Venue Views

THE NAME GAME: Verizon Wireless and Clear Channel Entertainment (CCE) have sealed a sixth title-sponsor deal. The former Aerial Theater in Houston is now the Verizon Wireless Theater. It joins CCE amphitheaters in San Antonio; Charlotte, N.C.; Indianapolis; Irvine, Calif.; and Virginia Beach, Va., that share that name.

Bob Roux, president of CCE-Music/Southwest region, tells Billboard that the 2,400-seat venue has seen quite a resurgence of late, as has downtown Houston. He says an article in the Houston Chronicle last month provided a list of 50 nightclubs and restaurants that have opened downtown since 1998.

Verizon Wireless Theater is part of Bayou Place, which opened in 1998 and consists of several entertainment spots. It will host more than 100 events in 2002, Roux says, attributing that in part to what he perceives as a diversification of radio programming and his belief that radio is "more aggressive in building tomorrow's headliners."

Meanwhile, Edward Jones Corp. is in the process of buying naming rights to what had been the Trans World Dome in St. Louis. TWA was one of a growing number of stadium-title sponsors that had declared bankruptcy. It was purchased by AMR Corp., parent to American Airlines—which did not assume the title deal—and the venue was renamed the Dome at America's Center during the interim between sponsors.

Stadium director Bruce Sommer is thrilled with the new deal. "We get more money," he says. The stadium gets 25% of the rights agreement for operating expenses, which, if the deal sticks, would amount to $500,000 a year. That's compared with $300,000 under the old deal, cut before football team the Rams moved to St. Louis from Los Angeles. Sommer says the agreement should be finalized by April 1.

The brokerage firm will pay $2.7 million a year for 12 years to name the $280 million complex. The deal was brokered by the Rams' front office. The deal for the Edward Jones Dome includes an option to renew the rights for 11 more years at a cost of $3.20 million per year. The St. Louis venue usually gets one or two concerts a year.

SUNDAY MORNING COMING DOWN: Aerosmith and Creed dominate the top 10 Boxscores this week (see page 21). Creed has hit the road at high speed, selling out three dates and grossing nearly $1.7 million from a total attendance of 41,495.

Trey Feazell, VP of bookings at Philips Arena in Atlanta, says the Creed show was the 75th concert for the arena and the opening night for the tour. The food and drink per cap was a healthy $12.20, and merchandise was another $8.60 per head, Feazell reports.

Aerosmith reports grosses of $3 million from five shows in January. One unusual accommodation occurred at the Forum in Inglewood, Calif., where Aerosmith—with opening act Cheap Trick—performed on a Sunday night.

Since the Forum is owned by the Faithful Central Bible Church, Adam Millar—director of booking for Staples Center in Los Angeles, which books the Forum—tries to steer events away from Sundays, leaving it open for services. The church bought the Forum 13 months ago and can now use it to hold one Sunday service instead of the three it held in its former, but still existing, 2,500-seat sanctuary.

Millar says the church generally gets to use the Forum 48 out of 52 Sundays, but its fathers understand that some family shows and concerts also need Sundays. "Aerosmith has 18 trucks," he notes. "It would have been impossible to load in late in the day."

The per cap on food and drink was $7.79 and on merchandise $5.60 for Aerosmith at the Forum. Aramark is the concessionaire.



FACES IN NEW PLACES: Scott Blackmun has been named COO for AEG, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Anschutz Corp., which either owns or controls Staples Center, the London Arena, the Forum, the Kodak Theater in Los Angeles, several sports franchises, Envision, Concerts West, Golden Voice, and Creative Battery, among other properties. Blackmun is charged with overseeing operations and strategic planning for all of those enterprises. Blackmun had been acting CEO for the U.S. Olympic Committee.

Jim Mallonee was named VP of House of Blues (HOB) Concerts' Southeast region. Mallonee joined HOB in 1997 as a talent buyer for the Myrtle Beach, S.C., and Orlando, Fla., venues.