The Mullins Center is a 10,000-seat multi-purpose facility with an attached ice rink located on the campus of the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, Massachusetts. It is managed for the University of Massachusetts by Global Spectrum. As part of the management contract, the general manager for the Mullins Center is responsible for the booking of the main facility and the attached practice rink. The Mullins Center has three tenant teams: the university's men's hockey, women's basketball, and men's basketball teams. The campus and surrounding five-college areas are home to as many as 30,000 students from September to May. During that time frame, the Mullins Center is busy hosting athletic events and entertainment programs. To be successful, the general manager utilizes several different setups and capacities to provide the university and the community with entertaining programs. Concert seating capacities are set at 7,200, 8,500, or 9,000 seats. Seating capacity for comedy or theater programs is set at 1,700 to 3,500 seats. Basketball events have 9,400 seats, while hockey or ice show events have 8,400 seats.

Questions for Discussion 

1. As the general manager of the Mullins Center, which specific genre of entertainment do you think would do well in this venue, taking into account the demographics, available time frames, and seating capacities? 

2. Identify a group, act, team, or entertainer that will be touring with available dates to play the Mullins Center, and specify who will be acting as the promoter for the event.

3. Assume that the act will cost $75,000 and the venue will be rented for an all-inclusive package of $35,000. Provide ticket prices that will appeal to the target demographic market in a spreadsheet that reflects the total costs and the balance according to estimated ticket sales.

4. Explain the impact of ancillary revenues on the event, including the potential role that food and beverage revenues, ticket fees, and parking revenues will play when negotiating a deal with a promoter.

5. Provide an event recap and explain why you did or did not book this event at the Mullins Center, noting why it would have been successful or unsuccessful.