Oak View Group (OVG) will soon enter a key phase of its long-planned pivot to international markets with the opening of Coop Live in Manchester, UK, next month.
Following the post-pandemic record – which included the opening of seven arenas in 16 months, including Climate Change Arena in Seattle, UBS Arena in New York and Acrisure Arena in Palm Springs, California. Tim LewiekeThe led management and development company will transition from a UK venue developer to a UK venue operator in one of Europe's largest concert and live entertainment economies.
First Manchester, then the world, they say Francesca Leiweke-Bodie, OVG's COO (and Leiweke's daughter). He explains that the UK will be the starting point for expanding the company's public-private partnership model, which sees government groups help acquire land in return for fully private funding and development work. Leiweke-Bodie says the model is key to developing expansion opportunities in Africa, Asia and the Middle East, where huge gaps in global tourism infrastructure prevent popular arena and stadium tours from reaching hundreds of millions of fans.
Advertising sign recently caught up with Leiweke-Bodie to discuss the opening of Coop Live and detail OVG's near-term expansion plans around the world.
Why did OVG decide to start its international expansion efforts with the Manchester project?
London and the UK have always been at the forefront of where we as a company want to plant a flag and show other countries and municipalities that we are talking about public-private partnerships and demonstrate what is possible when the private sector can step in and invest . This is not so much the case abroad, where the market is really driven by municipal funding. Having this project in the UK, a $375 million private arena with huge community support and over $1 million going back into local business — when other potential partners come to Manchester and see what we're doing, there's no doubt it's the real deal and we will keep our promises.
What is the biggest challenge facing OVG in its efforts to expand internationally?
I think the most difficult thing, whether domestic or international, is land. We want to build in the urban core. We want to be where the fans want to be – in the city centres. We can do everything else. We will fix it. We will finance it. We'll close it. We'll take the risk. But the partnership we are always looking for is the land opportunity. Most of these cities are much older than the United States with dense urban cores we can't even fathom. Finding four or five acres available to build these types of projects with access to public transit is the essence of what we're trying to create with these city partnerships. There are also opportunities coming in from local landlords and developers who see an opportunity to take land that they might have identified for retail and say, “Let's rethink this.”
Once the Manchester facility opens, what's next for OVG?
Hamilton, Ontario is next. It's an existing 18,000-seat arena that we've already started work on, taking the building down to its studs and [which] will reopen at the end of April. It's the first project in Toronto that was a public-private partnership and eventually became a renovation project, but it's essentially a new arena. In North America, there are only a few strategic markets left where one could really make a big difference with another arena. But abroad, we have huge opportunities because of the international growth of world music, from American country music to Latin.
What other metropolitan features does OVG like?
Countries or cities that not only attract from surrounding countries but serve as a destination point for a much wider area. An example is Sao Paulo in Brazil. From a financial point of view, São Paulo is an incredible destination point not only for Brazil, but also for Latin America. That's why we want to plant our flag there because it doesn't have an arena. Vienna, Austria is the same thing. You know, it's central to continental Europe. You can reach it from six different countries by car. We have about two dozen cities like the ones we've identified.
How do scheduling and bookings drive OVG strategy?
This is such a key element. The first domino we were really thinking about and analyzing from a construction and design perspective is making sure the building is both turnkey and equipped with all the acoustic treatments and back-of-house amenities to accommodate large tours. We talk to local promoters and understand what comes to the rider and work with our partners in the building to keep costs down. Arenas have to compete with stadium shows and we have to make the finances work, so we really look at the take home revenue for an artist to make sure their tour costs are competitive and can exceed fan expectations and market partners.
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/business/touring/oak-view-group-global-expansion-public-private-partnerships-1235635968/