🔒PeoplesBank Arena set to reopen Oct. 17 after $145M overhaul; upgrades already draw more shows

Nearly five months after closing for a $145 million renovation, Hartford’s PeoplesBank Arena will reopen Oct. 17, when the Hartford Wolf Pack takes the ice. At first glance, longtime fans may not see sweeping changes. The overhaul is largely focused on behind-the-scenes upgrades — premium spaces for VIPs and performers, new escalators and loading areas, and infrastructure designed to make the 50-year-old venue more attractive to touring acts. Still, some improvements will be obvious. The arena’s 6,000 lower-bowl seats will have been replaced with padded chairs, the walls now sport fresh blue and gray paint, concourses will be modernized and the rebuilt stage has been pushed further back, freeing up about 1,000 more seats for concerts. “The real magic is making this building work for the industry,” said Michael Freimuth, executive director of the Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA), which oversees the arena. “That doesn’t always translate to the guy sitting in the seat. He might say, ‘How’s it any different?’ There’s a lot of back-of-house stuff.”

Booking momentum

Promoters are already responding. PeoplesBank Arena General Manager Ben Weiss said he has seen an increase in concert date holds. “I’ve been here almost eight years, and this is the most interest we’ve had from artists, management or promoters that are putting holds on our calendar,” Weiss said. “They are asking for date availability and putting holds on dates based on their tour schedule.” Historically, the arena averaged six to eight concerts each fiscal year. This year, despite losing the first quarter to construction, operator Oak View Group (OVG) expects at least 15 shows. In future years, Weiss said, the venue could host 25 to 30 concerts annually. “The renovations, added premium seating, increased bookings — all of that will allow us to run the building in the black,” Weiss said. Entertainment promoter Live Nation has three shows coming up before the close of the year at the Hartford arena — as opposed to just one in all of 2024 — including Stevie Nicks on Oct. 25, Playboi Carti on Nov. 8 and Pentatonix on Dec. 6. Two of the events are nearly sold out. Live Nation also booked a Mary J. Blige concert in May. “Looking at ticket sales, it’s very clear the public wants to go back to that venue,” said Jim Koplik, Live Nation’s president for Connecticut and upstate New York. “The interest is definitely much greater for people coming to the PeoplesBank Arena. We are seeing it.”

The OVG deal

Denver-based OVG, which manages the arena for the city and Capital Region Development Authority, has pledged $20 million to support ongoing renovations as part of a new 20-year management deal. Starting next July, OVG will keep the first $4 million in annual net profits, share anything above that with the city, and absorb any operating losses. The structure shifts much of the financial risk away from the city, while giving OVG a strong incentive to grow revenue and reverse what have been annual deficits of about $2 million. OVG points to its success reviving similar facilities in Savannah, Georgia, Austin, Texas, and Baltimore, Maryland, where a $250 million renovation turned the 1962-era CFG Bank Arena into one of the highest-grossing venues in its class. “Baltimore was doing a handful of shows a year,” Weiss said. “I think they are doing over 40 or 50 shows a year now. That’s the model we are following. We have seen it done in other places, so we are pretty confident.”

Premium seating sells fast

A centerpiece of the Hartford arena overhaul is new premium seating. The arena’s five “bunker suites” — each featuring luxury spaces with private lounges and 15 to 18 first-row seats — cost an average of $400,000 annually. Four have already been leased, with a fifth deal close to being finalized, Weiss said. There will be 51 new loge boxes, each seating four to six people, with in-seat dining service and access to an exclusive event-level bar/club area. Over half of the long-term loge boxes have been reserved in five-year deals at an annual average price of $75,000. A sellout is expected by mid-October, Weiss said. The arena will also sell memberships to its event-level club at $2,500 per seat annually. It maintains 43 executive suites, about 15 of which are leased under long-term deals. Those older-style luxury boxes are excluded from the current renovation plans, though tenants may update and refurnish them independently.

Holyoke, Massachusetts-based PeoplesBank, which purchased the arena’s naming rights in June, has reserved one bunker suite and two loge boxes. The bank is paying an average of $2 million annually over 10 years for the 225,000-square-foot venue’s naming rights, with options for two additional five-year extensions. The attention from a new sponsor and name has been a big boost, especially as it coincides with the upgrades, Weiss said. “We are really looking forward to them being in the building and truly being a partner, not just a name on the building,” Weiss said. “They will be in the building as patrons and fans, bringing customers and staff. So far, they have been a really fantastic partner.”

More work to come

Providence, Rhode Island-based Dimeo Construction is leading the arena overhaul. When the facility reopens Oct. 17, visitors and teams will see other upgrades, including a multipurpose room for events and gatherings, new team locker rooms for UConn and the Wolf Pack, a new main roof and expanded areas for broadcast trucks. Renovations will continue through next spring without further shutdowns. The second phase of upgrades will introduce an event-level kitchen, star dressing rooms, an artist lounge and new electrical switchgear, among other improvements. Freimuth, who has long championed an overhaul of the aging arena, said the renovations will allow Hartford to book shows it previously missed out on. “We were missing out on opportunities because we couldn’t put the right seats in, we couldn’t put the right ticket pricing in, we couldn’t get the right rigging, we couldn’t get the right stage position, we couldn’t get the trucks in and out,” he said. “It was endless.”

Downtown boost

Freimuth acknowledged that it’s hard to calculate the arena’s economic impact. Despite years of operating deficits, officials have defended the venue as a key driver of downtown Hartford foot traffic that supports local restaurants and merchants. That activity, he noted, helps restaurants survive slower periods, and those establishments in turn serve as vital amenities for companies and employees occupying millions of square feet in Hartford’s downtown office towers. “This building is in many ways like an anchor at a mall, it drives people into the general fabric,” Freimuth said. Mike Smith, general manager of the Urban Lodge Brewing Co., located on Pratt Street across from the PeoplesBank Arena, said his revenues typically more than double on event nights. Area businesses are all looking forward to the arena’s reopening, he said, and customers are regularly asking about progress. “Pretty much, with any of the events over there, we always get some level of extra business,” Smith said. “We are excited about the project and what it means for us and all of the small businesses in the area.”

Max Hospitality Group CEO and President Scott Smith said UConn basketball games drive a roughly 30% increase in business at his company’s three downtown eateries — Max Downtown, Trumbull Kitchen and Max Bar. Concerts with top-tier headliners pack his restaurants to capacity, he said. “With big concerts, we sell out,” Scott Smith said. “I would say we can double the sales when there is a big act coming through. … Anything that will bring more attention and more activity downtown is good for us. We thrive when there are concerts, games and other activities.”