GET IN THE ZONE: AutoZone Park, home to the Memphis Redbirds, is part of a new concert series booking minor league ballparks. (Getty Images) ‘Music On The Diamond’ starts with Miranda Lambert in Altoona, PA The newly announced Music On The Diamond concert series will bring country music stars Thomas Rhett and Miranda Lambert to a handful of minor league baseball stadiums this summer and fall, with Diamond Baseball Holdings CEO Peter Freund promising more to come. “We plan to expand to more artists, more dates and more ballparks over the coming months and years,” Freund said via email. “Eventua ..read more

‘OUR STATUE OF LIBERTY’: Paraguay’s Smart Arena, shown here in a rendering, has entered the design phase and aspires to be the first carbon-neutral arena in South America. (Courtesy Smart Arena Entertainment) SMART ARENA LOOKS TO PUT PARAGUAY ON THE MAP The post-COVID live entertainment boom shows no signs of slowing down with more artists going global and extending their tours into territories they hadn’t considered years ago. One of those regions is South America, which is rapidly growing alongside the live business with its stadiums and arenas, and entertainers may soon consider another cou ..read more

GOLDEN STATE OF MIND: Fans shown at the Thrive City Plaza outside Chase Center ahead of a 2022 NBA Finals game between the Warriors and Celtics. (The Boston Globe via Getty Images) In its nearly five years since opening, Chase Center has served as the catalyst toward revitalizing San Francisco’s Mission Bay neighborhood, hosted multiple NBA championship runs and staged concerts. More than 40 years in the making in downtown San Francisco, the Golden State Warriors privately financed the arena in one of the most expensive cities in the U.S. Coming online in September of 2019 and weathering the ..read more

DOME OF CHAMPIONS: Super Bowl winner Kurt Warner starred at the Dome at America’s Center when he was quarterback of the St. Louis Rams. Championship football returns to the dome on June 16 for the inaugural UFL Championship Game. (Getty Images) June 16 finale makes for compressed preparation schedule Stadiums typically have three to six years to prepare for an NFL championship game. The Dome at America’s Center, home of the St. Louis Battlehawks, will do it in three months as they prepare for the inaugural UFL Championship Game on June 16. “It’s definitely a win for St. Louis. It’s a win for t ..read more

BEAR DOWN: The Chicago Bears’ plan to build a new lakefront stadium, shown here in a rendering, extends to converting Soldier Field into public green space. (All images courtesy Chicago Bears) Century-old master plans part of architect’s research The Chicago Bears unveiled their master plan on Wednesday to build a new NFL stadium on Chicago’s lakefront and transform their current home, Soldier Field, into a series of sports fields and green space with greater ties to the city’s museum campus. The Bears, in conjunction with Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, announced the project at Soldier Field’s ..read more

THIS BUD’S FOR YOU: Budweiser Gardens will undergo $24 million in renovations, with Brian Ohl serving as project manager in London, Ontario. (Courtesy venue) Ohl’s ninth arena development project Budweiser Gardens general manager Brian Ohl has announced his retirement after 34 years in the industry, but he’s not walking out the door just yet. His official retirement date is July 1 on paper, but Ohl plans to fill a new role as Oak View Group’s project manager for the $24 million renovation of Bud Gardens, a 22-year-old arena in London, Ontario, a two-hour drive southwest of Toronto. Project man ..read more

SHOWTIME: Co-op Live remained under construction in early April, readying for its April 23 opening concert with Peter Kay. (Photo courtesy OVG) The trends tied to developing new multipurpose arenas are increasingly focused on the live entertainment component apart from sports. Now, an arena has been built with music at the heart of all considerations: Co-op Live in Manchester, England. It’s Oak View Group’s first arena project outside of the United States, and at a project cost of $460 million, it’s the most expensive arena built in Europe. The numbers and stats around this building are eclips ..read more

DEAN DOME: Smith Center was filled to capacity for the North Carolina State-North Carolina game on March 2 in Chapel Hill. UNC is studying the potential for building a new arena. (Getty Images) Study to consider off-campus sites Sports architect Populous has won the job to study multiple sites for potentially building a new arena at the University of North Carolina, said sources familiar with the project. UNC officials in Chapel Hill have yet to finalize a selection, said Robbi Pickeral Evans, senior associate athletic director for external affairs and strategic communicati ..read more

OUT FRONT: Levy’s new account expands the company’s footprint to northern San Diego County. The land around Frontwave Arena includes a soccer field facility already visited by hundreds of thousands of community users each year. (Rendering courtesy venue) Arena in Northern San Diego County Will Be Home of Clippers’ G League Team Levy has been selected to run the food and beverage at 10,000-seat Frontwave Arena, the privately developed, $85 million venue in Oceanside, California, that will be home to the Los Angeles Clippers G League team. The 7,500-seat arena is due to open Sept. 17, 2024, with ..read more

SARAH’S SMILE: Sarah Zawalski has booked over 4,000 events in her career. (Courtesy 313 Presents) One industry veteran succeeds another in Detroit Sarah Zawalski has been promoted to senior vice president of booking and industry relations at 313 Presents, succeeding fellow booking veteran Dana Warg, who will continue with the company in a more strategic role. In a new release, Zawalski, whose ascension from senior director of booking was planned, thanked Warg, her mentor, “who has helped guide me to this point.” She also thanked 313 Presents President Howard Handler for the vote of confidence ..read more