Pollstar magazine shows Van Andel Arena & DeVos Performance Hall among world's best in 2016

Concert industry magazine Pollstar’s 2016 lists were recently released in their January 16th Year-End issue, and Van Andel Arena and DeVos Performance Hall have found a place among the top venues in the world.

Van Andel Arena celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2016, and it shaped up to be a year-long celebration with some of the biggest acts in the industry. With performances from the likes of Elton John, Garth Brooks, and Paul McCartney, among several others, the arena sold enough tickets to come in at #35 among arena venues of all sizes in the United States and #69 worldwide on Pollstar’s list of Top 200 Arena Venues in 2016.

On Pollstar’s list of Top 200 Theatre Venues, DeVos Performance Hall ranked at #20 in the United States and #29 worldwide for theatre venues of all sizes. Both lists tracked reported ticket sales between January 1, 2016 and December 31, 2016.

The Avett Brothers perform at Van Andel Arena on November 12, 2016

“It is incredibly gratifying to see that the support we have from the community here and the Grand Rapids-Kent County Convention/Arena Authority (CAA) isn’t going unnoticed,” said SMG Regional General Manager Richard MacKeigan. “Without their loyalty and patronage, it would be very difficult to be successful, and we felt like we received plenty of both for DeVos Performance Hall and the 20th anniversary of Van Andel Arena. We are very excited that these rankings reflect that as well.”

Prior to Pollstar’s year-end lists, Van Andel Arena and DeVos Performance had already been recognized by other trade magazines as well. Venues Today showed the arena as #4 in North America and #11 worldwide on their Top Stops list for venues with a capacity between 10,001 and 15,000, and the arena also appeared at #5 among venues of the same capacity range on the magazine’s Social Media Power Poll which ranks venues by their social media presence. DeVos Performance Hall came in at #16 worldwide on Venues Today’s list of Top Stops for venues with a capacity between 2,001 and 5,000.

Van Andel Arena also came in at #3 on Billboard’s Boxscore rankings for venues in North America with a capacity between 10,001 and 15,000. The arena was #8 worldwide in the Boxscore rankings.

Richard MacKeigan named Hall of Headlines Winner; Van Andel Arena a Top Stop in 2016

Venues Today magazine presented its “most prestigious award,” the Hall of Headlines, this month with Richard MacKeigan receiving the honor in the Bookings category.

MacKeigan, Regional General Manager for SMG at Van Andel Arena and DeVos Place, was nominated for bookings for breaking multiple venue records including Garth Brooks’ record for most tickets sold for a single engagement and Paul McCartney’s record for gross ticket sales for a single event, in addition to Kanye West bringing in one of the largest productions the venue has ever seen.

Celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, Van Andel Arena has seen one of the biggest years in its history in 2016, hosting over 30 concerts which is its highest number in 18 years.

“This says a lot about our community. We’ve had an incredible year with some big shows, but they were only as big as they were because of support from our community in West Michigan,” said MacKeigan. “That paired with ongoing confidence from the Grand Rapids-Kent County Convention/Arena Authority has laid the foundation and provided proof that this community can support some of the biggest events. We are all very excited to continue building on that momentum.”

Including MacKeigan, SMG had a record 14 nominees for this year’s Hall of Headlines, including four from Grand Rapids. Hilarie Szarowicz, (Director of Marketing at Van Andel Arena and DeVos Place), Jeff Dubin (Director of Food & Beverage for SAVOR at Van Andel Arena), and Eddie Tadlock (Assistant General Manager at DeVos Place) were nominated this year as well.

Among the other nominees from SMG, Meghan Doyle (Director of Marketing at the BOK Centre in Tulsa, OK) and Mark Anderson (General Manager and Vice President of Premier Food Services in Del Mar, CA) were named winners of the Hall of Headlines in the Marketing and Concessions categories respectively.

Van Andel Arena makes Top Stops list for 2016
Van Andel Arena was recognized elsewhere in Venues Today’s latest edition as well. The magazine included its final Top Stops list for 2016 and the arena showed up at #4 in North America and #11 worldwide for venues with a capacity of 10,001-15,000. The list ranks the top 20 venues in size categories by total gross sales between October 16, 2015 and October 15, 2016. In addition to Van Andel Arena, seven other SMG venues were also named to the Top Stops list in the 10,001-15,000 category. They are Royal Farms Arena in Baltimore, MD, König Pilsener Arena in Oberhausen, Germany, Save Mart Center in Fresno, CA, Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, FL, Intrust Bank Arena in Wichita, KS, Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls, SD, and DCU Center in Worcester, MA.

