Category: Legends News

Integration of the two companies is nearly complete

Via Buffalo News

The chance for Buffalo Bills fans to buy a personal seat license for season tickets at the new Highmark Stadium is over.

The Bills have sold out their PSL inventory at the new stadium, and they’ll be taking 75% of their current season ticket holders with them when they move next season.

The Bills were able to sell more than 54,000 seat licenses, even after some initial trepidation over the team instituting the sale of PSLs at the new stadium and some sticker shock when the team first rolled out PSL prices for the costliest seats.

That is the highest number of current season ticket holders to go from an old to a new building on a project led by Legends Global, which has collaborated on selling seat licenses for six new NFL stadium projects since 2009.

And it comes about seven months before the stadium is scheduled to be substantially completed.

“That’s an extraordinarily high number for a new stadium, so I think it gives you a good indication about the strength of Bills Mafia and how excited people are about the new stadium,” said Pete Guelli, executive vice president and chief operating officer of the Bills.

“The process was focused on ensuring every season ticket member who wanted to move into the new stadium had that opportunity, so we are thrilled so many of our fans are coming with us,” he added.

While the stadium is close to being completely sold out, with club seat and suite inventory also spoken for, there may wind up being a few thousand available seats or standing room tickets available at the more than $2 billion stadium, Guelli said.

The Bills are considering making available up to 1,000 single-game tickets and as many as 1,000 standing room only section tickets, but Guelli said the standing room availability would be phased in over the course of multiple seasons after first making sure the building operates as anticipated.

The team planned to sell 54,628 PSLs in the 60,108-seat open air stadium − which has 11,500 fewer seats than the current building. The new stadium’s 6,162 club seats, which required a PSL, also sold out, as did the suite and loge inventory of 1,755 seats, which did not require a PSL.

The Bills are also required to set aside 3,725 seats as “mandatory holds” for visiting teams, the NFL and Bills players’ families and staff and as sponsor holds for team partners.

“Moving forward, we are going to continue to try to get people into the building,” Guelli said. “If there’s other opportunities to create areas for that if it appears that there is demand for it, we’ll take a look at it.”

The Bills are encouraging fans to remain on the waitlist and continue to sign up for it by putting down a $150-per-seat deposit.

Waitlist members will receive priority access to season tickets when they become available. That could happen if fans default on their seat license payment or choose to sell their seats.

They’ll also get first access to purchase standing room tickets and select seats for individual games when they’re available because of returns from visiting team ticket allocation and other NFL requirements.

They’ll also gain playoff ticket pre-sale opportunities, concert and special event presale offers and Bills Store and NFL Shop discounts.

With most current season ticket holders staying on at the new stadium, the Bills were able to get to only a little over 2,000 fans on the waitlist. The waitlist is still at around 7,000 accounts that make up the potential for around 20,000 seats.

There were some additional seats that wound up opening after fans defaulted on their seat license loan payments, but Guelli said that represented an “extremely small percentage” of those who bought seats. But there could still be more of those opportunities.

“It’s one of the reasons why you want to be on that waitlist,” Guelli said.

Now that PSL sales have ended, the team will soon close the once bustling New Stadium Experience Center in Williamsville that it opened in March 2024 to be a place where Legends could pitch the sale of seats to prospective season ticket holders.

While there was little doubt that the Bills would eventually sell all the PSLs at the new stadium, the accelerating pace of sales this year moved up the team’s timeline for completing the process.

As of Sept. 30, the team had sold 48,620 PSLs. They sold 15,126 PSLs during the third quarter of the year, running from July 1 to Sept. 30 – the most the Bills have sold in any quarter since they began offering PSLs to fans.

During the second quarter of the year, the Bills sold more than 14,500 seat licenses, and in the first quarter, they sold 7,890 PSLs.

After a slower start to PSL sales because the team was selling more-expensive club seats and high-end lower-level seats, seat license sales took off once the Bills shifted to more-affordable seats that carry lower license costs.

Seat licenses in the 400 level were going for anywhere from $750 to $2,500. In the lower level, in and around the end zones, they got as low as $2,500 per PSL. Club seats ranged from $8,000 to $50,000 per PSL at the new stadium, and some of the higher-end, lower-level seats were going for between $5,000 and $10,000 for a seat license.

