It has been a stellar year for venues in the Southwest. The facilities on Venues Today’s Top Stops chart reported an astonishing 37-percent increase over last year, and no one we spoke to sees the heightened revenue levels drying up anytime soon. The thriving economy and the number of quality acts on tour were cited for the strong uptick. Regardless the reason, the Southwest had an amazing year.
T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, opened in spring 2016 and quickly dominated the Venues Today Southwest chart, raking in almost $124 million in its first year of operation after putting on over 100 events. Dan Quinn, VP & GM for AEG, T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, said, “The first year was amazing.”
“From the first week, with the Killers, Ariana Grande, Nicki Minaj and the Guns N’ Roses reunion to a whole year of highlights including mega award shows and huge Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) events, it was a great beginning,” said Quinn. “We also set a record for a Pac 12 Basketball Conference tournament.”
Quinn said that after year one, the arena was especially pleased with their event space design. “One of the things we set out to do was create unique spaces for the whole spectrum of our guests, from our VIPs to the person who buys the cheapest ticket,” he said. “We definitely accomplished that.”
Our suites and premium spaces have been an absolute homerun, he said, pointing to their Hyde Lounge, where they’ve blended traditional arena architecture with everything one would expect from a Las Vegas lounge. “It’s a great space that’s doing great group buyout business,” said Quinn.
After opening, T-Mobile operators realized their concession stands were in need of a tweak. “We’ve swapped out some concession stands and replaced some generic arena food with brand recognition local favorites like Chronic Tacos and Pinks hot dogs,” he said.
Quinn said the biggest F&B hit was “the beverage component. Being in Las Vegas drinks are important.” The Atomic Fizz drink cart is especially crowd-pleasing.
Also getting a new look is the Toshiba Plaza entertainment district, where they envision placing more permanent enhancements that make load-ins and load-outs easier for the outdoor concerts. “It’s worked out great,” said Quinn of the plan to offer free concerts before events. “Fans spend time on the plaza before an event and buy a drink, and everyone is not rushing the door at the same time.”
The home opener of Las Vegas’ first professional sports team, Golden Knights, is set for Oct. 10. “The venue is ready and we’re excited to be part of history,” said Quinn. The arena is already maxed-out for season tickets to the Knights after selling approximately 12,500 season ticket packages.
Quinn said his best day was opening day. “Seeing all the hard work and planning come together and seeing the arena was full for the first time was amazing,” he said.
His worst days were dealing with the fallout from putting tickets on-sale before the arena’s manifest was set. “We went on sale with the first couple of shows before we finalized the seating configuration.” said Quinn. “The box-office and the team did the best they could, and we had to relocate guests who had tickets that no longer existed in the building.”
Scott Breckner, GM, Pan American Center, Las Cruces, N. M., also said his venue “had a spectacular year.” He’s not boasting. The center’s gross was up 40 percent and attendance was up 38 percent.
He credits five Garth Brooks shows with pushing the building to new revenue heights. “Brooks broke every record in the history of our building and the whole area,” said an amazed Breckner. “There are 12,000 seats in the building and it was the fastest sell-out in the history of the building. The economic benefit was almost $4 million and the student payroll alone was over $45,000, and other payroll was $350,000.”
The Brooks shows were Breckner’s best days; his worst days were spent “losing sleep” when a building he was previously running went through a renovation and “the tunnel was not done with a Rolling Stones show scheduled.” Happily, the tunnel was completed in time.
Other big shows were Keith Urban, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), Blink 182 and Chris Young. They also renewed the volleyball, wrestling and basketball championships with New Mexico Athletic Association.
Improvements to the center included changes to the seating area and new equipment that cost $60,000.
Shane Cadwell, GM for Spectra Venue Management, Santa Ana Star Center, Rio Rancho, N.M, said that the venue made its budget and “it was a really good year.”
Cadwell said his best day this year was just before a Five Finger Death Punch show. “We did a venue picture with them and the band was really engaging, asking questions and seemed to genuinely be having a lot of fun,” he said.
His worst days were the three days between a Garden Bros. Circus event and a hockey camp. “Loading out the circus and getting ice in, and everything painted in three days wasn’t easy,” he recalled. “We had electrical and circuit issues. We finally got the ice in just in time for the camp.”
Cadwell said his biggest revenue generator this year was “special event food and drink,” which entailed “finding an item that related to the event and really promoting it.”
Examples were “Monster Nachos” for a Monster Trucks show and Knockout Punch, a slushie with vodka and fruit punch, for a WWE “King of the Cage” event. “It’s worked really well and people are drawn to it,” said Cadwell.
A cost cutter was restructuring the F&B department and “spreading roles out differently,” he said. “It’s made things much more efficient for us, and we have better service.”
