US soccer stadiums primed for concert boom

Major League Soccer (MLS) stadiums in the US are in line for a concert boom after teaming up with artist management and production company Terrapin Station Entertainment.

Sports Business Journal reports that a coalition of 10 MLS teams and 11 stadiums are working with Terrapin Station to increase the number of shows at the venues, the majority of which previously just hosted one or two gigs a year.

All of the participating stadiums – Allianz Field (Minnesota), America First Field (Salt Lake City), Dignity Health Park (Carson), Exploria Stadium (Orlando); Historic Crew Stadium (Columbus), Lower.com Field (Columbus), Red Bull Arena, (Harrison), Shell Energy Stadium (Houston), Subaru Park (Chester), Toyota Stadium (Frisco) and TQL Stadium (Cincinnati) – have capacities in the 20,000 to 30,000 range.

“It’s sort of a new category of venue and stadium, so they’re a bit larger than an arena but it’s not quite at the MLB [Major League Baseball] level, where it’d be 35,000, 40,000 tickets they’re trying to sell,” explains Steven Lundy, Terrapin EVP, business development. “So, it hits this sweet spot while also being a stadium play and having that prestige and excitement around it.”

“We would love to have a tour that goes across all 10 venues. That would be the utopian goal”

According to Terrapin Station founder Jonathan Shank, who worked with the likes of Grateful Dead and Smashing Pumpkins during a 25-year stint in music management, concerts at MLS stadiums can generate mid-six-figure revenue as a matter of course.

“Ultimately, we have become an extension of the team and really a liaison to the local promoters, to the national tour promoters and to the agents,” he says.

Terrapin Station has already booked three as-yet-unannounced shows for MLS venues and has another dozen in the works, with the coalition likely to start reaping the rewards of the partnership from next summer.

“If everyone was working together, we could make this an even better opportunity for a promoter and an artist,” adds Kristin Bernert, president of business operations at MLS side Columbus Crew. “We would love to have a tour that goes across all 10 venues. That would be the utopian goal.”

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