Grand Rapids — The SMG-managed venues in Grand Rapids closed out 2018 with recognition from live entertainment industry magazine year-end lists with both Van Andel Arena and DeVos Performance Hall appearing on Pollstar’s top venues lists and VenuesNow’s Top Stops lists. Van Andel Arena also appeared on Billboard’s charts.
Billboard listed Van Andel Arena as the #3 venue in North America (#10 worldwide) for all venues with a capacity range of 10,001-15,000, and VenuesNow ranked the arena as the #5 busiest venue in North America (#17 worldwide) on their Top Stops list for venues of the same capacity range. Pollstar’s Top 200 Arena Venues list showed Van Andel Arena as the #37 arena venue of all sizes in the United States (#71 worldwide).
DeVos Performance Hall finished 2018 as the #15 venue worldwide on VenuesNow’s Top Stops list for venues with a capacity range of 2,001 – 5,000 and #30 in the United States (#40 worldwide) on Pollstar’s Top 200 Theatre Venues list.
Billboard used total reported gross ticket sales from November 1, 2017 – October 31, 2018 to rank venues around the world. VenuesNow used total amount of tickets sold from October 16, 2017 – October 15, 2018. Pollstar ranked venues by total amount of tickets sold from November 23, 2017 – November 21, 2018.
“We always look forward to these year-end rankings because we know that the community in and around Grand Rapids as well as the support provided us by the Grand Rapids-Kent County Convention/Arena Authority puts us in a good position to have a great showing,” said SMG Regional General Manager Richard MacKeigan. “The fact that we continually rank among some of the greatest venues in the world, many of which have a larger capacity, is a testament to that, and we are grateful to have that reflected and recognized around the industry.”
Events such as Thomas Rhett, Elton John, Shania Twain, James Taylor, The Eagles, Blake Shelton, Chris Stapleton, Trans-Siberian Orchestra, and several others contributed to the numbers at Van Andel Arena over that time period. At DeVos Performance Hall, Lauren Daigle, Alice Cooper, Lindsey Stirling, David Byrne, Jerry Seinfeld, Third Day, Steve Martin & Martin Short, and many more helped fill the seats.
About SMG
Van Andel Arena and DeVos Performance Hall are managed by SMG. Founded in 1977, SMG provides management services to 243 public assembly facilities including convention and exhibition centers, arenas, stadiums, theaters, performing arts centers, equestrian facilities, science centers and a variety of other venues. With facilities across the globe, SMG manages more than 19 million square feet of exhibition space and more than 1.5 million sports and entertainment seats. As the recognized global industry leader, SMG provides venue management, sales, marketing, event booking and programming, construction and design consulting, and pre-opening services for such landmark facilities as McCormick Place & Soldier Field in Chicago, Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco, Houston’s NRG Park and the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans. SMG also offers food and beverage operations through its concessions and catering companies, currently serving more than 140 accounts worldwide. For more information visit www.smgworld.com.
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