By Blair Cardinal
Content and booking professional Starr Butler-Jemison will join OVG360 as Senior Vice President of Content Development & Private Events, overseeing a new division focused on innovative private functions, major corporate events, and content development across the OVG360 universe of 300+ arenas, stadiums, and convention centers.
Butler-Jemison, who will begin on July 5, will report to Chris Granger, President of OVG360, which is 
the third-party, venue management, venue services, and hospitality division of Oak View Group (OVG), the leading global venue development, advisory, and investment company for both the sports and live entertainment industries. She will be based in Detroit.
With well over a decade of experience in booking, venue, and event management spanning arenas, stadiums, ballparks, and non-traditional entertainment venues, Butler-Jemison will bring her creative approach to filling dark days, curating corporate experiences, securing unique content, and generally supporting venues build and better activate their networks of promoters, content creators, and corporate clients.
Butler-Jemison joins OVG360 from the 2020-21 NBA Champion Milwaukee Bucks, where as Vice President of Booking and Events for Fiserv Forum arena and Deer District, she established and led the department responsible for securing and developing diverse programming — including concerts, family shows, private events, sporting events, outdoor activations, and festivals — within the arena, outdoor plaza, and owned-and-operated venues throughout the entertainment district.
“I am thrilled to be joining the talented OVG360 team at such an exciting time in the organization’s expansion,” Butler-Jemison said. “OVG’s recent acquisition of Spectra has unlocked enormous opportunity, and all of the venues in the OVG360 network will benefit. I’ll be looking at ways to program and route unique content, to invest in content development where it makes sense, and to build out an exciting corporate and private events platform across our family of venues – from arenas to convention centers, and from stadiums to state fairs. I look forward to building on OVG’s legacy of creating unforgettable experiences for our guests!”
Prior to her time in Milwaukee, Butler-Jemison served as Director of Booking and Events at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., a Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment (HBSE) property, where she grew the new line of business into a multi-million-dollar revenue source for the organization. A native of Manhattan, Butler-Jemison was instrumental in securing the 2019 MTV Video Music Awards at Prudential Center.
Earlier in her career, Butler-Jemison also spent several years in the private tours and corporate event space, where she gained insight into how food and hospitality – concessions, private events, catering and beyond – integrate into a holistic, premium guest experience.
The previous two venues where Butler-Jemison worked – Fiserv Forum and Prudential Center, home of the New Jersey Devils – are members of the OVG Arena Alliance, a collection of the top venues in North America that provides a united platform for booking, content development, procurement, and sponsorship sales opportunities, which is overseen by Granger.
“We are excited and very fortunate to add someone of Starr’s caliber to our OVG360 leadership team,” Granger said. “Her impressive track record has time and again set the paradigm for content development in live entertainment and sports. Starr has repeatedly been the first person in her role to build out new, sustainable, and still-thriving content and booking lines of business. She brings broad industry experience, from talent management to food and beverage, and a vision for helping us establish long-term relationships with clients and a consistent but distinct experience across our large portfolio of venues.”
In April 2020, Butler-Jemison was named a “Connect 40 under 40” recipient, recognized as a noteworthy event professional, influencer and innovator who is making a mark in the event and meeting industry. Then in 2021, she was named a “VenuesNow All-Star,” an honor awarded to industry leaders who have demonstrated excellence, innovation, financial success, commitment to diversity and leadership in their field.
Butler-Jemison has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Binghamton University.
Blair Cardinal is
