Seven Major League Soccer (MLS) teams have come together to form an alliance which aims to attract more business to their venues from the music and entertainment industry, reports Sport Business. The Soccer Stadium Alliance, which has been led by the Columbus Crew, currently comprises Crew Stadium, Dick's Sporting Goods Park (Denver), Pizza Hut Park (Dallas), LIVESTRONG Sporting Park (Kansas City), PPL Park (Philadelphia), JELD-WEN Field (Portland), and BC Place (Vancouver).
Alliance venues will submit a joint offer to each targeted artist, but each individual venue will be the show promoter and will carry all risk and reward for their particular show.
The Alliance has entered into a partnership with music production and marketing firm Modern Music Services, but venues will be able to continue their relationships with other promoters such as Live Nation or AEG Live.
"It is our enterprise's goal to be a leader, both within soccer and across the global entertainment industry," said Columbus Crew president and general manager Mark McCullers.
"With Crew Stadium spearheading this Alliance, we continue to take a leading role within our industry," McCullers added. "The creation of this Alliance will give us greater opportunities and exposure within the concert industry and will allow agents and managers to bring their world-class artists to our world-class venues."
Donnie Frizzell, of Modern Music Services, added: "The Alliance buildings are owned by some of the most respected names in sports. I feel that respect will carry over into the music industry."
Frizzell added: "Artists who may be on an arena tour are less likely to reconfigure their production set to play outdoor if one or two venues approached them. But when an Alliance of seven to 10 buildings reaches out with an interest, that is a different story. We already have agents reaching out to us to route their artists through our buildings."