Most fans who purchased seat licenses are from Western New York, but they also come from Southern Canada and throughout the U.S., the Bills said.

“When they first went on sale, we knew there was a high level of interest, but we needed to work our way through more of the premium inventory,” Guelli said. “As soon as we pivoted to some of the lower-level seats and upper-level seats, it picked up relatively quickly and we knew we’d move through every piece of open inventory in the building.”

It has resulted in the team taking in revenue of more than $260 million from PSLs – around 15% more than the $225 million the team expected to raise.

The PSL license money is important to the team because it doesn’t have to be shared with other NFL franchises, as ticket revenue does, and all those funds will go toward stadium construction.

The team received $850 million in public funds for the project, but is on the hook for the remainder of the cost, including all overruns. The new stadium has already gone up in price from the original estimate of $1.35 billion to around $2.2 billion.

While the Bills exceeded initial estimates for PSL sales, they still did not bring in anywhere close to some of the bigger markets such as Las Vegas, which raised around $550 million for the $1.9 billion Allegiant Stadium, which opened in 2020, by charging between $500 and $75,000 per PSL. The Bills have said they would have some of the most reasonably priced seat licenses in the NFL.

Guelli said reaching this milestone now will allow the team to focus on other areas of a stadium project expected to be substantially completed by July.

“It’s a great position to be in with months to go before the stadium opens,” Guelli said.

The team leaned on Legends’ experience with the sale of seat licenses. The company also sold PSLs at the most recent stadiums built in Southern California and Las Vegas and other NFL venues such as Dallas, Atlanta and San Francisco.

Legends has become heavily involved at the Bills new stadium, including in concessions, retail and sales and construction coordination.

“I think you need a partner like Legends to execute on a program of this level,” Guelli said. “With the bandwidth they’ve provided alone to make it happen and the level of experience that they have, they’ve been critical to the project from day one.”

Integration of the two companies is nearly complete

Via Sports Business Journal

By Bret McCormick

In some of the final major moves of Legends’ integration of ASM Global, Legends has elevated Chad Estis to EVP & Chief Revenue Officer, while Bill Rhoda has been named EVP/Business Development, a newly created role working across Legends and ASM Global. The combination process began last August when Legends closed its $2.325B acquisition of ASM Global creating a massive, global company with nearly 80,000 part-time and full-time employees (9,000 full-time), hundreds of clients and a presence in sponsorship and premium sales, feasibility and market studies, project management, food and beverage service, and venue management, among other sports business verticals.

“We’ve made some smaller acquisitions, but I’ve never been a part of integrating something as significant as ASM,” said Estis, who has been with Legends since its creation in 2008. “It’s exciting meeting a lot of new people, learning about their business, trying to make quick decisions so we can get integrated. The faster we get integrated, the sooner we can begin to make an impact.”

Rhoda, who joined Legends in 2011 when CSL was acquired, will sit atop a centralized business development team working across the newly combined company and report to Estis. Legends historically kept business development efforts siloed within each of its divisions. Estis, who is alsoEVP/Business Operations for the Cowboys, will continue reporting to Legends CEO Dan Levy. And Estis has picked up some of formerco-President & COO Mike Tomon’s responsibilities — after Tomon recently left to become the Texans president — in addition to the nearly full-time job of reorganizing the new Legends.

That began almost immediately after the acquisition — first announced in the summer of 2023 — closed late last summer, with ASM Global CEO Ron Bension one of the first to depart. Whether their role was eliminated or not, other former ASM Global executives have left in the months since, a natural byproduct of merging two huge companies possessing many similar job descriptions and high-earning executives. That said, job eliminations only measured a single-digit percentage of the total workforce, largely because of the interlocking nature of the two companies’ businesses.

One longtime ASM Global employee being elevated in the process is Doug Thornton, who has run the Superdome in New Orleans since 1997 and was over ASM Global’s stadium theater and arena business. He’s been named President, North American Venues for Legends/ASM Global and, in addition to the venue operations business, Legends’ project development vertical will also sit under his expanded purview. This week’s Super Bowl is being held at the ASM Global-managed Superdome.

