[Moncton] Centre Avenir Centre | 26.65m |~6 Fl | Completed

[felip_ars]

Lil Concert Booking 101

- Bands rarely decide where they play (unless you're Metallica, the Stones, or Bieber).
They tell their booking agent the time frame they want to tour, the agent then checks with promoters to see if there's demand, then book the tour. So if promoters see that the numbers needed to "not be in the red" is unattainable (judging by past performance or from past shows from the same genre), then they pass.

The Tea Party stated multiple times that the reason they didnt play Atlantic Canada during their last tour was because they didn't get any offers.

- One of the reason that Budweiser Gardens and Credit Union Centre get so many shows is because of their location. They are in between bigger cities, bands are already passing by, so it's easier for promoters to book them for shows (they can split the travelling fees with the big city promoters)

- Travel cost is what is making Atlantic Promoters's job very hard to do. Since it's in the far east, and there's nothing afterward, they are usually stuck paying for most of the travel fees (and back), and most of time they do only 2 shows (Moncton & Halifax).

- All the acts that you mentioned (except Steve Miller) played Moncton Coliseum in recent years, except Chicago who played the Casino in front of 1,751 people (4,735 in Halifax).

SMG will probably go all out in the first few months, spending extra to get "Atlantic" exclusive, then when they'll get enough data (attendance#), they'll be more selective in their booking, in order not to have pay the city the goal's difference like they have to do in Kingston.

Or maybe have to pay half the deficit with the City like Quebecor have to do with Centre Videotron.
We'll know once the contract with the City is reveal I guess.

[Monctoncore]

Originally Posted by felip_ars

Lil Concert Booking 101

- Bands rarely decide where they play (unless you're Metallica, the Stones, or Bieber).
They tell their booking agent the time frame they want to tour, the agent then checks with promoters to see if there's demand, then book the tour. So if promoters see that the numbers needed to "not be in the red" is unattainable (judging by past performance or from past shows from the same genre), then they pass.

The Tea Party stated multiple times that the reason they didnt play Atlantic Canada during their last tour was because they didn't get any offers.

- One of the reason that Budweiser Gardens and Credit Union Centre get so many shows is because of their location. They are in between bigger cities, bands are already passing by, so it's easier for promoters to book them for shows (they can split the travelling fees with the big city promoters)

- Travel cost is what is making Atlantic Promoters's job very hard to do. Since it's in the far east, and there's nothing afterward, they are usually stuck paying for most of the travel fees (and back), and most of time they do only 2 shows (Moncton & Halifax).

- All the acts that you mentioned (except Steve Miller) played Moncton Coliseum in recent years, except Chicago who played the Casino in front of 1,751 people (4,735 in Halifax).

SMG will probably go all out in the first few months, spending extra to get "Atlantic" exclusive, then when they'll get enough data (attendance#), they'll be more selective in their booking, in order not to have pay the city the goal's difference like they have to do in Kingston.

Or maybe have to pay half the deficit with the City like Quebecor have to do with Centre Videotron.
We'll know once the contract with the City is reveal I guess.

You seem well educated on this and seem to have lots of information on where bands go, is this what you do for a living? Or is this just a hobby?

On another note, Daniel St. Louis posted on Facebook some awesome shots from the sky of the new arena. Interesting enough, a person in the comments mentioned the same thing as us, about how the roof doesn't seem as high as we thought.

[felip_ars]

Mostly a hobby, but I do get some inside info about whats happening in MTL/Maritimes.

When I was living in NB, I was frustrated that bands were skipping Atlantic Canada. Once I moved to Montreal (part of the reason of my move was to see more shows), I started reading more and more about the business, and got to learn a whole bunch of stuff that made me realize why most tours are stopping in Toronto/Montreal.

It may make me sound like an a-hole/party pooper/negative nancy, but a new venue will not automatically put Moncton on the map. Strong attendance will, and SMG will book shows depending on which genre will give them the best chances of selling out.

And thats the pattern everywhere, Montreal is a Pop/Indie town, Quebec City is more Metal/Prog, and Ottawa gets pretty much every Country artists that comes nearby.

[Monctoncore]

Originally Posted by felip_ars

Mostly a hobby, but I do get some inside info about whats happening in MTL/Maritimes.

