OVG initiate construction work of Moody Center

Article posted by Coliseum, December 11^th, 2019

Image: Oak View Group & UT Austin

Official groundbreaking and start of construction work on the futuristic Moody Center at Austin in US has been announced by the University of Texas in Austin, Oak View Group (OVG) and the Beverly Hills-based Live Nation Entertainment.

The avant-garde venue will be financed privately and it will be a multiuse arena in Austin – the “live music capital of the world”.

The first-rate arena will be built at a price of US$338m and will be able to put up 15,000 spectators. It will take the place of the 42-year-old Frank C Erwin Jr Center at the University of Texas in Austin – one of the world’s leading universities – campus.

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Apart from being a renowned varsity, it is home to Texasmen’s and women’s basketball games, graduations, as well as university, community, high school, and other events for the Austin community.

The new facility will be built for music and will host the crème de la crème of the music industry on an annual basis, providing a marvellous venue for top touring concerts and shows.

Tim Leiweke, CEO of Oak View Group, the global venue development, advisory, and investment company for the sports and live entertainment industries, commented, “The University of Texas is one of the most important and largest universities in the world. Our partnership with President Fenves, Athletic Director Del Conte and the entire university is a new vision and a new standard on a private-public partnership that will create a world-class venue for the Longhorns and for Austin.”

He further observed, “This partnership has brought together one of the most recognized universities and brands, the Longhorns, with the world’s leader in content, Live Nation, and the world’s largest developer of new arenas, OVG, with Matthew McConaughey. Those partners will create one of the greatest arenas in the world and become the heart and soul for the campus and Austin.”

Oak View Group International (OVG Intl.) – the American global advisory, development and investment company for the sports and live entertainment industries – will be part of Coliseum Summit EUROPE, March 18-19, to be held at Ascot Racecourse, UK.

Live Nation Entertainment, the world’s top live entertainment company, will work with C3 Presents to bring top tours and premium live events to the Moody Center.

Said Michael Rapino, CEO and President, Live Nation Entertainment, “The Moody Center will be a must-play arena and we look forward to bringing our concerts and tours there as soon as the doors open in 2022.”

Matthew McConaughey, University of Texas at Austin Professor, distinguished Alumnus (BS ’93), and Academy award-winning actor, has been taken on board as the Minister of Culture of the Moody Center. He will work on creating a symbiotic relationship between the university, the arena and the city. He will also work on ideas including, but not limited to suite designs, bar placement, color schemes and other concepts.

McConaughey said, “As a proud alumnus and professor at UT, I’m honored, now as Minister of Culture, to convey what a special place the university and the City of Austin are through the design and hospitality of the new Moody Center. It should be the first place the biggest bands in the world want to play, but the last place a visiting basketball team wants to play.”

Privately funded, without using any university or public funding, construction of the Moody Center is expected to create thousands of permanent and temporary jobs for the community. The new arena will be built on land fully owned by the university, and comes at no risk to the City of Austin or taxpayers.

The latest groundbreaking comes as OVG is witnessing a boom in building. The development of venues has been announced by the company in Seattle, Palm Springs, and Belmont Park in Elmont New York, Manchester (UK), and the new 2026 Winter Olympic Games venue in Milan. OVG prides on being the largest developer of sleek arenas in the history of the industry.

Earlier this month, the Los Angeles-based Oak View Group (OVG) had set rolling a second-round consultations on proposals for a new arena which will probably come up at the Etihad Campus in East Manchester, UK.

To study the viability of building the new arena, OVG held four consultation events in October to share initial ideas and get an insight into what the community aspires.

Oak View Group has officially confirmed it hopes to bring a major new concert venue, which would rival SMG’s Manchester Arena, to Manchester City’s Etihad Campus in Eastlands. If everything goes as per plan, it would be OVG’s first in the UK.

Feasibility studies for the new facility are being carried out in collaboration with Manchester City FC owner City Football Group, whose preferred location would be the Etihad Campus – the site of the club’s ground, Etihad Stadium – in Eastlands, in the east of Manchester, Britain’s second-most populous city.

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