Fiserv Forum officials are taking full advantage of the arena’s honeymoon period. The new arena run by the Milwaukee Bucks has booked more than two dozen concerts over the next 10 months, far surpassing the number their old arena had in the past year.
That’s because for the first time in 30 years, the Bucks have full control of their facility. At BMO Harris Bradley Center, a third party operated the arena and the NBA team was a tenant. Now, the Bucks and the venue are one entity, and Fiserv Forum General Manager Raj Saha is free to fill as many dates as possible with concerts, family shows and other events.
“We’re going to do two to three concerts a month here when it’s all said and done,” Saha said. “Part of it is the newness. The biggest thing is the team and building are one from a business aspect. In the past, we were paying rent” at Bradley Center.
The Bucks would not say whether they’re taking financial risk to put the new arena in a better position to book shows. In some cases, teams and facilities that spend money upfront to pay for the act have a greater chance of securing a date over a traditional rental agreement, according to event promoters.
Regardless, the Bucks can now market concerts at Fiserv Forum through multiple outlets such as the digital displays attached to the scorer’s table, which was something they could not do for their games at Bradley Center.
“We’re able to show graphics when you’re watching on TV, that J Balvin is coming, or being able to drop in on radio that Twenty One Pilots is here as well,” Saha said. “It’s all the same means of advertising.”
In addition, the Bucks can now consolidate what had been separate databases for NBA ticket holders and those buying concert tickets into one large program.
“That’s what a lot of agents, managers and promoters look for is the big assets you have,” Saha said. “Bradley Center had its own database for their shows and we had ours for the team. That’s all changed now.”
As part of their arena marketing strategy, the Bucks are trying to persuade residents of the suburbs north of Chicago to drive to Milwaukee for concerts. The cities sit 90 miles apart.
Early on, however, most concert ticket buyers are from Wisconsin, which has been a pleasant surprise, according to Saha.
“The great news is we thought there was going to be more of a reliance and pull of ticket sales from Chicago and northern Illinois, but 90 percent of our ticket buyers are in-state,” he said.
Those numbers could adjust in the coming months after the new arena becomes further established as a concert venue. Saha said some shows are skipping Chicago this year after playing the larger market in 2017, such as Metallica.
Another plus is Fiserv Forum’s robust infrastructure to accommodate the concert industry’s heaviest concert loads. The arena’s rigging system can handle up to 300,000 pounds. That’s music to the ears for bands such as Metallica and Foo Fighters, which both surpass 200,000 pounds in equipment hung from the rafters.
“Populous did a great job exploring maximum rigging for arenas in this part of the U.S.,” Saha said. “There are very few buildings out there that can rig more than us. It’s starting to creep up. It rarely gets north of 200,000 pounds but it’s coming for a lot of the show elements.”