Event organizers: bigger arena does not equal bigger musical acts

While some El Pasoans want the new $180 million Downtown arena to seat more people than the Don Haskins Center, some event organizers say a larger capacity does not necessarily mean bigger acts will stop by the Sun City.

Land acquisition efforts have begun in a two block area just South of the Convention Center. Plans tentatively call for an arena with 12,700 seats to be built there.

Voters approved the project, but some are asking if the investment will pay off. The Don Haskins Center already seats a similar number of people.

El Pasoans are hoping the new arena will help attract the bigger musical acts and events the Borderland has had a hard time getting in the past.

“Build the other arena bigger and keep the Don Haskins,” West El Paso resident Decker Smith said, “because if you have a 12,000 seat arena and you’re looking for bigger events, it doesn’t make sense to build another 12,000 seat arena.”

Other El Pasoans weighed in on whether the new Downtown arena should have more seats than the Don Haskins Center.

“I think bigger,” El Pasoan Glenna Gaddy said, “because if its too small then we’re back in the same situation.”

“While the final seat number for the new facility certainly remains to be seen, even if they were exactly the same, you’re talking about two totally different types of product,” said Destination El Paso General Manager Bryan Crowe. “This is a multipurpose event center and its built and designed to be able to host a number of different type of events and activities, where the Don Haskins center is a basketball venue.”

“The biggest competition, truly, for all of us, even for the new arena, is going to be the markets that we compete with in the region,” said UTEP Director of Special Events Jorge Vasquez, “What if Beyonce says, ‘next year I am only going to work 25 dates.’ It doesn’t matter if we have a 12,000 seat arena or a 20,000 seat arena if Beyonce only wants to play 25 dates in the country. It’s all about the market.”

Crowe agreed, that when it comes to attracting big musical acts to El Paso, the number of seats isn’t the biggest factor.

“Eighty percent of the top 200 (performers or events) touring the country fit in a building that’s in that size range: 12,000,” Crowe said. “There’s only a handful of tours that are designed and built for much larger facilities. You get into 18,000, 22,000, 25,000 and those are going to be in mega markets. I don’t know if we necessarily are trying to compete for that.”

Crowe said the new arena will, however, help attract the NCAA basketball tournament to El Paso, even if its 12,000 or so seats like the Haskins Center. He said that’s because the new arena will have more required locker rooms and media space, something that has been keeping the tournament from coming to the Haskins Center.