Van Andel Arena and DeVos Place executives nominated for industry awards

Garth Brooks at Van Andel Arena on May 12, 2016

This December, Venues Today magazine will be presenting its “most prestigious award,” the Hall of Headlines, with SMG receiving a record 14 nominations, including four executives from Grand Rapids. The categories featured in the nominations include News, Bookings, Operations and Tech, Marketing, and Concessions with SMG nominated in all 5 categories.

Rich MacKeigan, General Manager for SMG at Van Andel Arena and DeVos Place was nominated for bookings for breaking multiple venue records including Garth Brooks’ record for most tickets sold for a single engagement and Paul McCartney’s record for gross ticket sales for a single event.

Hilarie Szarowicz, Director of Marketing at Van Andel Arena and DeVos Place was nominated for hosting a Facebook promotion encouraging people to share their favorite event memory and/or photo using hashtag #MyVAA20 in honor of the 20th Anniversary of Van Andel Arena. The promotion was intended to build awareness of the arena’s 20th anniversary while capturing user content for use in future marketing materials. The campaign resulted in 41,599 people reached, 1,300+ memories (comments) posted, 844 reactions and 118 shares.

In the Concessions category, Jeff Dubin, Director of Food & Beverage for SAVOR at Van Andel Arena, was nominated for introducing a new take on the everyday salad bar called a “Living Salad Bar” for the bands, staff and crew of the “San Francisco Fest Tour,” featuring rock bands Journey, The Doobie Brothers and Dave Mason Aug. 2, 2016.

"Living Salad Bar"

The Living Salad Bar featured several types of lettuces and kales with all of the typical salad ingredients, with the exception that the lettuce is still alive. In order to provide the freshest salad possible, staff and crew snip their lettuce fresh off the plant before placing it on their plate.

For the Operations and Tech category, SMG’s Eddie Tadlock, Assistant General Manager at DeVos Place, was nominated for efforts to decrease energy usage by 6.03 percent by installing new equipment and reducing wasted resources resulting in the venue finishing second in the 2nd annual Michigan Battle of the Buildings Energy Summit.

In total, 14 SMG executives were nominated across all five categories of the awards. Other SMG executives nominated are listed below.

Bookings category:

• Leonard Bonacci, Regional Vice President at University of Phoenix Stadium in Phoenix, AZ 
• Lynn Carlotto, General Manager at Rogers K-Rock Centre in Kingston, Ontario, Canada 
• Jerry Goldman, Assistant General Manager at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, MN 
• Jeff Nickler, General Manager at the BOK Center in Tulsa, OK 
• Chris Semrau, Assistant General Manager at the Denny Sanford Premier Center, in Sioux Falls, SD 

Marketing category:

• Josh Kesler, Marketing & Sales Manager at the Eastern Kentucky Expo Center in Pikeville, KY 
• Steve Poremba, Director of Marketing at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Wilkes-Barre, PA 
• Meghan Doyle, Director of Marketing at the BOK Centre in Tulsa, OK 

Concessions category:

• Mark Anderson, General Manager and Vice President of Premier Food Services in Del Mar, CA 

News category:

• Eduardo Cajina, General Manager at the Coliseo of Puerto Rico in San Juan, Puerto Rico

Van Andel Arena Ranks #4 in Latest Venues Today Social Media Power 100

Venues Today, a leading trade publication covering the business side of the sports and entertainment industry as it relates to venues, recently released its latest Social Media Power 100 (SMP100) list highlighting the top venues in the social media realm around the world. Grand Rapids’ own Van Andel Arena makes an appearance on the list at #4 for all venues with a capacity between 10,001 and 15,000.

Ahead of Van Andel Arena are Budweiser Gardens in London, Ontario, who tops the list for mid-sized venues, followed by the MTS Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and the SMG-managed Intrust Bank Arena in Wichita, Kansas.

Venues Today uses pre-determined criteria to measure a venue’s presence on what they refer to as the ‘big three’ digital platforms (Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter) as well as check-in data from Foursquare/Swarm to measure fans’ on-site social media engagement. The end result is a social media score used to rank all venues. The complete Venues Today SMP100 list can be found here.

Since Van Andel Arena opened its doors for the first time nearly 18 years ago, social media has swelled in popularity and is more prevalent today than ever. The traditional methods of marketing and advertising are no longer sufficient as an entire strategy. The SMP100 list has shown social media’s importance as a companion to press releases, traditional media, and other promotions. The staff at Van Andel Arena has worked hard to stay up on trends and be sure they are at the front of
a rapidly changing media landscape, and their presence on this list appears to show they are on the right track.

You can stay up to date on Van Andel Arena news by liking their Facebook page and following them on Twitter@VanAndelArena and Instagram @VanAndelArenaGR.