BANGKOK (CelebrityAccess) Anschutz Entertainment Group is making a significant move into Southeast Asia, investing $308 million alongside Thai retailer The Mall Group to build a concert hall and a theatre in Bangkok, Thailand.
The Bangkok Arena will have a 16,000 capacity and EM Live Theatre will have a cap of 6,00, with both opening atop new shopping malls in 2022, according to Nikkei Asian Review.
“We will be a big game-changer for Thailand,” Adam Wilkes, AEG Asia CEO Adam Wilkes told the Review, adding that Bangkok’s improvement of public transportation and tourist accommodations were factors in the decision and that AEG is looking at other Asian countries for expansion.
“I’m looking at Japan and [South] Korea very closely. They are very exciting markets,” Wilkes said. “Japan will host the Rugby World Cup in 2019, as well as the Olympics and Paralympics in 2020. The country also passed a bill to legalize integrated resorts earlier in the year. With these factors combined, the Japanese market is very exciting.
“Korea is an interesting market as well. K-pop is famous worldwide, but infrastructure is restricted,” he added. “Most [venues] in Seoul were built for the 1988 Olympics, so we can offer modern infrastructure, just like Bangkok.”
The arena is considered AEG’s first investment in Southeast Asia. Asia’s market for sporting and music events is expected to reach about $3 billion by 2022, a 40 percent increase from 2017, according to statistic portal Statista.
