A rendering of the newly-named Allianz Amphitheater at Riverfront. (Images courtesy Live Nation)
Weeks after Richmond’s new baseball stadium scored its naming rights deal, the city’s new riverfront amphitheater has landed a title sponsor of its own.
Allianz Partners, which has a major office presence locally and provides event ticket insurance through venue promoter Live Nation Entertainment, was announced Tuesday as the lead sponsor for the now-named Allianz Amphitheater that’s under construction on the hillside next to Tredegar.
Officially dubbed Allianz Amphitheater at Riverfront, the $30 million facility is expected to open in June and is a joint venture between Live Nation and Coran Capshaw’s Charlottesville-based Red Light Ventures.
The naming rights deal is for 10 years, Allianz spokesman Daniel Durazo said. Other terms of the deal were not disclosed at a press event held at the site Tuesday morning.
Durazo said Live Nation approached Allianz about the sponsorship due to the company’s presence in Richmond and the ticket insurance services it provides Live Nation and Ticketmaster.
“We’ve been partners with Live Nation and Ticketmaster since 2007, and our sponsorship of this venue is just an extension of that long-term partnership,” Durazo said.
“When they were putting this venue together, they asked us if we wanted to be the main sponsor, and we jumped at the chance,” he said. “We are going to be here for at least 10 years with our name on the venue, and hopefully a long time after that. We’re really proud to be part of this project. It’s really exciting for the Richmond community.”
The 7,500-capacity venue is planned to host about 30 shows a year.
CEO Jeff Wright, who was unable to attend Tuesday’s event, said in a prepared statement that Allianz (pronounced “Ah-lee-uhnz”) is “thrilled to be part of bringing this exciting new entertainment venue to the Richmond community.”
“Our leadership team, along with the hundreds of our associates who live and work in Central Virginia, eagerly anticipate opening night and many future summers filled with incredible music against the backdrop of our beautiful city,” Wright’s statement said.
Headquartered in Germany, Allianz does business stateside as Allianz Partners USA and offers travel insurance as well as event ticket insurance. Its local offices are in the Deep Run I building at 9950 Mayland Drive in Henrico.
Tuesday’s announcement also included comments from Capshaw, the Dave Matthews Band manager and music industry executive whose Red Light Ventures is developing the 7,500-capacity amphitheater.
“We’re excited to have Allianz Partners join us as we bring a new destination for live music to downtown Richmond,” said Capshaw, who led the development of the 3,500-seat Ting Pavilion amphitheater on Charlottesville’s Downtown Mall. His Red Light Management group also co-manages the 6,800-capacity Ascend Amphitheater in Nashville, Tennessee.
A press tour Tuesday provided a closer look at the amphitheater site, which is near the under-construction CoStar tower, visible in the distance. (Photos by Jonathan Spiers)
Tuesday’s press event included a tour of the 4-acre site, where Charlottesville-based general contractor Martin Horn is building the venue with Richmond-based contractor Conquest, Moncure & Dunn. Site work for the project started last fall, and a groundbreaking was held in January.
Richmond-based 3North is the architect, and engineering firm TRC Cos. also is on the project.
Matt Rogers, a senior vice president with Live Nation who led the site tour, said the project so far has moved 20,000 cubic yards of dirt and involved 7.5 miles of electric conduit, 228 tons of steel, 3,000 cubic yards of concrete and 1 mile of ornamental railing.
“The scope of the project is big,” he said.
The amphitheater will have 3,500 seats and capacity for 4,000 people on the lawn, which features TifTuf Bermuda grass. Rogers described the grass as more resilient, easy to maintain and able to sustain years of use by concertgoers.
The venue will have 3,500 seats and a lawn with capacity for 4,000.
The venue is scheduled to open in time for the 2025 summer concert season and is planned to host about 30 shows per season. Artists to perform at the amphitheater have yet to be announced, though Rogers said show announcements would begin to be made in coming weeks.
