Venue Profile: i wireless Center

We interviewed Scott Mullen, executive director of the i wireless center, about his venue and different problems arising in the live entertainment industry.  The i wireless Center sponsored IEBA TV at this year's conference.  For more information on the i Wireless Center, visit www.iwirelesscenter.com.
Provide a brief history and/or profile of the i wireless Center.

In May of 1993 The i wireless Center opened its doors with two sold out performances by Neil Diamond.   The facility was known as The MARK of the Quad Cities until August of 2007 when the name was changed to the i wireless Center as a result of a 10 year, $4.25 million naming rights deal.  The Center is home to the AHL Quad City Flames and the AF2 Quad City Steamwheelers. 
The i wireless Center has received national acclaim and honors since opening its doors including the Performance Magazine Arena of the Year award, the Facilities Magazine Prime Site Award, and the International Association for Sports and Leisure  Gold Architecture Award.  The i wireless Center frequently appears in both Pollstar Magazine’s Top 50 Grossing Buildings Worldwide ,  Billboard Magazine’s Top 10 Mid-Size Venues  and Venues Today's top arenas under 15,000 seats .   It has been ranked among the top 5 venues in the country under 12,000 seats each and every year of its existence. 
Recently, the building has undergone over $2 million dollars in renovations including a state-of-the-art LED board, a new ice rink, and a Club  Seating  Section  and VIP lounge all in an effort to stay  modernized.  The 15 year old arena actually looks better than it did when it opened.
List notable artists who have performed at your venue.
Many of the greatest acts in music have performed here including Neil Diamond, Frank Sinatra, Billy Joel, Elton John, Bette Midler, The Eagles, Van Halen, Tina Turner, Eric Clapton, George Strait, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, Cher, Fleetwood Mac and Kenny Chesney.
 
What makes your venue unique?
 
This was one of the first u-shape arena designs in the country.  It allows all 12,000 seats to have a great view of the performers with no seats killed behind the stage. It has become the standard for most new mid-size venue designs.  We also have a great location in terms of routing.  We are a convenient stop located between Omaha, Chicago, St.Louis and Minneapolis.

What genre/act fills the most seats?
 
Country and Pop have typically been the hottest genres here although rock and hip hop have also been very successful due to a diverse population of 400,000 people here in the Quad Cities.
 
How have fluctuations in ticket prices affected your business?
 
I wouldn't say that they have "fluctuated" all that much, they have "increased dramatically" every year.  This is resulting in people being more selective in regard to which shows they will choose to attend.
 
 
Has the increased popularity in indie music and the small-scale music scene affected your talent pool? 
 
Not really. We have several colleges in the area and with our Theatre set-up we can accommodate shows of all sizes.  But its still seems to be the older established acts that continue to carry the business and that can't last forever.
 
Tell us a personal highlight of the venue that you've experienced.
 
I'd have to say taking the building from a loss situation to a significant profit in my first year here in 2005 and then breaking the arena's all-time record for revenues in each of the next 2 years is something that I am very proud of.  This building was extremely successful early on due to the outstanding job done by former Executive Director, Steve Hyman. Accomplishing the renewed financial success that we have been able to achieve here in a 15 year old building is particularly rewarding.
 
What marketing vehicles have you used recently to market to your target demographics per show?
 
It's amazing how things are changing.  It seems nobody listens to radio or reads the paper anymore thanks to the internet, ipods and satellite radio. We are adapting by establishing Facebook and My Space sites, buying banner ads with online newspaper sites and stepping up our street team efforts with posters, flyers and even yard signs in order to get to people.  We are also incorporating text alerts to announce shows and are currently looking into a finding a way to gauge fan interest in prospective shows prior to booking them.
 
What do you see as the biggest issue/problem in live entertainment today?
 
First of all there is a lack of new talent with any staying power. All the top drawing acts this year were from the 70's and 80's.  How long can Bon Jovi, Billy Joel, The Eagles, Madonna, Elton John, Paul McCartney, The Police, Cher, Tina Turner, Def Leppard, Rush, etc. keep on going?  You be hard-pressed to name 5 acts from the last 15 years that can sellout arenas and stadiums year after year.  There's Dave Mathews, Kenny Chesney, Greenday and maybe a few others but that's about it.  I just looked at the Pollstar.com Top 50 and only 6 or 7 acts on the list have been around less than 10 years.  That's scary!
 
The other problem the business is facing is the high cost of a ticket and secondary ticketing is only making it worse.  Yes, tickets can sell for $200 if the market demands but the average guy who pays that kind of money isn't going to attend 7 to 10 shows per year anymore, he's only going to be able to afford 2 or 3 and that hurts everybody.  
 
How have you adapted (if at all) to the "Green" movement?
 
This really isn't all that new for many arenas. We were implementing energy retrofits and recycling programs in Long Beach, CA in the early 90's that generated about $200k annually in savings and I have been involved with similar projects in several  venues since then.   There are always new technologies and new ways to save energy and we are always looking to upgrade whenever possible.
 
Where do you see the live events aspect of the industry in 10-20 years?
 
Managers, agents, promoters and venues will likely continue to consolidate.  If they keep building more and more arenas in this country there will be so much competition that most of them will ultimately lose money and become tax burdens on their communities.  Even though this business certainly has a lot of challenges, there is still no substitute for the Live Event experience.
Who knows,  maybe Bon Jovi will still be touring when they are 75 yrs old but if not, hopefully the industry will have figured out how to get back to creating sustainable stadium-worthy acts again that people can afford to see more than once every 5 years.