OVG and MSG launch ‘revolutionary’ partnerships entity
Oak View Group, Madison Square Garden Entertainment and its sister company Sphere Entertainment are joining forces on a new entity that will manage their sports and entertainment brand partnerships, in what is being billed as the first global company of its kind.
Crown Properties Collection will manage many of the companies’ most prominent and lucrative sports partnerships, such as with the New York Knicks and Rangers, across some of their top venues, including Madison Square Garden, Radio City Music Hall and the soon-to-open Sphere Las Vegas.
In addition to being founding partners, the Madison Square Garden (MSG) family of companies will be the first clients of the Oak View Group-led venture, which will oversee global partnership sales and strategy for them. MSG and Sphere will contribute advisory services to Crown Properties and help in retaining the brand partners.
Jay Voelker, formerly of PGA, will join OVG as president to lead CPC and will report to OVG CEO Tim Lieweke.
“Crown Properties Collection will represent only the most valuable properties in all of sports and entertainment together with the most revolutionary venue in the world, Sphere in Las Vegas,” Oak View’s chairman and CEO Tim Leiweke said in a statement. “This, along with [Oak View Group’s] already industry-leading global partnerships platform, which has proudly sold $4.5B in partnerships over the last five years, will create the largest partnership of its kind in the live industry.”
Voelker adds: “Crown Properties Collection’s purpose is to provide unprecedented global representation for world-renowned sports and entertainment brands and venues, and there is no greater portfolio to begin with than the MSG family of companies’ world-class assets. I am honoured to join OVG, the leading full service live entertainment and hospitality company to represent CPC and create a new model for global partnerships in our industry.”
David Hopkinson, president and chief operating officer of MSG Sports, who oversees global marketing partnerships across the MSG family of companies, says the alliance is set to “revolutionise the partnership space across the sports and entertainment industries”.
“CPC will revolutionise the partnership space across the sports and entertainment industries”
MSGE’s portfolio includes New York City’s 20,000-cap Madison Square Garden, The Theater at Madison Square Garden, Radio City Music Hall, the Beacon Theatre and The Chicago Theatre, along with the firm’s entertainment and sports bookings business and long-term arena licence agreements with the New York Knicks and New York Rangers.
Sphere Entertainment encompasses the first Sphere venue – the 20,000-cap Sphere at The Venetian in Las Vegas – as well as MSG Networks. The Sphere is due to open on 29 September with a 25-date residency by U2.
In a recent appearance on The Bob Leftsetz Podcast, Leiweke spoke highly of MSG Entertainment’s Las Vegas Sphere project.
“If you don’t think the industry is changing, then go look at what Jim Dolan’s building with Sphere, because it’s revolutionary. It’s masterful,” he said. “I don’t know how heck he came up with all of this [and I’m] not sure how the hell you pay for it. But what I know is he’s going to change our industry forever. And the minute that opens up in September we will never be the same.”
OVG owns 11 major new arenas either open or under development including Climate Pledge Arena at Seattle Center, UBS Arena in Belmont Park, New York, and Moody Center in Austin, Texas, and Acrisure Arena in Palm Springs, California, as well as the Co-op Live development in Manchester, UK.
In recent years, OVG has also acquired a number of companies in the hospitality industry including Bovingdons Catering, Spectrum Catering, Concessions & Event Services and Rhubarb Hospitality Collection.
Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.
OVG bids to rebuild Seattle’s Memorial Stadium
Oak View Group (OVG) has submitted a bid to rebuild Seattle’s Memorial Stadium, located minutes from its Climate Pledge Arena.
The 12,000-capacity stadium opened in 1947 and hosted high school football before the World’s Fair in 1962. Since then it has hosted multiple civic events, graduations, and concerts but has fallen behind on maintenance in recent years.
Seattle Public Schools (SPS), which owns the stadium, has allocated $66.5 million for a new venue, with an additional $25 million coming from the city and state.
Private investors interested in operating the building were asked to submit bids by Thursday (4 May) with a new vision for the building.
OVG submitted a proposal under the name “One Roof Partnership” which is a nod to One Roof Foundation, the philanthropic arm of ice hockey team Seattle Kraken and Climate Pledge Arena.
Tod Leiweke, CEO of Seattle Kraken and brother to OVG CEO Tim, has been serving as the local point person on the proposal.
He would not say how much OVG would contribute if selected as the winning bidder but he told local press “If it happens, it will be the biggest commitment we’ve made to this community”.
“If it happens, it will be the biggest commitment we’ve made to this community”
An early design shows that OVG is proposing a small stadium that preserves the existing World War II Memorial Wall on the east side of the existing complex.
The formal Request for Proposals asked for a minimum configuration of at least 8,000 fans, and the ability to house a stage and other staging equipment for the campus.
The school district also said the space could likely fit a 20,000-seat project, depending on the design and would be best with a connection to the International Fountain and August Wilson Way on the west side.
Leiweke said their proposal would meet the criteria and timeline. The city and district are expected to select a winner by the week of 22 May and negotiate financing after that.
It is not yet known who else may have submitted a bid by the deadline but it was reported that 113 different people or organisations signed up to tour the site during an open house last month, including ASM Global.
OVG oversees the operations of Climate Pledge Arena at Seattle Center, UBS Arena in Belmont Park, NY, and Moody Center in Austin, TX as well as arena development projects for Acrisure Arena in Palm Springs, CA; Co-op Live in Manchester, UK; and projects for Arena São Paulo in São Paulo, BZ; Baltimore Arena in Baltimore, MD; FirstOntario Centre Arena in Hamilton, ON; a New Arena and entertainment district in Las Vegas, NV; and a New Arena in Cardiff, Wales.
Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.
OVG acquires Spectrum Catering
Oak View Group has grown its hospitality division with the acquisition of leading food service and hospitality company Spectrum Catering, Concessions & Event Services.
The Houston, Texas-headquartered firm specialises in music festivals, and artist and tour catering, in addition to major sporting events.
The company has worked on festivals including Bonnaroo, Burning Man and Governor’s Ball, as well as serving as touring with the Eagles and managing tour rehearsals for artists like Madonna and Aerosmith.
“The fact that Spectrum’s growth has been driven by referrals, word-of-mouth, reputation and top talent speaks to the stellar organisation [Spectrum founder and CEO] Dave Smalley has built over the last 30 years,” says OVG Hospitality president Ken Gaber.
“Bringing on the Spectrum team will allow OVG Hospitality to grow our business in non-traditional avenues”
“Whether his team is designing precise event layouts or working closely with cities, municipalities, promoters, producers, artists and nonprofits, they know the ins and outs of planning and executing food and hospitality at some of the world’s largest live events. Bringing on the Spectrum team will allow OVG Hospitality to grow our business in non-traditional avenues.”
The announcement comes eight months after OVG’s acquisition of Spectra, one of the industry’s leading food and beverage providers, in November 2021 to create a leading full-service live events company.
“Dave and his team have been positively disrupting the food and hospitality space for three decades now, which is a concept Oak View Group can relate to,” adds Oak View Group CEO Tim Leiweke. “Just as Dave looked outside the four walls of restaurant life to create Spectrum, his company continued to transform the food and hospitality industry with cutting-edge ideas and set the standard for live event experiences. We look forward to watching OVG Hospitality continue to grow with this exciting new partnership.”
Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.