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Japan’s live industry welcomes several new venues

Japan’s live music industry will benefit from several new venues opening over the coming years, due to a major change in men’s basketball leagues.

New rules for B League top category (B1) teams mean they must attract an average audience of 4,000 per game and build a home venue of at least 5,000-capacity.

This means nine likely new venues will be built in time for 2027. With basketball games taking up only 30 days per year, the remaining availability is a huge opportunity for the live industry, which has long complained about a lack of concert venues.

“The promotion of establishing arenas by B League clubs is a great move,” says Takeo Nakanishi, chairman of Japan’s promoters’ association, ACPC.

“This is a big plus, especially for the live entertainment industry, as it becomes the hometown of each club. Up until now, there were aspects of stadium/arena plans in rural areas that could only be advanced through interaction with the government. The government is now moving in a positive direction, and the private sector has also joined the movement.

“I’m really looking forward to Nagasaki Stadium City, which is scheduled to open in autumn 2024, especially considering its scale. The idea is not to revitalise a city but rather to create a city in Nagasaki.”

“The most important thing is for the newly built stadium/arena to continue to be a profitable venue”

Due to open on 14 October 2024, Nagasaki Stadium City (located in the eponymous prefecture) will comprise a 20,000-seat stadium and a 6,000-capacity arena. This year will also see the opening of the 20,333-capacity K-Arena in Yokohama – which already has concerts from Sam Smith, Saucy Dog and Awich lined up – and the 5,000-capacity Yokohama Buntai.

2025 will see at least five new venues open including The Tokyo A-Arena (cap. 10,000), the Kobe Arena (10,000), Kagawa Prefectural Arena (10,000), LaLa Arena in Tokyo Bay (10,000) and Aichi International Arena in Nagoya (17,000) – replacing the current Aichi Arena inside Nagoya Castle.

Osaka Arena is set to be the largest arena in western Japan when it opens in autumn 2027 as part of a mixed-use development. It is expected to have a capacity of 18,000 and projects 1.8m visitors a year.

In May last year, the Saga Arena opened in the prefecture of the same name in Kyushu’s northwest. The multipurpose 8,400-capacity arena can host a variety of events, from large-scale events such as sports, concerts, and entertainment, to business events such as conferences and exhibitions.

“SAGA Arena has proved very popular,” says Nakanishi. “In any case, the most important thing is for the newly built stadium/arena to continue to be a profitable venue, so we will continue to communicate [with the B League] in order to maintain a win-win relationship. Furthermore, there may be something that will bring great benefits not only to our concerts but also to events and exhibitions, so I would like them to explore various possibilities. It’s like adding more options than just basketball and music.”

 


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New South Wales set to gain two new arenas

The Australian state of New South Wales is set to gain two multi-million-dollar arenas that will host “some of the biggest local and international acts touring in the country”.

The newly formed Cedar Mill Group today announced that it has acquired a 105-acre site in the Hunter Valley wine country, New South Wales (NSW), where it will build a purpose-built 22,000-capacity outdoor amphitheatre.

The venue, dubbed Cedar Mill Hunter Valley, is expected to open in 2023 at a cost of AUS$107 million.

Cedar Mill Group also recently announced a 30,000-capacity concert venue for Lake Macquarie in NSW as part of a AUS$235m redevelopment of Morisset Golf Course.

The group and its parent company, New South Wales-based property developer Winarch Capital, say they are on the lookout for more Cedar Mill sites in Australia.

“Cedar Mill Hunter Valley and Cedar Mill Lake Macquarie are purpose-built, the first in Australia on this scale.”

“Cedar Mill Hunter Valley and Cedar Mill Lake Macquarie are purpose-built, the first in Australia on this scale,” says Cedar Mill Group general manager Kyle McKendry.

“Our aim is to provide an unparalleled visitor experience in the heart of the region, offering a gateway for tourists to connect with everything that makes the Hunter Valley a world-class visitor destination and event hub.”

Alongside the amphitheatre, there are plans for Cedar Mill Hunter Valley to house a 100-bed hotel, specialist food and beverage, a wine museum and multiple cellar doors. Development plans for Cedar Mill Hunter Valley will be lodged in the coming months.

News of the new venues comes after the group last month bought one of the county’s leading event management, logistics and production planning companies, Humm.

Cedar Mill Group says the recent purchases are part of its plan to “reinvigorate Australia’s live music and events industry as it recovers from the global pandemic”.

 


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Events company Humm rebrands after acquisition

As it prepares to open two new venues in Australia, Cedar Mill Group has acquired one of the country’s leading event management companies.

Since it was founded by Iain Morrison in 2001, Humm has been behind a number of major festivals around the country including Beyond the Valley, Good Things Festival, NRL Nation and the Fire Fight Australia benefit concert. Its clients include Live Nation, TEG, Regional Touring, Untitled Group, and the New South Wales government. The firm will be rebranded Humm Events.

“It’s been an amazing ride for the team and the business to date but for Tara and myself it was an opportunity too good to let go,” said Morrison, who will remain at the company with business partner Tara Whitfield. They are joined by Cedar Mill Group’s Kyle McKendry as General Manager. McKendry joined Cedar Mill Group in 2019 after almost two decades at Roche Group.

Morrison added: “We now have the capacity to resource the business how and when we need to. Our ambition is to grow our team and presence further in the Australian/New Zealand markets, continuing a consistent level of industry benchmark outcomes for all of our clients.”

“Our ambition is to grow our team and presence further in the Australian/New Zealand markets”

Cedar Mill Group is building the 30,000-capacity Cedar Mill Lake Macquarie and 22,000 Cedar Mill Hunter Valley, which will both have “multi-million-dollar entertainment and cultural precincts”, according to the company.

Owned by property developers Winarch Capital, Cedar Mills Group says it has “aggressive growth plans”, with an ambition “to become a key player in the events sector,” according to Winarch CEO Paul Lambess.

Humm Events’ services cover event, site and production management; creative concept development; COVID-19, crowd and risk planning; and strategic consulting for event owners. It says feasibility planning is a big growth area.

 


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