Improvements included adding an exterior stairway, a new security fence and landscaping. The budget was $30,000.
Cadwell was also pleased with an active shooter exercise the venue hosted. “We had the City of Rio Rancho Emergency Management Department here,” he said. “It was a whole day with regional police departments, and we worked with them on communication and procedures.”
Dale Adams, GM for AEG Facilities at Gila River Arena, Glendale, Ariz., said his building was up for the year and had the busiest July in the history of the building. “We’ve had the highest average grosses this year since the building’s been open,” he said.
Since Adams took over a year ago, he’s dramatically upped the number of events. “Last year they had two events; this year we’ve had over 45 events. This is a very capable arena and it needed promotion and content.”
Adams, best day so far was seeing the results of bringing back Professional Bull Riding (PBR) to Gila River Arena after a long time gone. “It wound up being the highest gross-sales PBR event in Arizona history,” he said. “Breaking records is always fun.”
Coldplay playing and Ed Sheeran rehearsing at the venue were also highlights of the year for Adams.
Adams worst day was “showing up and finding out there were only two events on the books. I thought, ‘I’ve got my work cut out for me.’”
Adams has been working with the arena’s concessionaire, Levy Restaurants, and their E15 analytics department on renovating the concession stands. Levy has brought in mixologist Tony Abou-Ganim and Adams said they are looking at opening an in-house brewery to go along with what Abou-Ganim invents for them. “We want to upgrade,” he said. “There’s so much potential, and we need to bring in wow-factor items.”
Adams said the biggest issue he wants to confront is fans going straight to their seats and not exploring the rest of the building. “We’re looking at a passport for food where people get stamped and go around the concourse and see different things.”
Two million dollars of improvements included infrastructure, changing signage, and the entrances to the suites. Changing out the old box TVs is next.
Adams is excited about a new show called H2X, an extreme water show. “When it’s 115 degrees outside, what could be better than eating snow cones and watching people play in the water?” he asked.
Dot Lischick, CFE & GM, Broadmoor World Arena and Pikes Peak Center for the Performing Arts, Colorado Springs, also had “a significant increase in business this year” and cited the economy as the reason.
Elton John, Cirque Du Soleil, Disney on Ice, Monster Jam, Def Leppard and “a lot of graduations” filled the schedule at Broadmoor, while Beethoven, “Dirty Dancing,” David Blain, Rodney Carrington and Barenaked Ladies wowed the crowds at Pikes Peak Center. Tickets ranged from “$20-three figures.”
Lischick said that they’ve had “excellent F&B sales” this year and that “people are swaying toward specialty cocktails.” The venue is also doing well with preshow pop-up restaurants. The space is carved from unused ancillary space; the dinners run from $16-$23. “It’s blossoming,” she said, adding that they are looking to add in small-food intermission plates and “date night pricing” for two.
Lischick’s best day is “every day” and the few bad days are when “everything hits the fan and hits me. I’m constantly spinning the plates on sticks; on a bad day one of the plates slips and hits the other plates.”
Lischick said the whole staff recently went through an every-other-year first aid class and, this year, crisis wound management was added.
“It’s been a really good year, we’re doing really well,” said Edward “Tex” Dike, VP & GM for Caesars Entertainment at The Axis at Planet Hollywood, Las Vegas. Axis relies on residencies to fill most of its dates — Britney Spears, Jennifer Lopez, Lionel Richie, PitBull and, a new residency this year, The Backstreet Boys — made up most of the Axis schedule. The theater normally operates three days a week, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.
It took 145 shows this year to achieve similar results to last year’s 130 shows, said Dike, pinning the difference on the fact that Lopez had just started her residency last year. “We’ve seen with the residencies that there’s strong momentum out of the gate, and then the show falls into a groove.”
Merchandise is selling briskly, both in the venue and in the residency-dedicated store inside the Miracle Mile shopping mall attached to the hotel.
On the few dates that a resident artist is not playing, Axis programs one-offs, like Wu-Tang Clan and Paris By Night, a Vietnamese production, and other venue rentals.
Axis added stronger WiFi, which cost $100,000, and new HVAC systems that cost $150,000 in 2017. They also turned some rental projects into capital purchases, like audio and other technical equipment, which Dike said would save the company $50,000-$75,000 this year. He has plans to buy more equipment, that he’s currently renting, that will save over $200,000 in the next few years.
Other revenue enhancers were a new emphasis on VIP packages and premium seating and enhanced food offerings.
Dike’s best day this year was opening night for the Backstreet Boys residency. “Anytime we can launch a residency, and it’s well-received, it’s very fulfilling,” he said.
His worst day was when a water main broke and there was significant flooding to the theater. “It was an event night,” said Dike. “It was touch-and-go for several hours but we got it under control and the show went on.”