Other leaders within Estis’ team include: Mike Behan, President, College; Chris Hibbs, President, Partnerships; Mike Ondrejko, President, Sales; Matt O’Neil, Chief Content & Experience Officer; and Ben Wrigley, President, CSL International. The commercial partnerships and premium sales teams from ASM Global have joined Hibbs’ and Ondrejko’s teams, respectively. And Tom Funk, who was hired by Legends last year to run its F&B division, is now overseeing ASM Global’s F&B entity, Savor. Along with Estis, Funk and Thornton will report directly to Legends’ CEO, Levy.

One bit of unfinished business remains: the fate of the ASM Global brand. Its future isn’t yet clear but it’s likely the company is moving toward a single brand in the future.

Via Good Morning America

Chef Robert Flowers, executive chef at Yankees Stadium, shares some of the food available during the World Series.

Via Sports Business Journal

Longtime marketing pro Kirta Carroll oversees Legends’ extensive merchandise business, but she didn’t have a direct path to the sports world, first working across industries as varied as health care and luxury fashion. That was until 2011, when Carroll landed at Foot Locker.

Carroll was initially tasked with guiding Foot Locker’s then-nascent efforts with female consumers. She developed marketing strategies and helped roll out custom product launches, including a collaboration between Puma and Rihanna, that ultimately produced record revenue for Foot Locker’s women’s division.

“Hitting that milestone was a really proud moment,” Carroll said. “It was hard, and it took external factors, internal factors, sort of getting the team to believe that we could do it. And being really strategic around how do you grow a segment of the business that is underperforming?”

Carroll spent over a decade at Foot Locker before departing for Legends in August 2022. In leading the Legends Global Merchandise team, comprising more than 1,700 employees around the globe, Carroll oversees relationships with organizations including FIFA, PBR, the PGA and Real Madrid.

She also negotiated Legends’ recent acquisition of AdPro Sports, which strengthened the company’s wholesale and licensing efforts, and led the launch of Legends’ proprietary e-commerce platform. Next up, Carroll is focused on further developing efforts to provide more support for the burgeoning women’s sports space.

“How do we give women’s sports the sort of accelerator that they need from a commercial revenue standpoint?” said Carroll. “We’re starting to see it in some of the partners that we have. … But to me, there’s a lot of upside yet to be had for women’s sports in general, so helping to build that goal forward is something I’m supporting and passionate about.” — Chris Smith

Via Sports Business Journal

By Josh Carpenter

A consistent theme in women’s golf in recent years has been to try and elevate all facets of the game to the same levels experienced by men’s players. From major championship courses to TV windows to shot-tracking data.

This week in Virgnia, the merchandise pavilion at the Solheim Cup is more evidence of that trend.

The Solheim Cup Fan Shop, which is being handled by Legends, spans 10,000 square feet, the largest ever for the event. While not at the same scale as some of the men’s tournaments — the PGA Championship pavilion this year was 50,000 square feet — the structure at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club gives off a big-event feel.

“Our goal here was to partner with the LPGA on what’s the most electrifying event in women’s golf,” said Mike Quirk, the chief commercial officer for Legends Global Merchandise. “We go into all of our relationships just trying to paint that picture for them and extend the story or the brand.”

Legends first signed with the LPGA in the spring of 2023 to manage e-commerce sales as well as the merchandise buildout for the Solheim Cup.

“As women’s sports continues to grow, so are the things that are connected to it,” Quirk said. “The size of the tent warrants the level of the event and the attendance they’ll see this week.”

The pavilion this week is being staffed with about 50 volunteers, four college interns and around 10 Legends employees. Brands inside include Dunning, Imperial, Summit Golf Brands/Zero Restriction for the U.S. team and Ping for the Europeans.

Other collaborations include Malbon Golf, Barstool Sports, Lululemon, G-Fore and New Era.

Merchandise is available for both European and U.S. teams, as well as event-specific items and accessories themed to the Northern Virginia and DC areas.

“It connects with the state of Virginia but also with the global presence of the Solheim Cup,” Quirk said. “It’s trying to do both. You’ve got the Solheim brand and the global presence it has, but then also trying to work in the local flavor.”   

Via Sports Business Journal

By BEN PORTNOY

In the ever-expanding search for revenue growth, Florida State has a new partner lined up.

