FLORIDA Florida Is a unique market, so big that it’s impossible to pin down what genres are leading the way toward the ever-increasing attendance numbers that facilities are reporting. Each corner has its own unique demographic. Miami and Or- lando love hip-hop and electronic dance music. Tallahassee and Pensacola love country. Jacksonville is a rock paradise. So, while you might find a different style of live music wafting from the smaller clubs and larger arenas in different parts of the state, what they all have in common is great weather and a mar- ket that’s thriving on every level. 54 JUNE 2019 awake IN A STATE THAT WELCOMES MANY GENRES, VENUES ARE BUSY NIGHT AFTER NIGHT wide BY BRAD WEISSBERG awakeJUNE 2019 55 THE CIRCUIT SWEET SPOTS IN THE SUNSHINE STATE DURING A BIG YEAR AT THE GATE AMALIE ARENA, TAMPA Kevin Preast, senior vice president of entertainment marketing How did Kiss performs at you do last Amalie Arena in year? Tampa. Great. It was one of our best years pushback and very few refunds. ever since He’ll be back in November. Travis opening the Scott was another cancellation; at venue. We had a really diverse least we had a couple days on that mix of events that were well one. We were the third date on attended. We were slightly down the tour, and they couldn’t t the from 2018 — but that was our best set into the arena. year on record. Big shows RUTH ECKERD HALL, Smashing Pumpkins, Panic at CLEARWATER the Disco!, Def Leppard, Game Susan Crockett, acting of Thrones Live Concert Experi- president and CEO which will house a new intimate ADDITION FINANCIAL ence, Barry Manilow, Winter Jam, cabaret theater. The addition opens ARENA, ORLANDO Fleetwood Mac and Cirque du How did the in October with more bar service Joe Imbriaco, general Soleil’s “Crystal.” venue do and food options. Outside, we add- manager AUDETTE SCOTT DOUGLAS; KEITH PAGES: PRECEDING this year? ed more entry and exit lanes and Changes Everything we coupled that with free on-site How did We installed a new taco stand, we is trending parking which makes coming here you do last added to our Corona Cantina and higher this a convenient, hassle-free visit. year? we’re getting ready to revamp our year — the It was one concessions (with concessionaire shows, the What went right of the best Delaware North) and open up the attendance and the ancillary Through lots of planning, creativ- years we’ve concourse to incorporate the water revenue. ity and teamwork, we were able to ever had. We and grounds into the building a bit. maintain our level of activity and were de- Big shows customer service despite being nitely up from the previous year. What went right Bob Dylan, Ghost, Jackson under major construction and re- Educating people on the Tampa Browne, John Mellencamp, Leon directing our audiences on where Big shows music scene. We’re creating a mu- Bridges and Ken Jeong. to go and where to nd what they Perfect Circle, Five Finger Death sical identity for the market. Our needed. We held our breath, but Punch, Migos and the Moody market is getting younger, more Changes we didn’t skip a beat. Blues. diverse, and the fans have more When our CEO retired at the disposable income. beginning of the year, as the COO, Challenge Changes I stepped in as acting president and Lopping o the front of our build- Spectra has taken over our food ser- Challenges CEO. We’re renovating our facili- ing, boarding up the main doors Elton John canceled with 24 hours ties and blowing out the lobby with and looking at a bunch of sellouts notice. We actually had very little a 6,000-square-foot expansion headed our way. CONTINUED ON PAGE 58 56 JUNE 2019 Last year’s Electric Daisy Carnival drew over 100,000 fans to Orlando’s Camping World THE Stadium. CIRCUIT CONTINUED FROM PAGE 56 took steps to speed up the transaction vice contract from Centerplate. We time in the city- hired Allison Dobin as our market- owned parking lots ing director and Nicole Williams as across the city. We our director of nance. got permission to bring in our own What went right credit card vendor The university has been growing, who got transac- What went right before he was to begin and we had and when it grows, we grow. tions times down from one minute We got the NFL Pro Bowl, our to postpone with everyone already to two or three seconds. Guest sur- third consecutive one. Our EDC in the venue. Less than 200 people Challenges veys say it’s a huge improvement. event had the