November 16, 2015

Cordish Entertainment Districts Turn 'Game Day' into 'Everyday'

Street & Smith’s SportsBusiness Journal

Adding entertainment districts as an extension of sports venues has revolutionized the way fans experience sports. Franchise owners, brands and sponsors are now able to reach their fans and communicate their messages to consumers year round. In the process, sports-anchored entertainment districts are revitalizing cities.

The Cordish Cos., a fourth-generation, family-owned real estate company, is leading the movement to merge the traditional sports experience with urban development by using entertainment and retail. The company is redefining fans’ expectations from “gameday” to “everyday.” Combining more than a century of experience owning and operating mixed-use developments of retail, residential, office, hotels and casinos, The Cordish Cos. brings its wealth of knowledge to create “Live!” developments nationwide.

“We have created developments that capture all the excitement, experience and pageantry of gameday every single day of the year,” said Chase Martin, vice president and development director for The Cordish Cos. “Our Live! districts host more than 50 million people a year by creating an environment of excitement and entertainment through the unique tenant mix, event programming, amenities and attention to what the fans need.”

Currently, The Cordish Cos. has Live! entertainment districts in Baltimore, Houston, Louisville, St. Louis, Kansas City and Philadelphia. They most recently opened Ballpark Village in St. Louis, next door to the St. Louis Cardinals’ Busch Stadium, and have more Live! districts in the works.

Anchoring a sports venue with an entertainment district makes a facility viable year round, bringing in visitors and revenues during the off season.

“Stadiums and arenas can draw millions of visitors annually, but are active only a few times a year,” said Martin. “When we combine our entertainment districts and their 250-plus days of event programming a year with a sports anchor, we create incredible energy and activity every day of the year and revitalize a city in the process. Our events range from watch parties to concerts, food festivals and art shows. Every district is dynamic and gives the fan a constant, fully immersive experience. And we tailor every district’s flavor to the unique culture of its own city.”

This is true in every city where The Cordish Cos. has developed a Live! district. Xfinity Live! in Philadelphia is routinely packed with people looking to take in the authentic Philadelphia experience. A recent Wall Street Journal article referred to The Cordish Cos.’ Power & Light District when describing the atmosphere and community during the Kansas City Royals’ playoff run. “Victory parties played out across town, but perhaps no scene was more notable than the one in the Power & Light District, which has become the crown jewel of the city’s redevelopment.”

Martin likens the Live! districts to a sports team’s clubhouse, where a culture is formed by players spending time together off the field.

“A fan’s clubhouse is the place where people come early, stay late and come back often to be in the action, regardless of whether or not there is a game,” Martin said. “We host more than 250 events a year at each of our entertainment districts. Fans of every sport know our Live! districts are the center of entertainment for their city. They know we deliver a world-class experience.”

Martin gave a recent example for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. “Tens of thousands of fans gathered at our Live! districts across the nation to cheer on their teams,” he said. “The Power & Light District in Kansas City was shown repeatedly on national television as one of the premier watch parties in the country. We became the living room of Kansas City.”

Teams and venue owners are paying attention.

“Since Ballpark Village opened in 2014, we’ve had professional sports teams from all over the world come to see what we’ve created,” Martin said. “Teams are constantly looking for new ways to engage fans, particularly the next generation of millennials, and what we’re doing at Ballpark Village has blown them away. They see thousands of fans at our concerts, events, watch parties and at our sports bars and restaurants, and they can see that this is the place where fans are meeting – even when there’s no game in the stadium that day.”

The districts provide unique opportunities for brands and sponsors to connect with fans in a tangible way. If experiences help define brand relevance, there is no comparison to what Live! can do for their brand partners, said Martin.

“Brands are desperately looking for more ways to personally connect directly with their consumers. By having a controlled environment, from technology through to service, fans are getting an immersive experience,” Martin said. “In many cases, the brand partner is integral to the event by featuring the purpose behind the product, showcasing their latest technology for production or allowing their affiliated customers to have a VIP experience. The options are endless in this environment.”

The Cordish Cos. often creates unique branded concepts in the cities where they’re located that help define the city, such as Victory Brew Pub in Philadelphia, and Sports and Social in Louisville, Ky. At Ballpark Village, The Cordish Cos. created the first-ever Budweiser Brew House to showcase the brand in a tangible way for fans.

“The Budweiser Brew House brings the Budweiser brand and the history of Anheuser-Busch to life,” Martin said. “When you walk in the door, you understand immediately what the Budweiser brand is all about in a complete, immersive experience. Brands come to us because they know we’re unique to this business and that we’re able to create these concepts better than anyone else.”

Creating and managing entertainment districts is complicated and challenging, requiring a different approach than sports owners may be familiar with using. The Cordish Cos. steps up as a unique partner, leveraging its 30 years of experience creating districts and a century’s worth of experience revitalizing urban landscapes.

“Teams, states, cities, leagues and franchises all chose to work with us because, as a family-owned company, we have the long-term vision to create a lasting and meaningful development,” said Martin. “We are owners and operators for the long haul and we have the in-house discipline to handle multiple phases of development at the same time. That’s how we’ve differentiated ourselves in the marketplace. And it speaks to the quality of our vision that fans are voting every day with their attendance.”

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