FSU is set to announce a new 10-year multimedia rights agreement with Legends, AD Michael Alford and Legends President of College Mike Behan tell SBJ. An official announcement is expected Wednesday.

“It’s really the vision, where they’ve taken their company, following how successful they’ve been in other properties and growing those revenue streams,” Alford said of FSU’s decision in tapping Legends. “The biggest thing with Legends that I’ve found is they provide you solutions and they’re constantly going to assist you in guiding how you go about your daily business and how you grow your revenue streams.”

Legends has made significant plays in the college space in recent years, including MMR partnerships with Notre Dame, Miami and Georgia Tech. The FSU deal will be an expansion of an existing relationship between the two sides. The company supports premium seating for the $260 million renovation of Doak Campbell Stadium and manages hospitality for FSU athletics. The new deal will also include 10-12 staffers just in sponsorships — nearly double what previously existed.

Florida State previously worked with Learfield as its MMR partner.

“We’re aware the stakes are so much higher right now [in college],” Behan said. “Schools have to generate a heck of a lot more money. A lot of what’s historically been done, that may have worked in the past, but that’s really not what schools need going forward. There’s a lot of talk of professionalizing collegiate athletics and really focused on revenue generation and we feel like how our company is built and evolved over the years, it’s really set up perfectly for this opportunity right now.”

Revenue generation has become an increasingly prominent conversation around FSU in recent months. The school is locked in a lawsuit with the ACC stemming from, among other things, media revenues and the disparities between ACC member schools and those in the Big Ten and SEC. Senior school administrators in Tallahassee have also reportedly explored private equity investments, though those decisions aren’t necessarily imminent.

“When you look at the changing environment of the collegiate landscape, you have to look at what you can do to make up the difference to be able to support your student athletes at an elite level — and that’s looking at various new revenue streams that we haven’t looked at before,” Alford said. “I go back to our relationship [with Legends] on the premium sales side that we’re doing extremely well. We’ve had the best couple years we’ve ever had in concessions at [Doak Campbell Stadium] and throughout all of our athletic venues, and now [adding] the MMR side of things. We’re constantly going to be looking to be innovative in what we can bring to the table that makes sense for Florida State to drive those revenue streams.”

Sports Business Journal interview with Michael Alford, Vice President and Director of Athletics at Florida State, and Mike Behan, President, Legends

Via Sports Business Journal

By Bret McCormick

Levy spent 14 years at Meta (formerly Facebook), where he led, among several efforts, the company’s $100B-plus advertising business before exiting in May 2023

DAN LEVY is the new CEO of Legends as former CEO SHERVIN MIRHASHEMI transitions into a new full-time role as the company’s Vice Chair, according to an internal email shared with SBJ this morning. Mirhashemi, who has served as CEO of Legends since 2017 after initially joining the company from AEG in mid-2013, will remain a Legends board member and actively involved at the company’s helm. Former Facebook exec Levy joined Legends in March as interim president of the company. No other Legends executives were impacted by the move.

Mirhashemi has been centrally involved in the company’s growth from a couple hundred employees in 2013 to more than 3,000 today, with its hands in a slew of sports industry service verticals, including premium and sponsorship sales, project management, and food and beverage and hospitality provision and the newest, a college-focused business encompassing all its offerings. Legends, whose revenues have grown tenfold during Mirhashemi’s time, is currently awaiting DOJ approval to greenlight its reported $2.4B-plus acquisition of venue management giant ASM Global. 

Levy spent 14 years at Meta (formerly Facebook), where he led, among several efforts, the company’s $100B-plus advertising business before exiting in May 2023. His arrival at Legends coincided with the exit of several Legends executives, including CURT MCCLELLAN, former co-president and Chief Corporate Officer, and DAN SMITH, former longtime Legends Hospitality President, who transitioned to an advisory role in early 2024.

“You have my commitment that this next chapter of Legends’ growth trajectory will be the most impressive yet,” Mirhashemi wrote in an email to employees announcing the news. “With Dan as CEO, together with [co-President and COO] MIKE TOMON and the rest of our seasoned management team, we are poised to take Legends to new horizons at the forefront of sports and entertainment. “So, keep bringing the focus and passion that makes Legends so very special and ‘Lets gooooooooo!!!!’”    