largest attendance asked for a refund. And we oered As with many university venues, ever, with 100,000 people over anyone that paid for parking a free the biggest challenge is always Challenges two days. parking pass for the rescheduled the calendar. We have two tenant Price points are always a chal- show and we made accommoda- (basketball) teams here, the men’s lenge. We’re in a high tourist area Challenges tions for people who had ordered and women’s University of Cen- and there is a lot of competition We did Beyonce and Jay-Z on a concessions in the suites. tral Florida Knights, and working for those tourist dollars. We often Wednesday night and had the around that and other university feel like if there’s a secondary (Camping World Classic college events can be tricky. market, we did something wrong. football game) on Saturday, which YUENGLING CENTER, TAMPA gave us a short window to clear Rhett Blewett, assistant the concert and get the football general manager BROWARD CENTER FOR THE CAMPING WORLD STADIUM, eld ready. While I wouldn’t ad- PERFORMING ARTS, FORT ORLANDO vise this, we made it happen. How did LAUDERDALE Allen Johnson, executive it go last Kelley Shanley, CEO director of Orlando Venues year? AMWAY CENTER, ORLANDO It was a great How did last How did the year. We year go? venue do How did you do last year? took over It was a great last year? We were up. We did 43 concerts, the building year and we It was one up from 34 concerts last year. in 2017 and were up in at- of our best we’re still learning about the facil- tendance by years ever. Big shows ity and creating new relationships. 16 percent. We’ve been Justin Timberlake, which turned We are denitely up from last year. averaging into our top-grossing concert ever Big shows one stadium show a year and last at Amway Center. We also had Big shows We were fortunate enough to get year we did two — Jimmy Buett Pink, Sam Smith, Bad Bunny, Rod Harlem Globetrotters, Sesame “Hamilton” and many other great and the Eagles, which is our high- Stewart, Paul Simon and Fall Out Street Live, Mike Epps, Practical shows like “Dear Evan Hansen,” est-grossing concert ever, and Boy. Jokers and Underoath. three nights of Joe Bonamassa, Beyonce and Jay-Z. Gladys Knight, America and great Changes Changes family entertainment like Peppa Big shows We’re getting ready to make a We tried to tackle our F&B Pig and Daniel Tiger’s Neighbor- Monster Jam World Final and the plan for new renovations, but we program and added in new local hood Live. Electric Daisy Carnival. are not certain yet what projects partners like Hungry Howie’s and to tackle. Mike Weeman has come Mr. Empanada. We also introduced Changes Changes on as our venue security manager. some healthy food options. We also We added an outdoor grab and go We are in the process of starting a An RFP will go out in 2020 for added in an all-inclusive club called EVENTS INSOMNIAC PEREZ ALEX concession stand with pizza and $60 million enhancement to our our food service contract. All of Fifth Third Bank Club, and we are craft beer. 2014 reconstruction. We’re going our current concessionaire Levy’s selling our loge boxes on an annual to add seats in the end zone and options have run out and we are basis. Kelli Yeloushan has joined What went right add premium seating, we’re going mandated by the city to run an us director of booking. We started a dinner program to turn some outdoor clubs into RFP for contract. in a room that holds around 175 indoor clubs, and we’re going to What went right people before every “Hamilton” enhance our parking lot and guest What went right We want to get big-name acts with performance. It was an upscale arrival area. This will all start in We had the largest amount of name recognition in the venue and buet-type experience priced at 2020 and will be done in phases. Latin shows ever and they did we are making a lot of headway. $29.50-$34.50. It was so success- The building will not close for any very well for us. ful we are going to introduce the long windows. We added a local Challenges preshow dinner to every Broadway barbecue restaurant called Four Challenges Traªc and parking. As we grow, series show that we oer. We also Rivers. Elton John canceled 20 minutes we are seeing some stress points. 58 JUNE 2019 TOPSTOPS FLORIDA Ranked by tickets sold. Based on data from concerts and events April 1, 2018-March 31, 2019, as reported to Pollstar. Data updated as of April 29.