Legends Global\u2019s venue portfolio<\/a> includes Caesars Superdome, NRG Park, AT&T Stadium and many other prominent facilities.\u00a0Chad Estis, the firm\u2019s executive vice president and chief revenue officer, said Mavericks governor Patrick Dumont is motivated to create \u201cthe greatest arena to ever be built,\u201d providing an unrivaled fan experience.<\/p>\nArticle continues below this ad<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s great projects all over the country, but the combination of what the owner desires to create, the executives that he\u2019s hired [CEO Rick Welts and Casson] and the market that we\u2019re in, I just think this is a one-of-one and really special to be a part of,\u201d Estis told The News. \u201cThe best way to think of it is that we\u2019re the project manager.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Dallas]()
<\/p>\n
Dallas Cowboys Executive Vice President of Business Operations Chad Estis speaks at the panel discussion during a Dallas Sports Commission banquet at George W. Bush Presidential Center, Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2024, in University Park.<\/p>\n
Chitose Suzuki\/Staff Photographer<\/p>\n
Legends Global will be ‘eyes and ears of project’<\/p>\n
Over the last 20 years, as expectations for the fan experience have evolved and prices of arenas have escalated, arena projects have become more complex. Estis said franchises are required to operate two separate businesses simultaneously when they embark on\u00a0multibillion-dollar projects like the Mavericks have.<\/p>\n
A firm like Legends Global, he said, provides depth and expertise and, in the case of the Mavericks, will dedicate some 30 employees to the arena project. That gives the Mavericks an extra layer of expertise while they continue to operate their day-to-day business.<\/p>\n
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Casson has first-hand experience with the firm dating to his time with the San Francisco 49ers. Working on the Levi\u2019s Stadium project, Casson said, Legends Global helped create and sell one of the most successful premium programs in professional sports ever for an outdoor football stadium.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ve got a portfolio like no other,\u201d Casson said. \u201cWhether it\u2019s in the owner\u2019s representation space, premium sales, partnerships, food and beverage, merch, fan experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
On behalf of Dumont, Legends Global will help coordinate vendor and material selection and serve as a liaison to contractors, architects and engineers.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re kind of sitting in a bit of the quarterback seat of the project right now on behalf of the owner,\u201d Estis said. \u201cAt its core, it\u2019s understanding the construction process and making sure that a project stays on budget and on time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Casson echoed Estis\u2019 sentiment about the growing complexity of arena projects, with thousands of decisions needing to be made before the venue opens for the 2031-32\u00a0NBA season and other entertainment events.<\/p>\n
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\u201cWe simply can\u2019t get those decisions wrong,\u201d Casson said.<\/p>\n
An owner\u2019s representative gives the Mavericks a third party focused on protecting the team\u2019s interests, from design and budget to construction schedules, quality and risk management.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are really the eyes and ears specific to the project,\u201d Casson said.<\/p>\n
Arena will have more premium offerings for more people<\/p>\n
On the premium sales side, Legends Global will help the Mavericks evaluate and study what they should offer fans.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Casson stressed that the Mavericks will create premium experiences for everyone in the arena.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen people hear the word premium or exclusive, they think that it might not necessarily be for them,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re looking at it in a completely different way. This is going to be for every seat in the building.\u201d<\/p>\n
For the past six months, the Mavericks have been working with CSL, a strategic consulting firm within Legends Global\u00a0specializing in sports and entertainment venues. They\u2019ve conducted surveys and hosted focus groups to talk directly with fans, covering\u00a0 everything from seating manifests and the premium product mix to pricing, parking, food and beverage, technology and the game-day experience.<\/p>\n
The latest trend in the arena world is to create premium experiences throughout the entire venue at various price points, personalized for the modern fan experience.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe way we talk about it privately is we want everybody to feel like this arena was designed specifically for them,\u201d Casson said. \u201cYou\u2019re one of those 18,000 folks that check out a Mavericks game or come for a concert, we want you to leave feeling as if the Mavericks organization and Patrick Dumont built this exclusively for you, from sight lines to technology to food and beverage to ingress, egress, to parking.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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\u201cThat\u2019s exactly what we\u2019re trying to achieve, and that will just mean more product offerings for more people.\u201d<\/p>\n
Legends Global has been working with the Mavericks in a separate partnership to deliver in-venue merchandise for fans. The firm is also working on new venue projects for the Athletics, Cleveland Browns, New York City FC and the Buffalo Bills.<\/p>\n
Estis stressed that it\u2019s important to be on the front lines of what\u2019s new and what\u2019s next to future-proof the arena and get the inventory mix right. How do you bring fans closer to the action and the athletes, offer high-end food and beverage options, alleviate the inconveniences of going to an event with 18,000 fans, and ensure access to the premium spaces feels special and convenient?<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t want to break up a building so much that you don\u2019t have an incredible experience to create a home-court advantage,\u201d Estis said. \u201cSo I think that gets balanced in, and of course, you know Patrick wants a home-court advantage, and you know he wants a basketball-first arena.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dallas Mavericks team governor Patrick Dumont smiles as new team president Masai Ujiri\u00a0addresses an introductory news conference on…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":949895,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5135],"tags":[5229,382493,1596,3139,277997,382494,101367,154718,358,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969,339345],"class_list":["post-949894","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dallas","tag-america","tag-chad-estis","tag-dallas","tag-dallas-mavericks","tag-ethan-casson","tag-legends-global","tag-patrick-dumont","tag-rick-welts","tag-texas","tag-tx","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa","tag-valley-view"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116958778293923263","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/949894","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=949894"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/949894\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/949895"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=949894"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=949894"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=949894"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}