Via Sports Business Journal

By Bret McCormick

The Browns have picked Legends to find a new naming rights sponsor for the team’s stadium. Legends, which won an RFP for the Browns’ business, has worked with the team’s owners, Haslam Sports Group, previously, securing the naming rights for the Columbus Crew’s Lower.com Field and overseeing the $314M MLS stadium’s construction. Legends and the Browns are pursuing a long-term partner with Cleveland roots that values a national spotlight.

“We’ll look through those lenses to see what kind of companies can reap from both,” said Chris Hibbs, President, Legends Global Partnerships. “We’ll be exhaustive; that’s what our clients expect.”

The Browns have been considering a potential renovation of Cleveland Browns Stadium or a new stadium altogether, giving Legends an angle with which to pitch potential naming rights sponsors. “Whether it’s a renovated building or a new building makes it kind of fun, kind of complex,” said Hibbs. “You’re talking about a story that’s going to grow or evolve.”

Legends has clinched five naming rights deals in sports and entertainment so far this year, including the Bills’ New Highmark Stadium, Georgia Tech’s Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field, and PGA of America’s Monument Realty PGA District at PGA Frisco. Its growing NFL naming rights business includes SoFi Stadium, Allegiant Stadium, and the recent New Highmark Stadium. For this project, Chad Estis (EVP, Legends), Scott Malaga (VP, Legends Global Partnerships) and Hibbs will lead Legends’ efforts, while Eric Clouse (Chief Commercial Officer), Dave Jenkins (EVP and COO) and Erica Muhleman (SVP, Corporate Partnerships) will lead the Browns’ side.

Cleveland Browns Stadium, located in downtown Cleveland on the shores of Lake Erie, was called FirstEnergy Stadium from 2013 to April of this year, but the agreement was mutually ended seven years early following FirstEnergy’s complicity in a bribery scandal that sent the speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives to prison. The Browns handled the naming rights search a decade ago in-house and were receiving roughly $6M annually from FirstEnergy for the stadium naming rights until the deal was voided.

Via Buffalo Business First

The Pegula family has sold its majority stake in Cheektowaga-based AdPro Sports to Legends, a wide-ranging sports services company that has built increasingly strong ties with Pegula Sports and Entertainment and the Buffalo Bills.

The deal closed earlier this week, according to a statement from PSE.

“We have had an ongoing partnership with Legends for the Bills’ new stadium project over the last several months,” according to the statement. “And even though this sale is separate from the stadium agreement, Legends was impressed with our team and facility, and has maintained they will continue to invest and operate out of Western New York.”

The announcement came shortly after AdPro founder Ron Raccuia left the employ of the Buffalo Bills.

Terms of the sale have not been disclosed.

In a statement, Legends Global Merchandise President Kirta Carroll said the acquisition fits into the company’s rapid growth over the last few years.

“The acquisition of ADPRO Sports and the addition of their Western New York production facility will accelerate our licensing and wholesale business and expand our in-house production capabilities, better positioning us to deliver an expanded assortment of first-class merchandise products for our partners and their fans,” she said.

AdPro, based in Cheektowaga, handles sports licensing, apparel and merchandise. It has more than 100 employees, according to its website, and works with major apparel brands such as Nike, Adidas, Under Armour and New Era. AdPro’s revenue in 2021 was $28.71 million, according to Buffalo Business First’s List of Fast Track Companies. Revenue figures were verified by the Amherst accounting firm of Dopkins & Co. LLP.

Raccuia, who founded AdPro in 1998, was named the most influential person in Western New York in Business First’s annual Power 250 listing. His prominent participation in negotiations for the Buffalo Bills stadium was one of the major reasons for his No. 1 ranking.

The Pegulas bought a majority stake in the company in 2017. Raccuia remained AdPro president, while simultaneously working for Pegula Sports and Entertainment. He most recently was executive vice president and chief operating officer of the Bills.

Earlier this week, the Bills announced that team owner Terry Pegula was stepping in as president amid numerous changes to the team’s senior leadership — including Raccuia’s departure.

Legends, founded by Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and former New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, has been assisting the Bills with the design and construction of the team’s new stadium.

