Elevating the music and entertainment scene in Baton Rouge by coordinating assets such as the Raising Canes River Center and the Peter Maravich Assembly Center is the topic of a study that should be completed in the next 60 days.
Chris Meyer, president and CEO of the Baton Rouge Area Foundation, told the Downtown Development District Commission Tuesday that Baton Rouge is not punching above its weight class in terms of bringing in live music events.
BRAF, the DDD, the Baton Rouge Area Chamber and Visit Baton Rouge have joined together for the study, which is being done by Hunden Partners. The Chicago-based firm has done entertainment studies in cities such as Milwaukee; Louisville, Kentucky; Branson, Missouri; and Grand Junction, Colorado.
Meyer said the study will cost a few hundred thousand dollars. The goal is to coordinate issues such as the feasibility of making major upgrades to the River Center, how that would fit in with LSU’s plans to renovate or replace the PMAC, and the proposed redevelopment of Memorial Stadium. Attracting more quality hotels downtown is also in the mix, along with transit improvements.
“There could be over $1 billion in potential investment if it comes together in the right way,” he said. “The overarching point is to be collaborative and complementary.”
Baton Rouge isn’t a big enough market to support two major arenas, Meyer said, and having a renovated River Center and a new PMAC competing with each other for concerts and events would not benefit the city.
Public-private partnerships will be needed to make any sorts of major improvements. “We’re not taxing our way to pay for new entertainment venues,” he said.
BRAC has said the lack of major live music events could be a hidden quality-of-life issue. Attracting young professionals and keeping recent LSU and Southern University graduates in town is one of the organization’s ongoing goals.
A 2018 study of the 100 largest U.S. markets by mobile ticket platform SeatGeek found that Baton Rouge ranked 11th in fewest major concerts per capita, with 1.6 concerts per year. That ranked the city between Burlington, Vermont, and Providence, Rhode Island. SeatGeek defined major concerts as events involving the top 100 artists by sales per year from 2013 to 2018.
That same study found New Orleans ranked as the 16th best concert market, with nine major concerts per year.