The amphitheater is expected to draw musical acts that currently pass over Richmond for venues in Charlottesville, Virginia Beach and Northern Virginia. Names that have been mentioned as currently performing in comparable venues across the country include Dave Matthews Band, Sarah McLachlan, Tyler Childers and Lainey Wilson.
The facility will also feature local food vendors as well as national names that Live Nation does business with at other venues. Rogers mentioned the Voltaggio brothers and Trejo’s Tacos as examples, though he said specific food and beverage vendors have not been finalized.
The venue is expected to create more than 300 jobs initially and generate $30 million in tax revenue for the city over 10 years, with 2,000 new jobs with a minimum average annual wage of $85,000 to be added over that time. City Council approved incentives and a property tax grant performance agreement to support the development through tax rebates over 10 years.
Live Nation’s Matt Rogers said show announcements would begin to be made in coming months.
Allianz Amphitheater will feature Live Nation’s Green Nation sustainability program, which works to reduce single-use plastics and promotes recycling, composting and food donations. All workers at the venue will participate in post-show pickup of trash and waste, which will then be hand-sorted and diverted from landfills, Rogers said.
“We take every bag of trash and sort it, try to divert as much as we can from the waste fill,” he said. “We’re going to be shooting for a 70% diversion rate right out of the box.”
Existing parking in the area is expected to accommodate the amphitheater, similar to the Richmond Folk Festival and Friday Cheers. The site also is accessible to public transit, ride shares, bikes and scooters, and the Downtown Expressway that connects with Interstates 95 and 64.
The naming rights deal for Allianz Amphitheater comes about a month after Goochland-based CarMax was announced as the title sponsor of the Richmond Flying Squirrels’ new baseball stadium that’s under construction along Arthur Ashe Boulevard. It will be named CarMax Park.
BizSense editor Michael Schwartz contributed to this report.
A rendering of the newly-named Allianz Amphitheater at Riverfront. (Images courtesy Live Nation)
Weeks after Richmond’s new baseball stadium scored its naming rights deal, the city’s new riverfront amphitheater has landed a title sponsor of its own.
Allianz Partners, which has a major office presence locally and provides event ticket insurance through venue promoter Live Nation Entertainment, was announced Tuesday as the lead sponsor for the now-named Allianz Amphitheater that’s under construction on the hillside next to Tredegar.
Officially dubbed Allianz Amphitheater at Riverfront, the $30 million facility is expected to open in June and is a joint venture between Live Nation and Coran Capshaw’s Charlottesville-based Red Light Ventures.
The naming rights deal is for 10 years, Allianz spokesman Daniel Durazo said. Other terms of the deal were not disclosed at a press event held at the site Tuesday morning.
Durazo said Live Nation approached Allianz about the sponsorship due to the company’s presence in Richmond and the ticket insurance services it provides Live Nation and Ticketmaster.
“We’ve been partners with Live Nation and Ticketmaster since 2007, and our sponsorship of this venue is just an extension of that long-term partnership,” Durazo said.
“When they were putting this venue together, they asked us if we wanted to be the main sponsor, and we jumped at the chance,” he said. “We are going to be here for at least 10 years with our name on the venue, and hopefully a long time after that. We’re really proud to be part of this project. It’s really exciting for the Richmond community.”
The 7,500-capacity venue is planned to host about 30 shows a year.
CEO Jeff Wright, who was unable to attend Tuesday’s event, said in a prepared statement that Allianz (pronounced “Ah-lee-uhnz”) is “thrilled to be part of bringing this exciting new entertainment venue to the Richmond community.”
“Our leadership team, along with the hundreds of our associates who live and work in Central Virginia, eagerly anticipate opening night and many future summers filled with incredible music against the backdrop of our beautiful city,” Wright’s statement said.