In May the Bills announced that Legends will be the concessions provider at the new stadium when it opens in 2026, replacing Buffalo-based Delaware North.

Via Buffalo News

The sports consulting firm Legends has already been shaping the new Buffalo Bills stadium on the inside and out, from concept to design to sales.

Now the company is entering a long-term partnership with the Bills, one that will make Legends, which was co-founded by Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, a significant and ongoing player in Western New York.

Legends Hospitality has been awarded the food and beverage rights for the new stadium, which is scheduled to open in 2026.

Legends was selected from a field of four bidders, which included Sodexo, Levy Restaurants and the Buffalo-based Delaware North Cos., which has held the Bills stadium contract since 1992.

“They clearly have shown the ability to understand our marketplace at a very high level,” said Ron Raccuia, the Bills’ executive vice president and chief operating officer. “Overall, we felt they offered us the best opportunity to deliver the type of food and beverage experience that we know our fans want in the new stadium.”

Terms of the deal, which Raccuia describes as a “long-term agreement,” were not disclosed.

“The Bills have a great vision, great understanding of the business and great knowledge of the market and their fans,” Tomon said. “When the fans approach this, they’ll sit back and think, ‘they thought of everything.’ “

Landing the contract, which Bills officials revealed Tuesday night to The Buffalo News, is a major win – if an unsurprising one – for Legends. The company is already working with the Bills and the architectural firm Populous on the design of the new stadium. Legends is also overseeing sales for the $1.54 billion facility, including the marketing of personal seat licenses and naming rights, and has conducted multiple studies of the Buffalo market and the Bills fan base.

“They’ve spent a lot of time with our fans on surveys, in small group settings, in Western New York,” Raccuia said. “We feel very confident in their knowledge of our fan base and what we’re trying to deliver for an unbelievable Bills fan experience.”

Each of the bidders responded to an RFP (request for proposal) last year with a written document that Raccuia describes as a “vision statement.” That was followed by a series of interviews that probed into their philosophies on food and menu development, pricing strategy and approach to catering on non-game days. They discussed finances, leadership structure and sales strategies. Bills officials also visited venues run by each of the four finalists – sometimes officially, other times unannounced.

Following a trend in sports arenas, the Bills’ menu will have what Raccuia calls a “hyperlocal” focus that celebrates Western New York cuisine. He noted that all the finalists’ proposals “really nailed the local aspect of it,” and added, “Where I believe Legends was perhaps a little better than the rest on there was understanding how that fit into all the other things that we’re doing: How it fit into beverage service. How it fit into pre-game. How it fit into a postgame type of environment. It was one step different than some of the others.”

Legends handles food and beverage for several venues, including Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, AT&T Stadium in Dallas and SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, where it integrates local cuisine into both everyday concessions and high-end, restaurant-style clubs.

In an email to The News on Tuesday night, Dan Smith, the president of Legends Hospitality, said, “Legends is proud to expand our long-term partnership with the Buffalo Bills to deliver a best-in-class hospitality experience for Bills Mafia at games, showcasing the very best Buffalo has to offer and beyond.”

Delaware North will continue running the food and beverage program at Highmark through the 2025 season. The decision puts a dent in Delaware North’s portfolio, although with $3.8 billion in revenues last year and operations around the world, it’s likely one the company can absorb. Delaware North officials couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

“Delaware North has been a great partner of ours,” Raccuia said. “I can’t say anything but great things about what they’ve done for us and what they will continue to do over the next three years, their professionalism in this process, and their commitment to Western New York.”

The new stadium, which will be located across the street from the current venue, will have significantly more food offerings than Highmark. The Bills also hope to host non-football events “a couple hundred times a year,” Raccuia said, noting that the hiring Legends will likely expand local hiring to meet that need.

This spring, Legends also took over operations of the current Buffalo Bills store, a year-round retail shop located at Highmark Stadium, from Delaware North Cos. Raccuia noted that the former Delaware North employees have joined Legends, which has “expanded that business. We feel the same thing will happen with food and beverage.”

Via Forbes

The New York Yankees are in the market for a company to serve as its jersey patch sponsor beginning in the 2023 season, the first time Major League Baseball will allow teams to sell space on their uniform sleeves.