The Louisville Arena Authority has announced that the KFC Yum! Center, Louisville’s premier sports and entertainment venue, can be credited for bringing in just under $1 billion total in economic impact in less than a decade.

A study conducted by Hunden Partners for Louisville Tourism found that the economic impact of the arena over the last nine fiscal years of the venue’s operation is $942 million, averaging $122 million annually.* A previous study commissioned by

The KFC Yum! Center located in downtown Louisville. The KFC Yum! Center is a large multi-purpose sports arena which opened in 2010.

Louisville Tourism for the first four years the venue was in operation shows the KFC Yum! Center contributed approximately $581 million in economic impact from 2010 to 2014.

“The findings of the study by Hunden Partners validates for Louisville Tourism, the Louisville Area Authority and other stakeholders that the value proposition envisioned for the arena in 2005 continues to hold true,” said Louisville Arena Authority Chair Leslie Geoghegan. “The results demonstrate the return on investment for our partners – the State, Metro Louisville, and the University of Louisville – with the significant economic impact that the KFC Yum! Center has on the Louisville community. We are excited to see its continued success into the future.”

“Understanding the impact of one of the city’s largest venues for hosting events helps identify what some of the key drivers of tourism are to Louisville,” said Louisville Tourism President and CEO Cleo Battle. “We will use the information gleaned from this report to deploy marketing strategies that will help Louisville grow our record visitation of 19 million in 2019 to 25 million by 2030.”

By The Numbers: KFC Yum! Center Economic Impact During the Analysis Period (2015-2023)

• The KFC Yum! Center generated an average $29.1 million in annual earnings supporting an average of 584 full-time jobs annually just within the Louisville Metro area.
• More than $58.5 million in taxes were generated by the KFC Yum! Center and its visitors, representing an average of $7.6 million annually.*
• During the nine-year period between FY 2015 and 2023, the facility has generated nearly $942 million in total spending within the Louisville economy, or an average of $122 million per year.*
• Approximately 54 percent of visits to the facility came from outside of Jefferson County, while 25 percent of spending came from outside of Kentucky.
• The total number of events hosted at the KFC Yum! Center has rebounded to 84 percent of pre-pandemic levels.

Several factors cited in the study have led to the continued success of the KFC Yum! Center.

The KFC Yum! Center, with a capacity of 22,090, is the largest arena within a 400-mile radius, and the fifth largest arena in the nation. This adds a value proposition for touring artists looking to attract large crowds. The venue regularly hosts the largest selling concert of an artist’s entire tour.
In 2021, the KFC Yum! Center completed an $8 million renovation that included video, audio and broadcast upgrades, as well as concession and carpeting updates.
The Louisville Arena Authority leveraged ASM Global, the world’s leading venue-management company and producer of live events and experiences, to conduct a 30-year capital improvement plan based on the useful life of various assets. The plan identifies annual improvements to the arena with the intent of keeping the KFC Yum! Center a state-of-the-art venue that will continue to attract top sporting and entertainment events.

“We are so grateful that we continue to work with the nation’s top promoters and event producers to bring high-caliber concerts, sporting events, and more to Louisville and to our local and regional fanbase who continues to support these events and drive additional revenue to the region. Additionally, we are fully committed to serving the community and surrounding areas by hosting a variety of events from local graduations to large scale charity benefits,” said ASM Global General Manager Eric Granger. “I’m very proud of our team who works so hard to ensure the KFC Yum! Center is very well maintained and remains competitive in the sports and live entertainment industry. The strength of the numbers shown in this report provide a great outlook for the future and we feel very confident in continued success for the KFC Yum! Center and surrounding businesses.”

The KFC Yum! Center continues to attract top-tier talent to Louisville and remains one of the region’s most significant forces in driving economic growth. The 22,090-seat arena has hosted approximately 115 events per year, ranging from national concert tours with top-selling artists, major sporting events, and University of Louisville basketball games to graduations, conventions and more.

Notable events over the past decade include Morgan Wallen’s concert in April 2023, which posted the venue’s largest grossing ticket sales ever, as well as sold-out shows featuring acts like Elton John, Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, Eric Church, Guns N Roses, P!NK and many more. Exciting sporting events such as the NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Basketball and Women’s Volleyball Tournaments, Professional Bull Riding, USA Gymnastics Championships, and more continue to drive attendance and revenue at the arena.

The KFC Yum! Center not only drives revenue generation for the city, but also supports the community through a variety of events including holiday movie nights, free youth basketball camps, service projects, clothing drives and more. The venue also hosted Muhammad Ali’s funeral in June 2016 and is home to a wide variety of unique events annually.

