMG GM, Huntington Center, Toledo, Ohio. “The stars aligned for us, no pun intended.” This followed Huntington Center’s worst year ever in 2015. “It’s a function of routing. The dates worked out for us this year.”
Elton John, James Taylor, Luke Bryan, Def Leppard, Professional Bull Riders (PBR), Disney On Ice, Monster Jam and Harlem Globetrotters were highlights. “There are a lot of great shows out there, and it’s a matter of finding the right dates and the right deals,” he offered.
Tickets ranged from $10 to $140. Huntington Center netted $2.5 million in revenue and spent $2.4 million.
F&B also had its best year ever, said Miller. “We were up 10-12 percent.” Per caps were $2.50-$4 for family shows, $8-8.50 for hockey and $10-$12 for concerts. The concessionaire is AVI Food Systems.
Security has been “a topic of conversation” and “we’ve been vigilant about training,” he said. Huntington Center invested $30,000 to buy 14 magnetometers. “We’re doing it for all the concerts,” he said, “Live Nation is demanding it and so are the artists. We’re fine with it.”
The rest 2017 is “looking great” and Miller wanted to be sure to mention that without the promoters and his partnerships with them, “we wouldn’t have success in Toledo.”
“It’s been a terrific year,” said Joan Squires, president of Omaha Performing Arts, which runs the Holland Performing Arts Center and Orpheum Theater, Omaha, Neb. “We’ve had an uptick in attendance, prices are up, the economy is good and people are looking for things to do.”
At the Holland Performing Arts Center the highest grossing acts were Yo Yo Ma, Garrison Keillor, Jethro Tull and Joe Bonamassa. At the Orpheum, hot shows were
“The Book Of Mormon,” “Phantom of The Opera,” “Cinderella,” “Newsies” and “White Christmas.”
Tickets ranged from $20-$140 at both venues. The operating budget for both venues was $18-$20 million.
F&B is doing well and allowing guests to bring beverages into the theatres “really gave us a boost,” said Squires. They expanded event catering and weddings and added a bar and restaurant at Holland Center called Zinc that is doing “really well.”
Holland Center is 11 years old. The Orpheum is 90 years old. “We continue to invest in both properties,” said Squires. Improvements to Holland Center include a new sound system, new lighting, new carpet, adding an education center and new sidewalks.
At the Orpheum, they’ve installed a new rigging system, a new sound system, an electronic marquee, a patron lounge and a sky bridge to the parking structure. Together, the capital improvements budget was $2.5 million.
Squires said that the venues add $40 million in economic impact to the region.
“People come to Omaha and see our venues and are surprised at the quality of the venues,” she added. Twenty-five percent of the revenue is contributed. “We want to thank the community, especially the generous philanthropic community, for all their support, which makes it all possible.”
2017 is looking even better. “We’re already having one of our best years, and I’m really positive on the rest of the year,” she said.
Lisa Krohn, director of theater programs, Hennepin Theatre Trust, Minneapolis, which runs the Orpheum Theatre, State Theatre and Pantages Theatre, said
the venues were up five percent this year and that “all three venues are doing very well and inching up in revenue.”
Krohn cited “Newsies,” “The Book Of Mormon” and “The Lion King” as their top shows in 2016. Tickets ranged from $50-$200 with VIP packages that include the best seats in the house, merchandise and a meet and greet going for as high as $350.
She said F&B was equally up around five percent, and she attributes that bump to the theater bringing in “more theater food.” At the Orpheum, they replaced all the seats.
New security measures, including wanding and bag and coat checks, were causing delays, so all the theaters have been advising patrons to arrive early to get through the screening process, she added.
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