Venue Views

AMERICAN WAY: A $46 million baseball park is set to open May 1 in Fresno, Calif. The park's first concert will be the Beach Boys May 5, following a Fresno Grizzlies baseball game.

Steve MacFadyen is director of stadium operations and special events for the Triple A baseball club. With a background in the concert industry, he will be aggressively seeking music events, tapping into the amphitheater season. The park can seat 20,000 for concerts and is equipped with a house-owned stage, chairs, and field cover.



FILLING A NEED: The Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre has hosted 100 concerts and special events during the past two years, leading owners to look into purchasing a 3,000-seat telescopic riser to streamline setup and tear-down. Highlights in 2001 included Elton John concerts Nov. 16-17, which drew 15,798 to two shows, and Luciano Pavarotti June 27, which drew 8,000.

Cliff Wallace, director of the venue, says the convention center is responding to a community desire for this type of programming. The Hong Kong Convention Centre, along with the Academy for Performing Arts and the Hong Kong Arts Centre, formed a joint venture to establish Ticketek Hong Kong, which provides state-of-the-art ticketing available to all venues in town.

The new seating will be installed in Hall 3, which at 90,000 column-less square feet can accommodate 8,200. It will cut setup and tear-down time considerably. Wallace says that has been taking between two and three days. The new seating will also provide better sightlines, he adds. Wallace positions concerts as a temporary good use of space, but he also plans to use exhibitions in order to boost the profitability of the commercial enterprise.



GRAMMY MERCH: Alan Fey, director of merchandise for Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), says merchandise sales at the Grammy Awards exceeded expectations. "We literally ran out of merchandise the night of the event," he says. "Our sell-throughs on most items were 100%. The only things we had left were posters and programs, which are usually difficult items to carry out of the building, because you don't want to get them ruined."

All event merchandise with the official Grammy event logo sold out immediately, Fey says of the awards show held Feb. 27 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. T-shirts were $20, and long-sleeved T-shirts were $25. The camp shirt, a full button-down short-sleeve, was $65. That was the only item that didn't have the event date and logo, Fey says, which is why it didn't sell out.

AEG also sold merchandise at the Biltmore Hotel's post-Grammy party. Fey says, "Sales there were good as well." The per cap was about $7, based on attendance of 13,000-15,000.

Fey adds, "I wanted to do this because I recognized that the brand was so strong—one of the top brands in the world. To me, it made perfect sense to sell merchandise at an event like this."



RENAMED: Molson Centre in Montreal is being renamed Bell Centre, effective Sept. 1. Bell Canada is paying more than $100 million as corporate sponsor. At the same time, Molson is maintaining its $150 million commitment while releasing the naming rights, all in an attempt to keep the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League in town. Molson owns 20% of the team.

In other name changes, Enron Park in Houston becomes Astros Park. Ballpark management has offered $2.1 million to buy the naming rights back from the bankrupt Enron, which bought the title for $3 million a year for 30 years. And in a more traditional deal, the Sacramento Valley Amphitheater in Marysville, Calif.—a Clear Channel Entertainment facility—is now the Auto West Amphitheatre. The 18,500-seat, $25 million shed opened last season. The first on-sale for the 2002 season at the renamed venue is Dave Matthews Band May 21.



FLEXIBILITY: John Gordon of Northern Illinois University in DeKalb says the new $38.5 million arena there will feature 6,500 retractable seats, with a total capacity of 9,000. Normally, he adds, an arena that size would have 3,000 retractable seats.

Gordon hopes the arena will host eight to 12 concerts a year. He can seat 10,000 for some concerts. His potential audience includes 23,000 students.