*Numbers exclude the pandemic years FY 2020 and 2021

Please welcome our newest members who joined IAVM in October 2023. Thank you for being a part of the association! Also, let us get to know you better by participating in the I Am Venue Management series. Please visit here to share your story and photo.

Peter Aftayev, St. Charles Convention Center, Saint Charles, MO
Christina Alva, Green Music Center, Rohnert Park, CA
Mike Bair, Event Services – Utah State University, Logan, UT
Sheri Barnett, Walton Arts Center | Walmart AMP, Fayetteville, AR
Jacob Blatter, Utah Valley University, Orem, UT
Misty Buckner, OVG Tulsa, Tulsa, OK
Diana Burk, Opportunity Central – The OC, Forney, TX
Keri Burns, Orange County Convention Center, Orlando, FL
Kenzie Bush, OVG Tulsa, Tulsa, OK
Becky Cale, Green Music Center, Rohnert Park, CA
Adam Call, OKC Fairgrounds, Oklahoma City, OK
Marc Celestin, Palm Beach County Convention Center, West Palm Beach, FL
Gabriel Cobb, University of South Carolina, Lugoff, SC
Elizabeth Crawley, St. Charles Convention Center, Saint Charles, MO
Antonio Crincoli, MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ
Christy Delliskave, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT
Jordan Feinstein, Palm Beach County Convention Center, West Palm Beach, FL
Brian Fiegelman, Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, Atlanta, GA
Christina Foley, OVG Tulsa, Tulsa, OK
Rebecca Forrest, Tennessee Performing Arts Center, Nashville, TN
Michael Fouraker, Fort Worth Zoo, Fort Worth, TX
Maya Garner, The Fox Theatre – Atlanta, Atlanta, GA
Audrey Gilliam, OVG Tulsa, Tulsa, OK
Ramon Jesus Gonzalez Marquez, IMG/Endeavor, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Corey Goode, Irving Convention Center, Irving, TX
Jasmine Gould, Tennessee Performing Arts Center, Nashville, TN
Gloria Haasch, American Tower Corporation, Irvine, CA
Stephen Harris, OKC Fairgrounds, Oklahoma City, OK
Luis Hernandez, Orange County Convention Center, Orlando, FL
Alexa Inglima, MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ
Eli Johnson, Event Services – Utah State University, Logan, UT
Marley Jones, OVG Tulsa, Tulsa, OK
Olivia Keck, Toyota Center, Houston, TX
Peter Lally, Spectacle Live, Lexington, MA
Susan Lim, Dolby Theatre, Hollywood, CA
Eric Lumpkin, Thornton Tomasetti, Kansas City, MO
Lea Maxwell, Exploria Stadium – Orlando City SC, Orlando, FL
Daryl Mayekawa, San Diego Convention Center, San Diego, CA
Laura McNary, Robinson Fine Arts Center – Plano ISD, Plano, TX
Cassidy McQuiston, Robinson Fine Arts Center – Plano ISD, Plano, TX
Laura McWherter, OVG Tulsa, Tulsa, OK
Jackson Metzger, Exploria Stadium – Orlando City SC, Orlando, FL
Vespera Monroe, San Diego Convention Center, San Diego, CA
Calvin Morris, Event Services – Utah State University, Logan, UT
Alyssa Moyle, Toyota Center, Houston, TX
Ruth Otieno, Event Services – Utah State University, Logan, UT
Kirby Parsons, Palm Beach County Convention Center, West Palm Beach, FL
Robert Patterson, Paramount Theatre, Oakland, CA
Ian Philips, Samford University, Homewood, AL
Arjay Rennix, The Fox Theatre – Atlanta, Atlanta, GA
Megan Roberson, Lambeau Field – Green Bay Packers, Green Bay, WI
Jay Rutherford, The Virtual Wild, Dallas, TX
James Schott, Chabot College Performing Arts Complex, Hayward, CA
Rob Seckel, The Fox Theatre – Atlanta, Atlanta, GA
Jennifer Silvera, Green Music Center, Rohnert Park, CA
Robin Stinnett, Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, MN
Elliot Swiatly, Chicago Cubs Baseball Club, LLC, Chicago, IL
Sheenah Thompson, Barclays Center, Brooklyn, NY
Hannah Urbanowycz, Barclays Center, Brooklyn, NY
Sawyer Wallace, Tennessee Performing Arts Center, Nashville, TN
Keith West, Toyota Center, Houston, TX
Da’Vine Yancy, Belmont University, Nashville, TN

Effective Feb. 12, Ty Sutton, CVE, becomes president and CEO of Broward Center for the Performing Arts, Ft. Lauderdale, FL, replacing Kelley Shanley, who announced he was stepping down in May. Sutton’s latest move leaves another big opening for a new president and CEO at Dayton Live in Ohio, where he has served since 2018.

