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NFL’s Super Bowl Company On Location Acquires VIP Concert Leader Future Beat: Exclusive

One of the fastest growing VIP companies in the U.S., with clients that include the Super Bowl, the NCAA Final Four and the PGA, has acquired music’s largest concert experience company.

On Location Experiences announced today that it has acquired Future Beat, the six-year-old VIP ticketing and hospitality company created by David Berger, who previously developed VIP business for Signature Networks and Live Nation. The purchase follows last year’s acquisition of PrimeSport, which included Dan Berkowitz’s CID Entertainment, with clients that include Coachella, Bonnaroo and Stagecoach, as well as destination events including Luke Bryan’s Crash My Playa and Dead and Company’s Playing in the Sand, both in Mexico.

Future Beat brings dozens of high-level clients to the deal including 21 Savage, Lil Yachty, Migos, Slayer and Marilyn Manson. The new partnership with CID Entertainment and Future Beat creates one of live music’s biggest VIP and concert experience companies, second only to Live Nation, estimates On Location chief executive John Collins, which says the two firms now cover more than 300 artists and tours.

“This deal is all about music,” Collins explains. “Dan (Berkowitz) has has done a great job servicing a lot of the bigger festivals and working with artists to create their own festivals and experiences. With Dan and Dave (Berger) there will be plenty of opportunities to create new experiences and partner with our clients like the Super Bowl to add new elements for fans.”

On Location is on pace to do $600 million in revenue this year with more than 500 partnerships across sports, music and travel. Created in March 2015 as a partnership between the NFL, RedBird Capital Partners and Bruin Sports Capital, On Location has rapidly grown with the 2016 acquisition of Anthony Travel, Jack Murphy’s Nomadic Entertainment and Sean Connolly’s Kreate Inc.

Berger has over 20 years of experience in music, producing more than 1,200 programs. Getting his start in the 1990s at Ticketmaster, he left the company to help restart the VIP program for Signatures Network Inc., a music merchandise management company purchased by Live Nation in 2007. In 2012 he founded Future Beat with friend Andrew Tenenbaum.

“We understand the need of the fan and how to provide them value, while supporting the artists and generating revenue,” Berger said. “We create once in a lifetime opportunities for fans, many of whom never get to wear a laminate and go backstage. We’re creating stories for them and memories for their families.”

Berger says the fast growing parts of the business are developing artists, “Youtube and Instagram artists that are going on tour,” as well as classic rock and hip hop.

“More and more artists are not only receptive to these ideas, but often are instigating some of these conversations,” Berkowitz tells Billboard. “It’s not that long ago that the VIP was a foreign concept to a lot of artists, where you’d call up a box office and you’d actually have to explain what is a VIP experience. Now it’s very commonplace at all shows, all the way up to the stadium or the arena, down to the theaters, the clubs and small venues.”

Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.  On Location Experiences is owned by RedBird Capital Partners, Bruin Sports Capital, 32 Equity and the Carlyle Group.

 

Originally published: https://www.billboard.com/articles/business/8479076/onlocation-acquires-vip-concert-leader-future-beat

PR Release: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181010005553/en/Location-Experiences-Acquires-Future-Beat-Industry-Leading-Provider