Headquartered in Germany, Allianz does business stateside as Allianz Partners USA and offers travel insurance as well as event ticket insurance. Its local offices are in the Deep Run I building at 9950 Mayland Drive in Henrico.
Tuesday’s announcement also included comments from Capshaw, the Dave Matthews Band manager and music industry executive whose Red Light Ventures is developing the 7,500-capacity amphitheater.
“We’re excited to have Allianz Partners join us as we bring a new destination for live music to downtown Richmond,” said Capshaw, who led the development of the 3,500-seat Ting Pavilion amphitheater on Charlottesville’s Downtown Mall. His Red Light Management group also co-manages the 6,800-capacity Ascend Amphitheater in Nashville, Tennessee.
A press tour Tuesday provided a closer look at the amphitheater site, which is near the under-construction CoStar tower, visible in the distance. (Photos by Jonathan Spiers)
Tuesday’s press event included a tour of the 4-acre site, where Charlottesville-based general contractor Martin Horn is building the venue with Richmond-based contractor Conquest, Moncure & Dunn. Site work for the project started last fall, and a groundbreaking was held in January.
Richmond-based 3North is the architect, and engineering firm TRC Cos. also is on the project.
Matt Rogers, a senior vice president with Live Nation who led the site tour, said the project so far has moved 20,000 cubic yards of dirt and involved 7.5 miles of electric conduit, 228 tons of steel, 3,000 cubic yards of concrete and 1 mile of ornamental railing.
“The scope of the project is big,” he said.
The amphitheater will have 3,500 seats and capacity for 4,000 people on the lawn, which features TifTuf Bermuda grass. Rogers described the grass as more resilient, easy to maintain and able to sustain years of use by concertgoers.
The venue will have 3,500 seats and a lawn with capacity for 4,000.
The venue is scheduled to open in time for the 2025 summer concert season and is planned to host about 30 shows per season. Artists to perform at the amphitheater have yet to be announced, though Rogers said show announcements would begin to be made in coming weeks.
The amphitheater is expected to draw musical acts that currently pass over Richmond for venues in Charlottesville, Virginia Beach and Northern Virginia. Names that have been mentioned as currently performing in comparable venues across the country include Dave Matthews Band, Sarah McLachlan, Tyler Childers and Lainey Wilson.
The facility will also feature local food vendors as well as national names that Live Nation does business with at other venues. Rogers mentioned the Voltaggio brothers and Trejo’s Tacos as examples, though he said specific food and beverage vendors have not been finalized.
The venue is expected to create more than 300 jobs initially and generate $30 million in tax revenue for the city over 10 years, with 2,000 new jobs with a minimum average annual wage of $85,000 to be added over that time. City Council approved incentives and a property tax grant performance agreement to support the development through tax rebates over 10 years.
Live Nation’s Matt Rogers said show announcements would begin to be made in coming months.
Allianz Amphitheater will feature Live Nation’s Green Nation sustainability program, which works to reduce single-use plastics and promotes recycling, composting and food donations. All workers at the venue will participate in post-show pickup of trash and waste, which will then be hand-sorted and diverted from landfills, Rogers said.
“We take every bag of trash and sort it, try to divert as much as we can from the waste fill,” he said. “We’re going to be shooting for a 70% diversion rate right out of the box.”
Existing parking in the area is expected to accommodate the amphitheater, similar to the Richmond Folk Festival and Friday Cheers. The site also is accessible to public transit, ride shares, bikes and scooters, and the Downtown Expressway that connects with Interstates 95 and 64.
The naming rights deal for Allianz Amphitheater comes about a month after Goochland-based CarMax was announced as the title sponsor of the Richmond Flying Squirrels’ new baseball stadium that’s under construction along Arthur Ashe Boulevard. It will be named CarMax Park.
BizSense editor Michael Schwartz contributed to this report.
“Existing parking”? 7,500 people?
I wish when they have events like the folk festival, and other events they make parking more assessable,all them big parking lots and you can’t use them because they are private.