Sutton said the Dayton job will be posted on the IAVM job board and hopes his IAVM colleagues will be interested in a great opportunity. He has been a member of IAVM since 2002 and attended Venue Management School (VMS) in the late 2000s.

The Broward County job is a great fit for Sutton. “Broward County and Ft. Lauderdale are booming. It’s changed a lot. There is a need for more programming and more venues,” he said.

Ty Sutton, CVE, incoming President & CEO, Broward Center for the Performing Arts
(Photo Courtesy of the Broward Center)

“It’s exciting to me to work with a board that wants to figure out what is the next thing. How do we build on our success? They want to keep growing and pushing forward. That’s what interests me.”

No one knows yet what that next thing is. Possibly more experiential programming, participatory events, the interactive side, an amphitheater, more theaters, more theater management? “That’s the fun of working with a board and employees who want to serve the community,” Sutton said.

Sutton will answer to the Performing Arts Center Authority (PACA), the 13-member volunteer board that governs the Broward Center for the Performing Arts for the state. The operation also includes a nonprofit foundation arm for fundraising. The Center has an annual operating budget of $60 million, which includes operation of four venues.

Besides Broward Center, Sutton will oversee its affiliated venues including The Parker, an iconic theater in Fort Lauderdale which was fully restored in 2021, the Rose & Alfred Miniaci Performing Arts Center on the campus of Nova Southeastern University, and the Aventura Arts & Cultural Center in Miami-Dade County.

He’s especially pleased Broward Center has one of the largest education programs in the country. “I love that and always worked to create education programs [in all my buildings]. Last year, something like 130,000 students attended performances as part of what they do. My wife is a ballet dancer/instructor and arts educator. I’ve always been around the education side.”

Broward Center is also consistently cited as one of the best venues in the country by trade publications, including Pollstar and VenuesNow, which consistently rank it among the top 10 in the world in terms of ticket sales and attendance.

“I love putting on shows, because that’s what gets people excited and what our business is about,” Sutton said.

He also likes “to create new things and fix things. I’m not a great caretaker, that’s not my personality. I really enjoy the challenge of doing new things.”

Sutton credits networking at IAVM with directly helping him find new opportunities.

In the case of Broward Center, he was recruited by James Abruzzo, DHR Global, who “has written the book on the nonprofit side of performing arts.” He had known about the opening directly from Shanley, whom he has worked with on several projects.

Asked the highlight of his 20-plus years in the business, starting with the 2002 Olympics and Paralympics in Salt Lake City where he ran the men’s hockey venue, and on to professional hockey at the Honda Center, Anaheim, Calif., before moving to the performing arts side, Sutton could not name just one. “I tore down a building and rebuilt one in Colorado [Lincoln Center in Fort Collins], opened a brand new building in Texas [Wagner Noel Performing Arts Center in Midland], and created a performing arts center in Indianapolis from a bunch of existing things [Butler Arts Center].”

“The through line is that I love to create venues that are places people want to go to and are consistently busy. Leaving behind a legacy of successful buildings is probably the one thing I would point to in my whole career. I have left a lot of buildings, and they continued to have success because we’ve created a process, platform and organization to do that long term. It’s that legacy. I love doing that. I think Dayton will be successful for a very long time as well.”

Dayton Live is a nonprofit organization that owns and operates five performance venues, including the Benjamin and Marian Schuster Performing Arts Center and the beautifully restored Victoria Theatre, and attracts more than 400,000 visitors annually. Sutton has been instrumental in the transformation of downtown’s cultural fabric.

Broward Center for the Performing Arts campus in Ft. Lauderdale. (Photo by Keith Douglas)

In his past, IAVM has been very instrumental in his job opportunities. A year after he left the Olympics, where he had worked with Scott Lasker, he needed a new job. “I was talking to Scott, and he said a friend that he went to VMS with was looking for someone to run event services in Southern California. He called his friend, who called me, and I literally got hired over the phone, because they knew because of their IAVM experience that I knew what I was doing. I worked there several years and had a great experience.

“IAVM is a network of people who trust each other, because of the experience and education they bring.”

