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ARENAS | |
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New
Arenas Can Offer Something For Everyone By Stephen Zito, CFE There are always plenty of challenges when you open a new arena, as we did with the SBC Center in San Antonio, Texas. Our facility was built with the commitment to the community and South Texas to offer Something for Everyone. It’s a challenge any new arena faces as it serves its community. How were we going to bring about a diverse slate of entertainment to meet this goal and uphold our promise? Initially, we began with two major anchor tenants: the NBA San Antonio Spurs and the San Antonio Livestock Show and Rodeo. Arguably, it was not enough. So we ventured into partnership with the NHL Florida Panthers to purchase a minor-league affiliate, the AHL San Antonio Rampage. And most recently, we purchased and relocated a WNBA franchise from Salt Lake City, now known as the WNBA San Antonio Silver Stars. A major void we recognized in our marketplace was that there was no major facility offering a complete portfolio of services to building users. We capitalized on our affiliation with Spurs Sports and Entertainment to offer an all-encompassing range of services to become the first “full service” facility in the market. This “one-stop shopping” approach has proven to be unprecedented and warmly received by our visiting promoters and agents. You will also find that the best booking and marketing staff you can have is an aggressive one, particularly as you are launching a new facility. Our booking and marketing staff aggressively approaches promoters and agents, not only pitching the arena, but going one step further to develop packages that outline possible sponsorship opportunities, advertising/media campaigns, and promotional opportunities. Our goal is to truly be a partner dedicated to the success of every event. For the first time ever in our market, we developed annual marketing initiatives to support our promoters and the specific needs of each event. This is something you should seriously look at doing in your market, if you are not already doing so. Examples of these include:
We work with an array of agents, concert promoters and tour producers to ensure successful and diverse entertainment programming. Family shows have included: Sesame Street Live! - “Let’s Be Friends,” Smuckers’ Stars On Ice, Dragon Tales Live! – “Missing Music Mystery.” Live performances have included concerts by George Strait, Rolling Stones, Trans Siberian Orchestra, Elton John/Billy Joel, Luciano Pavarotti and Shakira. We also produced and created our own circus, “Circo de San Antonio,” to fill a void when a major circus had elected to continue performing at another venue in the market. Additionally, we strive to create custom variations of the venue. Beyond the traditional “180-270-360” concert mindset, we studied and created an intimate 4,000 to 6,000 seat theater. Stone City Attractions locked in on this offering and presented Trans Siberian Orchestra in this setting. To further service our clients, we book ticketed events at the adjacent Freeman Coliseum to up and coming and future headline artists and attractions. We have also utilized the 8,000 seat Coliseum to attract future events looking to rehearse in a private setting and then open their tour next door at the SBC Center. The Freeman Coliseum, like the SBC Center, is in close proximity to the rich culture of San Antonio including downtown, home of the famous Riverwalk, and the San Antonio Hill Country, making it an appealing location to rehearse and perform. These non-traditional means of booking and marketing have resulted in an affinity with promoters and booking agents. Any new facility has promises it makes to its local partners and communities. Regardless of whether you might choose to initiate any of the steps that have been taken in San Antonio, always remember that success comes when you uphold your promise to the community and to offer a range of entertainment events. In our case, this is due in part to our full service capabilities. We are equipped to provide promoters with services such as in-house booking, marketing, advertising and group sales capabilities which make the facility an attractive booking opportunity. Know your available opportunities, and capitalize on them. Stephen Zito, CFE, is vice president/general manager of the SBC Center in San Antonio, Texas.
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©
2003
International Association of Assembly Managers |