For Bucks, new arena is also avenue to sell Milwaukee
MILWAUKEE
(AP) — Construction vehicles and dusty streets surround the Milwaukee
Bucks' new downtown arena that is less than a year away from completion.
The
state-of-the-art facility will be the Bucks' home starting in 2018. But
in many respects the massive project is more than just about
basketball.
Team and arena executives want to get
major entertainment acts to stop in Milwaukee. They want the arena to be
a driver for ambitious downtown redevelopment.
And to do that, they have to go out to market and sell Milwaukee.
"We
want to create an international destination with talent. We want to
compete with every major city, we want to be on every tour stop," team
president Peter Feigin said. "We have this one window of time to tell
our story and our narrative around the world."
That
is exactly what Feigin, along with team and arena officials, planned to
do this week in London. They were meeting with concert promoters and
artist management firms in hopes of bringing major international acts to
Milwaukee.
The
groundwork was laid in part when the Bucks named Raj Saha as general
manager of the Wisconsin Entertainment & Sports Center. He managed
the O2 arena in London for arena giant AEG, and also helped stage the
2012 London Olympics and 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
The
Bucks view the $524 million arena project, which was partially financed
by public funding, as a centerpiece of downtown revitalization. The
facility will replace the 30 year-old BMO Harris Bradley Center, which
sits next to the project.
While the Bradley Center did draw its share of major acts, Feigin and Saha said there were limitations to the aging arena.
The
steel trusses and infrastructure at the new arena have been built to
carry and support the weight needed for the elaborate-style productions
used in major concerts, Feigin said. The arena has 200,000 pounds of
rigging capability, according to the Bucks.
With a
seating capacity of 17,500 for basketball and 500 more for concerts, the
arena has 10,000 seats in the lower bowl, which planners say will help
audio-visual experiences. Two-thirds of the seats in the Bradley Center
are in the upper level.
And Feigin says that the
Bucks have placed a premium on acoustics, including a roof designed to
lower reverberation and reduce echoes. The arena also has what's called
"specialized low frequency absorption" for bass notes allowing for
cleaner bass sound.
"It's secondarily about
basketball, probably the only thing that's secondarily about basketball
is how you design this so it's a surreal acoustic experience, as well as
a visual experience," Feigin said.
In Saha's
experience, only a handful of U.S. arena executive have traveled to
London to talk to promoters. Consider this trip another way in which the
Bucks, who have New York-based ownership, are thinking big.
The
area already has a reputation as a music destination with Milwaukee's
Summerferst music festival. The demographics are different in Milwaukee
from Chicago and Minneapolis, Saha said.
The first
new sign of how things are changing popped up this summer. The Bucks
moved into a new, state-of-the-art practice facility downtown, across
the street from the arena construction site.
"It's
amazing. It's refreshing to walk in here every day," guard Malcolm
Brogdon said after the first practice last week. "Everything in here is
just made to perfection."
The facility and new
arena give the Bucks two new draws with which to attract or retain
players in the future. With the young team itself on the rise after two
playoff appearances in three seasons, Milwaukee's image as an NBA
outpost is starting to disappear.
Similarly, the Bucks see the new arena as an avenue to open new inroads into Milwaukee, music and otherwise.
"We
don't think there's any reason why — especially logistically,
geographically, monetarily — we (couldn't) get the music acts. Part of
the reason we haven't is because we haven't been out there to tell our
story, to market, to sell," Feigin said. "That's really what we're
doing."
MILWAUKEE
(AP) — Construction vehicles and dusty streets surround the Milwaukee
Bucks' new downtown arena that is less than a year away from completion.
The
state-of-the-art facility will be the Bucks' home starting in 2018. But
in many respects the massive project is more than just about
basketball.
Team and arena executives want to get
major entertainment acts to stop in Milwaukee. They want the arena to be
a driver for ambitious downtown redevelopment.
And to do that, they have to go out to market and sell Milwaukee.
"We
want to create an international destination with talent. We want to
compete with every major city, we want to be on every tour stop," team
president Peter Feigin said. "We have this one window of time to tell
our story and our narrative around the world."
That
is exactly what Feigin, along with team and arena officials, planned to
do this week in London. They were meeting with concert promoters and
artist management firms in hopes of bringing major international acts to
Milwaukee.
The
groundwork was laid in part when the Bucks named Raj Saha as general
manager of the Wisconsin Entertainment & Sports Center. He managed
the O2 arena in London for arena giant AEG, and also helped stage the
2012 London Olympics and 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
The
Bucks view the $524 million arena project, which was partially financed
by public funding, as a centerpiece of downtown revitalization. The
facility will replace the 30 year-old BMO Harris Bradley Center, which
sits next to the project.
While the Bradley Center did draw its share of major acts, Feigin and Saha said there were limitations to the aging arena.
The
steel trusses and infrastructure at the new arena have been built to
carry and support the weight needed for the elaborate-style productions
used in major concerts, Feigin said. The arena has 200,000 pounds of
rigging capability, according to the Bucks.
With a
seating capacity of 17,500 for basketball and 500 more for concerts, the
arena has 10,000 seats in the lower bowl, which planners say will help
audio-visual experiences. Two-thirds of the seats in the Bradley Center
are in the upper level.
And Feigin says that the
Bucks have placed a premium on acoustics, including a roof designed to
lower reverberation and reduce echoes. The arena also has what's called
"specialized low frequency absorption" for bass notes allowing for
cleaner bass sound.
"It's secondarily about
basketball, probably the only thing that's secondarily about basketball
is how you design this so it's a surreal acoustic experience, as well as
a visual experience," Feigin said.
In Saha's
experience, only a handful of U.S. arena executive have traveled to
London to talk to promoters. Consider this trip another way in which the
Bucks, who have New York-based ownership, are thinking big.
The
area already has a reputation as a music destination with Milwaukee's
Summerferst music festival. The demographics are different in Milwaukee
from Chicago and Minneapolis, Saha said.
The first
new sign of how things are changing popped up this summer. The Bucks
moved into a new, state-of-the-art practice facility downtown, across
the street from the arena construction site.
"It's
amazing. It's refreshing to walk in here every day," guard Malcolm
Brogdon said after the first practice last week. "Everything in here is
just made to perfection."
The facility and new
arena give the Bucks two new draws with which to attract or retain
players in the future. With the young team itself on the rise after two
playoff appearances in three seasons, Milwaukee's image as an NBA
outpost is starting to disappear.
Similarly, the Bucks see the new arena as an avenue to open new inroads into Milwaukee, music and otherwise.
"We
don't think there's any reason why — especially logistically,
geographically, monetarily — we (couldn't) get the music acts. Part of
the reason we haven't is because we haven't been out there to tell our
story, to market, to sell," Feigin said. "That's really what we're
doing."
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