Sutton’s advice to new members of IAVM is to be open to saying ‘yes.’ “My career has taken me from Calif. to Ohio [and now Florida]. The reason I became a GM very young is I was willing to look at new opportunities. Evaluate each opportunity. That’s led to a lot of success.”

“A lot of younger employees have a plan, and it’s great to have one, but keep getting educated and participating. IAVM opened a lot of doors for me.”

Sutton is a member of the Broadway League, a Tony Awards voter, and serves on the League’s Intra-Industry Committee. Sutton earned a BA in Political Science at the University of Utah, where he began renting small venues to host concerts and later served as programming director for the University of Utah Presenters Office, a path that led to working in the commercial concert business.

He will move in February, and his wife, Polly Creer Sutton, and two children ages 9 and 14, will follow in the summer after school ends. His kids are excited, he said. “With all these moves, there’s the unknown, but there are a lot worse places than the beautiful beaches in Florida.”

IAVM’s member referral campaign, iCommit, began in August. We have added 92 new members due to your referrals. The top recruiters thus far are:

• Kevin Bruder, CVE – Maverik Center – Region 7 – 8 new members
• Ashley Peacock, CVP – OVG Tulsa – Region 6 – 6 new members
• Morgan Ealey – University of Utah – Region 7 – 5 new members
• Caroline Neyman – Green Music Center – Region 7 – 3 new members
• Danny Wheeler, CVE – Utah Valley Convention Center – Region 7 – 3 new members
• Eric Martin – Region 6 – 3 new members
• Matthew Uchtman – Oregon Convention Center – Region 4 – 3 new members
• Michael Kremer – Chaifetz Arena – Region 3 – 3 new members
• Mike Brodnicki – Palm Beach Convention Center – Region 5 – 3 new members

There are many more members that have referred between 1 and 2 new members. We thank you for your support. If you haven’t yet encouraged a peer, supplier, young professional, i.e., the next superstar in the industry to join, you still have time. The campaign runs through December 31, 2023.

For each new member you refer by the deadline, your name will be entered into a raffle to win one of five Visa Gift Cards. The more members you refer, the more chances you will have to win!

• The grand prize will be a complimentary registration to VenueConnect 2024 (value up to $1,000)
• Win one of five, $500 Visa gift cards
• The IAVM Region that adds the most members will choose one recipient to apply for the Certified Venue Professional (CVP) designation. IAVM will waive the $125 application fee (the Region Director will choose the recipient within the winning region)

To ensure you are eligible to win one of the prizes, ask your applicant to do the following:

• List your name in the Application Section titled, “Who Recommended IAVM To You/How Did You Hear About IAVM?”
• Enter “iCommit” in the Promotional Code field in the online membership application.
• For new Professional or Allied members only, the $150 one-time initiation fee will be waived* — the promo code has to be entered to save this fee

*Some membership types do not have an initiation fee; the dues will not be discounted.

All winners of the gift cards will be notified in January 2024. Contact membership@iavm.org if you have any questions.

A light drizzle was not enough to stop the baseball game, which was good news to this 11-year-old boy. Many of the fans at Turnpike Stadium in Arlington, Texas, watching the Double A minor league Dallas-Fort Worth Spurs on this cool night in 1967 headed for the safety of the dry concourses. Not me.

I staked out a section in the lower level of the small stadium for myself. All to my lonesome, you might say. Then, as if on providential cue, a batter hit a foul ball that was arcing to my lonely section. Despite no one else within eye shot, I made a foolish decision to try and bare hand the rapidly approaching baseball, rather than waiting for it to take a bounce or two. The ball hit my hand and elicited an “OUCH” from my mouth (I think those were the words). The ball bounced around until it rolled over to the next section and to someone who literally had to do nothing to collect the souvenir thanks to my advance legwork (handwork?).

I felt like putting the “L” hand signal to my forehead. Loser.

Five short years later, the Washington Senators franchise moved to Arlington to become the Texas Rangers. As for the stadium, the shell remained and was enlarged to meet the requirements for a Major League Baseball franchise. I could not wait to get my driver’s license to make the trip from Dallas over to Arlington to watch a by gosh major league game. Well, despite the fact the immortal Ted Williams was the team’s first manager and that indeed other major league teams visited to play games, the results were what you might expect of a new team in a new market. Loser.

Not all was bad. In 1973, on a Sunday in September, I sat in the outfield aluminum bleachers with my brother and cousin to watch the woebegone Rangers play the powerful Oakland Athletics of Charles O. Finley. A’s slugger Reggie Jackson (Mr. October as well as “the straw that stirs the drink”) waited on a Pete Broberg pitch and promptly deposited it on a clear path to the outfield bleachers. As the ball became larger on its approach to our area, time seems to stand still. The ball took a huge bounce on the walkway in front of our seats, before its approach back down. I jumped with all my might and snatched the home run ball, a prize I still have to this day.

It wasn’t enough that the Rangers were primarily a losing team and distant afterthought to the Dallas Cowboys football team. To merely watch a game in the Texas summer meant baking like a lobster in the stands. The best seats in the house were the ones that first drew shade as the sun lowered. Alas, no such luck in the outfield cheap seats.

I enjoyed going to the games. as I moved into adulthood. Countless memories were made at the ballpark, and even if the team came out on the losing end (often), I still had an awesome time with friends and family.

Another highlight came in April 1994, when the new Ballpark in Arlington opened, putting the final nail in the coffin for a stadium that had been born a minor league ballpark some 30 years prior. My wife and I were gifted two incredible seats for the Rangers very first game at the new stadium, an exhibition against the New York Mets. The stadium was beautiful, but it really did nothing to beat the stifling heat. Today, the venue is called Choctaw Stadium and sits directly across the street from the new Globe Life Field. It is home to high school football games for the Arlington Independent School District, as well as the Arlington Renegades of the XFL football league. I am happy that the stadium did not meet a wrecking ball, as it is still a beautiful and functional venue for many events.

In the 1990s, a longtime friend and I got the idea we would get rich by doing public relations and serving as pseudo-agents for one John “The Hot Dog Man” Hunter, a vendor at Ranger games revered by all for his bellowing “Hotttttt Doggggggs” call, followed by what his business card (yes, he had his own business card complete with his being dressed as a wiener inside a hot dog bun) describes as a Cheshire cat grin, but one my wife equated to the look of a serial killer. Regardless, we got The Dog a few gigs, some radio appearances and such, but fame and fortune never materialized.

The Rangers, of course, made the long-suffering fan base happy in 2010 and 2011, with consecutive World Series appearances. Unfortunately, the team came within one strike (twice!) of capturing the latter Series only to fall. It was the ultimate pin popping the balloon and deflated locals faster than tires in winter weather. Was it never meant to be? I mean, we had no curse of the Bambino or such.

By this time, I had acquired Dallas Mavericks season tickets (in 1984-85, actually) and witnessed in 2011 that franchise win its only NBA championship, so I was totally on the basketball bandwagon while still attending some games at the ballpark.

Globe Life Field opened – wouldn’t you know it? – just in time to welcome a worldwide pandemic. The stadium did serve as the neutral home for the 2020 World Series won by MVP Corey Seager and the Los Angeles Dodgers. Once the Rangers got to enjoy their new home field, complete with retractable roof, not much had really changed on the field as the team staggered to 102 losses in 2021.

Management added a couple of marquee signings in 2022 of the aforementioned-Seager, plus Marcus Semien, setting the stage for 2023, a new manager in Bruce Bochy, and some much-needed pitching help. The team led basically wire-to-wire in the standings, but a final futile day of the regular season and a dud of a 1-0 loss meant the team had to travel the Wild Card route on the road.

So, what happened?

The Rangers flew on that final day of the regular season from Seattle across the country to Tampa, where the team began its playoff trek. Miraculously, the Rangers did something no team has ever accomplished on the road in the playoffs by going 11-0. They dispatched the Rays, then the Orioles, then the Astros, and finally the Diamondbacks. Why do I mention the mascot names and not team names? Well, a friend pointed out to me how this team became known as Road Warriors, and if you do the spelling in order of these dispatched teams, it spells R-O-A-D. Freaky, huh?

As for me, I enjoyed the final Game 5 the team played in Phoenix from the comfort of the recliner, after coming home from announcing an 8^th grade city football championship game (I know, I know, priorities). The score was a tense 1-0 Texas lead at the time, when I plopped down for the eighth inning with four runs tacked on in the 9^th inning. When Josh Sborz threw a called third strike into the mitt of Jonah Heim to win the series, four games to one, I felt pure … I think relief before elation.

It is the cross Rangers fans have borne since 1972, when those lovable losers first arrived on the scene. Like many, I could not help but reflect on the years of being a fan, in my case having my dad take me to watch the minor league farm club of the Baltimore Orioles. This day had finally arrived, and I went to sleep feeling happier than I had most any childhood Christmas Eve night.