When I was living in NB, I was frustrated that bands were skipping Atlantic Canada. Once I moved to Montreal (part of the reason of my move was to see more shows), I started reading more and more about the business, and got to learn a whole bunch of stuff that made me realize why most tours are stopping in Toronto/Montreal.

It may make me sound like an a-hole/party pooper/negative nancy, but a new venue will not automatically put Moncton on the map. Strong attendance will, and SMG will book shows depending on which genre will give them the best chances of selling out.

And thats the pattern everywhere, Montreal is a Pop/Indie town, Quebec City is more Metal/Prog, and Ottawa gets pretty much every Country artists that comes nearby.

Nothing wrong with knowing your stuff, I was genuinely curious as you seem to have knowledge about the industry. Keep up the posts and hopefully the city can do a better job attracting more acts.

[josh_cat_eyes]

I was just point out tho, that Summerside had basically no shows until their new arena was built. So I think you'll see quite a few shows in the first few years anyways. Promoters like new venues. Example last time Iron Maiden played in the Maritimes they played in the 5 year old Harbour Station in Saint John in 1999. It was Bruce Dickinsons first show after he rejoined the band. Other examples of Moncton being able to attract big names for outdoor shows she prove to promoters that Moncton can draw people due to its location. I went to school for a year to study tourism & travel & event management, so have a little insight. I'm not saying that Moncton is going to get huge shows every time there's a tour, but for example Blink-182 played in Bangor, this fall and I bet they could have added a show in Moncton had the venue been there. Also proving promoters and bands like new venues is how hugely successful the casino I've been in drawing bands to the area.

[MonctonRad]

And just to put the seating debate to bed, here are the final stats:

Current Coliseum:
1) Lower Bowl - 19 inch seats
2) Upper Bowl - 18 inch seats

Events Centre (with an 8,500 seat configuration):
1) General Seating - 20 inch seats
2) Club Seating - 22 inch seats

So, a lot more wiggle room to be had in the new venue. I wonder how comfortable the new seats will be? Will they have beverage holders? How much leg room will there be?

I guess there are a few more questions to be answered after all.

[felip_ars]

To give a comparison, the seats at the Air Canada Centre are 19" and 20".

[Sunnybrae]

Originally Posted by felip_ars

Mostly a hobby, but I do get some inside info about whats happening in MTL/Maritimes.

When I was living in NB, I was frustrated that bands were skipping Atlantic Canada. Once I moved to Montreal (part of the reason of my move was to see more shows), I started reading more and more about the business, and got to learn a whole bunch of stuff that made me realize why most tours are stopping in Toronto/Montreal.

It may make me sound like an a-hole/party pooper/negative nancy, but a new venue will not automatically put Moncton on the map. Strong attendance will, and SMG will book shows depending on which genre will give them the best chances of selling out.

And thats the pattern everywhere, Montreal is a Pop/Indie town, Quebec City is more Metal/Prog, and Ottawa gets pretty much every Country artists that comes nearby.

I believe another reason Moncton was getting a pass on shows was the angled ceiling. Acts started to float there PA's to allow more stage space and the height at the Coliseum did not allow this. I remember Van Halen back in there glory days did not come this way for that reason. It's interesting now that acts are now expected to make money on a tour. It use to be a loss leader to promote a current album but now with music piracy, that has all changed. Maybe we could see acts start there tours at this end as a test bed to iron out problems in the show.

[MonctonRad]

New aerial photo courtesy of Daniel St Louis:

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by felip_ars

Mostly a hobby, but I do get some inside info about whats happening in MTL/Maritimes.

When I was living in NB, I was frustrated that bands were skipping Atlantic Canada. Once I moved to Montreal (part of the reason of my move was to see more shows), I started reading more and more about the business, and got to learn a whole bunch of stuff that made me realize why most tours are stopping in Toronto/Montreal.

It may make me sound like an a-hole/party pooper/negative nancy, but a new venue will not automatically put Moncton on the map. Strong attendance will, and SMG will book shows depending on which genre will give them the best chances of selling out.

And thats the pattern everywhere, Montreal is a Pop/Indie town, Quebec City is more Metal/Prog, and Ottawa gets pretty much every Country artists that comes nearby.

It should be noted that it's easier for musical acts (or any acts) to tour a specific region if they can hit three or four venues on a trip. With the old Coliseum being what it was many acts could only feasibly visit two large-scale locations (Harbour Station & Halifax Metro). Now that Moncton will be a consistent third I expect there to be a few more acts touring through.

