KANSAS CITY, MO (CelebrityAccess MediaWire) — The City Council in Kansas City will be asked next week to dump Philadelphia-based Global Spectrum as manager of the Kemper Arena, to be replaced at the helm by AEG.
A panel of top city officials considered three bids, and plans to recommend awarding the five-year Kemper management deal to AEG, who recently also took over the nearby city-owned Sprint Center.
“We feel they give us the best opportunity to make both venues successful,” Oscar McGaskey, director of Kansas City Convention & Entertainment Centers, told the Kansas City Star. “We appreciate the great job that Global did, but…we have two arenas in the market now, and we’re going to have promoters try to play one against the other.”
Global Spectrum exectives took the news in stride.
“We’re very proud of our accomplishments at Kemper Arena,” Global Spectrum COO John Page told the paper. “We were hired to resurrect that marketplace and we hope to continue in some capacity down the road.”
AEG’s Sprint Center GM Brenda Tinnen told the paper that she was pleased with the committee’s recommendation, which will be formally presented on Wednesday. Tinnen said that Kemper could serve as a back up site for big concerts and sporting events, but probably would rely more on what she called “agri-entertainment events, such as rodeos and livestock shows.
The city had told all prospective bidders that the Sprint Center would retain priority booking over Kemper Arena in its request for proposals earlier this year. –by CelebrityAccess Staff Writers
