Dane County Hires National Firm to Lead Concert & Event Sales at Veterans Memorial Coliseum
December 08, 2016
Stephanie Miller 608-267-8823
County Executive
New Partnership to Bring More Acts, Shows to Alliant Energy Center
Today, Dane County Executive Joe Parisi and globally-renowned entertainment group SMG announced a partnership to bring more concerts and shows to the Alliant Energy Center’s Veterans Memorial Coliseum. This is the first agreement of its kind for Dane County. SMG won a request for proposal to be the dedicated sales team for the Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
“This partnership will bring more events and concerts to the Coliseum, and result in more top level shows for Dane County,” said Dane County Executive Joe Parisi. “This demonstrates the vitality of the Coliseum and the market. We look forward to working with SMG to make the Coliseum more active than ever before.”
“We are pleased and excited to welcome the Veterans’ Memorial Coliseum to our family of SMG-managed arenas and are confident the facility will thrive within SMG’s booking network, client base and other resources. Together with Dane County and the Coliseum staff, SMG will stimulate more event activity and attendance for the Coliseum,” said Jim McCue, SMG Senior Vice President for Entertainment.
The Coliseum has had a number of upgrades in recent years including new carpeting, new seat upholstery, WIFI upgrades. Additionally, the county built two loading docks to make shows more efficient and profitable. The loading docks were a recommendation from locally based, national renowned concert promoters Frank Productions. The loading dock project cost approximately $550,000 for design and construction, work was completed in September. Dane County has plans to renovate the bathrooms and interior of the Coliseum in 2017.
About Dane County’s Alliant Energy Center
The Alliant Energy Center of Dane County is located in beautiful Madison, Wisconsin and serves as a multi-building entertainment venue for expositions, conventions, conferences, meetings, banquets, consumer shows, outdoor events, concerts and much more. The campus encompasses 164 acres and features Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Exhibition Hall, Willow Island, the New Holland Pavilions, and the Arena Building. The Alliant Energy Center hosts over 500 events a year and offers its customers supreme on-site amenities including ample parking with 5,800 paved and lit parking spaces, a full range of audio-visual equipment, high speed internet connections, and experienced staff.
About SMG
Founded in 1977, SMG provides management services to 233 public assembly facilities including convention and exhibition centers, arenas, stadiums, theaters, performing arts centers, equestrian facilities, science centers and a variety of other venues. With facilities across the globe, SMG manages 63 theaters and performing arts centers in North America and Europe and more than 15 million square feet of exhibition space and more than 1.5 million sports and entertainment seats. As the recognized global industry leader, SMG provides venue management, sales, marketing, event booking and programming, construction and design consulting, and pre-opening services for such landmark facilities as McCormick Place & Soldier Field in Chicago, Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco, Houston’s NRG Park and the Mercedes- Benz Superdome in New Orleans. SMG also offers food and beverage operations through its concessions and catering companies, currently serving more than 140 accounts worldwide. For more information visit www.smgworld.com.