The new Moncton Centre should be expected to bring in more standalone events (Championships, Finals) more than it will bring in singular music acts only to Moncton. That is to say, a new Centre will be better for the region as a tangible area to tour, as long as attendances are good.

[MonctonRad]

According to the T&T, they would like to have the naming rights for the events centre settled within the next six months.

They are looking for both national and regional companies to compete for sponsorship. Apparently phones are ringing with interest

[felip_ars]

Some naming rights example:

Budweiser Gardens (London, ON) (9k seats): 640k$/year (signed in 2012)
ScotiaBank Centre (Halifax, NS) (11k): 650k$/year (signed in 2014)
SaskTel Centre (Saskatoon, SK) (15k): 350k$/year (signed in 2014)
K-Rock Centre (Kingston, ON) (7k): 190k$/year (signed in 2008) (Operated by SMG)
Meridian Centre (St. Catharines, On) (6k): 209k$/year (Signed in 2013) (Operated by SMG)

So a 2-300k/year asking price should be reasonable considering that there's no "precedent" on how much a naming rights is worth in Moncton.

Just for fun:

Bell Centre: 3 Millions/year (Signed in 2002)
Air Canada Centre: 2 Millions/year (Signed in 1999)

[Taeolas]

On the one hand, Moncton's market is somewhat of an unknown.

On the other hand, with 9kish seats, I would hope the city is aiming high at least. Asking for 500k and 'settling' for 400k might be worth bargaining for, especially if there is a lot of interest.

200k shouldn't even be on the radar IMO; the 2 arenas in that price range either locked in 10 years ago and/or are significantly smaller in seating size.

Of course Sasktel is a bit of a spoiler there; with them as precedent (larger arena and more recent deal) that may force Moncton to accept closer to the 300k range than they might otherwise want to go.

[MonctonRad]

Moncton has a pretty broad market area. Certainly the secondary market area would cover a majority of the Maritimes. The events centre here will be better known than the Meridian Centre in St Kitts. I certainly think that the naming rights should be worth at least $400K per year, if not $500K.

This will be a major source of operating revenue for the centre. It's important that this gets done right........

[josh_cat_eyes]

Tim Hortons Centre would be perfect. Since we have the most Timmies, and it's not already the name of an arena in Canada, and because Moncton already had the Tim Hortons 4-Ice Centre.

[gehrhardt]

Originally Posted by josh_cat_eyes

Tim Hortons Centre would be perfect. Since we have the most Timmies, and it's not already the name of an arena in Canada, and because Moncton already had the Tim Hortons 4-Ice Centre.

Not to mention if Marijuana gets legalized, the "THC" will be popular with a certain clientele.

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by josh_cat_eyes

Tim Hortons Centre would be perfect. Since we have the most Timmies, and it's not already the name of an arena in Canada, and because Moncton already had the Tim Hortons 4-Ice Centre.

Outside of Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton I can't think of any TH-sponsored locations. Would be pretty surprising.

As I stated in the Canada forum, i'd be shocked if the arena wasn't designated by an Irving company of some kind. For Moncton, perhaps IOL and JDI will fight amongst each other for the rights and artificially drive the price up.

I seem to recall there being discussion about the naming rights for Harbour Station being put up a year or two ago but that never seemed to come to fruition.

[josh_cat_eyes]

Originally Posted by JHikka

Outside of Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton I can't think of any TH-sponsored locations. Would be pretty surprising.

As I stated in the Canada forum, i'd be shocked if the arena wasn't designated by an Irving company of some kind. For Moncton, perhaps IOL and JDI will fight amongst each other for the rights and artificially drive the price up.

I seem to recall there being discussion about the naming rights for Harbour Station being put up a year or two ago but that never seemed to come to fruition.

Watch them fight it out only for them pick a name like the 4-Ice Centre. Something random like the Richies Carpet & Flooring Centre or the Maritime Windows Centre or Superior Sanitation centre

[felip_ars]

Another possible scenario would be that Irving could get the naming rights as part of a package deal with the "maybe" rent that they will have to pay.

[MonctonRad]

Another Construction Update:

June 22nd



August 24th



September 21st



October 13th



And, from another perspective: