MLS Teams Form Alliance to Bring in More Concerts

When it comes to professional sports in America, NFL, NBA, and MLB typically have no problem putting bodies in the seats of the stadium. For Major League Soccer, the popularity of the sport hasn’t reached the point where sell-out crowds are the norm, so some stadiums are looking to pack the seats from other attractions. The Columbus Crew Stadium, along with 6 other MLS stadiums has formed a group called the Soccer Stadium Alliance. The Alliance comprised of venues such as Pizza Hut Park near Dallas, Livestrong Sporting Park in Kansas City, Dick’s Sporting Goods Park outside of Denver, PPL Park on the outskirts of Philadelphia, Jeld-Wen Field in Portland, BC Place in Vancouver and the Columbus Crew Stadium. The purpose of this alliance is to bring more attractions from the music industry to their respective venues.

The Soccer Stadium Alliance has partnered with the music production and marketing firm Modern Music Services, lead by Don Frizzell who has nearly three decades of experience in the concert industry. Although the venues will submit a joint offer for each artist, each venue separately will carry all risk and reward for their particular show. According to an interview with Frizzell, “Artists who may be on an Arena Tour are less likely to reconfigure their production set to play outdoor if one or two venues approached them. But when an Alliance of seven to 10 buildings reaches out with an interest, that is a different story. We already have agents reaching out to us to route their artists through our buildings.” The pick-up in attractions bodes well for the success of the Soccer Stadium Alliance, as they look to bring in top talent from the music industry. According to an article in the Sports Business Journal a similar alliance was formed among NFL stadiums, known as the Gridiron Stadium Network, which was formed in 2005.

References:

http://www.thecrew.com/news/2011/08/crew-stadium-forms-soccer-stadium-alliance

http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2011/08/29/Facilities/Soccer-Alliance.aspx