SANTA CLARA, Calif., June 18, 2018 – Elevate, a collaboration between the San Francisco 49ers and Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment (HBSE), today welcomed Oak View Group (OVG), and Live Nation and Ticketmaster as partners in its best-in-class premium services company serving the global sports and entertainment landscape. OVG is a leader in the arena development and investment space, currently managing some of the industry’s largest and most dynamic arena projects. Live Nation is the world’s leading live entertainment company and Ticketmaster is the global market leader in ticketing delivering innovative technology offerings for the live event industry.
Elevate will serve as OVG’s preferred premium sales and service agent, supporting all current and future OVG development projects. On behalf of OVG, Elevate will support the premium seating and suite sales and servicing strategy associated with the proposed renovations to the new arena development at Seattle Center. The project is tied to the city’s interest in serving as a destination for a potential NHL expansion team.
The ground-breaking Elevate partnership between the 49ers and HBSE was formalized in January 2018. Al Guido, Elevate CEO and San Francisco 49ers President, and Scott O’Neil, HBSE CEO and Elevate Co-Managing Partner, will serve on Elevate’s Board of Advisors alongside newly appointed Co-Managing Partners Tim Leiweke, Founder and CEO of OVG, and Jared Smith, Executive Vice President, Live Nation and President, Ticketmaster.
“This is an exciting time for this young company as we are now less than 120 days in and currently have a pipeline filled with projects in every single professional sports league, including esports,” said Elevate CEO Al Guido. “Elevate is honored to be working on NHL Seattle with Tod Leiweke and look forward to bringing our expertise to all other OVG properties as well. And the ability to add Live Nation and Ticketmaster and their experience in technology and ticketing to our list of Elevate offerings is a huge differentiator for our business.”
“As a company, OVG, we ultimately want to be a solution for anything and everything that facilities and brick and mortar projects in the sport and entertainment space need,” said Tim Leiweke, Founder and CEO of Oak View Group. “To have a group and an entity that is not only experienced, knowledgeable and sophisticated, but also driven by maximizing those premium revenues by giving us the correct advice on structuring and building and selling our premium, is really critical.”
“This was an opportunity to assemble admired industry collogues and longtime friends to create a new company that will change the sports and entertainment business,” said Scott O’Neil, CEO of Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment and Co-Managing Partner of Elevate. “Unparalleled experience as operators and brand curators, extraordinary relationships throughout the industry, and access to emerging projects is making Elevate the preeminent agency for teams, leagues venues, and sports and entertainment properties.”
The addition of the two new partners introduces new synergies within Elevate’s business, a key differentiator within the premium sales and service industry.
For additional information on the Seattle Center arena development, please visit NHLSeattle.com, NewArenaAtSeattleCenter.com, or OakViewGroup.com.
“We are proud to be associated with such brilliantly competent partners that comprise the OVG family,” said Tod Leiweke, CEO and President of Seattle Hockey Partners. We are confident their world-class blend of skills will help make the dream of our Seattle arena a reality.”
ABOUT ELEVATE
Elevate is a best-in-class premium services company, providing innovative solutions to organizations across the global sports and entertainment landscape. Elevate taps into the extensive resources, relationships, and expertise of its partners to innovate and execute comprehensive strategies and solutions in such areas including Stadium Licenses, Premium Ticketing, and Corporate Hospitality. Elevate was formed in partnership by the San Francisco 49ers and Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment (HBSE) in 2018 and added Oak View Group and Ticketmaster/Line Nation as partners shortly thereafter. The association with OVG will position Elevate as the premium sales and service organization for all future OVG development projects, including the new arena development at Seattle Center that stands as the first publicly announced project for Elevate. The partnership with Ticketmaster/Live Nation connects Elevate to the global leader in ticketing technology and the world’s foremost producer of live entertainment. For more information, visit:www.ElevateSportsVentures.com.
ABOUT OAK VIEW GROUP (OVG)
Oak View Group (OVG) is global advisory, development and Investment Company for the sports and live entertainment industries. Based in Los Angeles, OVG is helmed by its CEO Tim Leiweke and backed by Azoff MSG Entertainment. OVG comprises of a sponsorship/partnership company, a consulting division, a venue security company, a media and conference division, a venture fund/equity division and an Arena Alliance. The Arena Alliance is designed to serve a select group of leading facilities with access to unprecedented scale and resources through sponsorship optimization, untapped revenue streams, insights and access to premier sports and live entertainment content.
ABOUT TICKETMASTER
Ticketmaster is the global market leader in live event ticketing that drives 500 million ticket transactions per year. Through exclusive partnerships with thousands of venues, artists, sports leagues, and arts and theater tours, Ticketmaster delivers unparalleled access to the most iconic live events to millions of fans worldwide.
ABOUT THE SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS
The San Francisco 49ers, owned by Denise and John York, currently play in the NFC West division and have won five Super Bowl trophies including Super Bowl XVI, XIX, XXIII, XXIV and XXIX. The franchise also has six conference championships and 19 divisional championships and was the first major league professional sports team to be based in San Francisco more than 70 years ago. Please visit www.49ers.com and follow the 49ers on Facebook and Twitter @49ers.
ABOUT HARRIS BLITZER SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Founded by Josh Harris and David Blitzer, Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment (HBSE) includes in its portfolio the Philadelphia 76ers, the New Jersey Devils, leading venue Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., the GRAMMY Museum Experience Prudential Center, the Delaware Blue Coats, the Binghamton Devils, the Sixers Innovation Lab Crafted by Kimball, renowned esports franchise Team Dignitas and NBA 2K League Team, 76ers Gaming Club (GC). Led by some of the best and brightest minds across a diverse spectrum of industries, HBSE positions itself as one of the most pioneering, innovative sports and entertainment businesses in the world. HBSE also strives to positively impact the local communities in which it operates through the powerful platform of sports. For more information, visit www.hbse.com.
