In case you haven’t heard, the Sports Illustrated Stadium is the place to be this summer.
With a rich 70-plus-year history that makes them one of the most iconic and recognizable entities in sports, the SI Stadium is quickly becoming one of New York City's fastest-growing sports and entertainment destinations. A 25,000-seat state-of-the-art facility located in Harrison, New Jersey, the stadium is the home of the New York Red Bulls of Major League Soccer (MLS) and Gotham FC of the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL), first opening its doors in March 2010.
The stadium works in conjunction with Sports Illustrated Tickets, which is a fan-first, primary and secondary ticketing marketplace, with more than $2 billion in inventory and 50 million sports, concerts and theater tickets to events around the world. Up next on the docket for the stadium is their inaugural "Sports Illustrated Stadium Concert Series," which is slated for October 10-11, 2025. The landmark moment launches the venue’s first major music series and kicks off a growing calendar of world-class concerts and special events at the 25,000+ seat stadium through 2025 and beyond.
The concerts will span across two individually ticketed nights of top-tier, live performances across country, rap, hip-hop and R&B, kicking off with legendary country music star Jason Aldean.
I had an opportunity to chat with David Lane, CEO of Sports Illustrated, Tickets and Concert Promotion Head, about their upcoming initiatives.
Scroll down to check out the interview.
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SN: Thanks for chatting with us, David! Let’s start by asking about the evolution of SI Stadium
Lane: When we met with Red Bull, that’s who are partner is. If you think about the quality of that organization and what it represents to the sports community…Red Bull has established itself as one of the premier sports brands in the world. You have one of the highest quality stadiums in the highest quality market in the country, where you’ve got a partner in Red Bull that understands what matters to the fans.
We’ve been looking at opportunities all around America, and when we started the dialogue with Red Bull, they told us to be authentic and create our version of what that experience and identity can be. There’s an expectation when you walk into the Sports Illustrated Stadium of what that experience is going to be like. Is it a logo on a door, or are we doing something that represents who we’ve been for 70 years?
SN: What can fans expect when they walk in?
Lane: There are incredible authentic areas, but as you walk in, there’s storytelling, covers and interactive components for the fans. There’s hospitality under our brands like Club SI, where fans can upload their pictures and get their own Sports Illustrated cover from the game, and receive commemorative tickets. There are just a lot of touchpoints where every fan in the stadium will experience something. That is the most important thing to us.
SN: How is SI Stadium different from the other iconic stadiums/arenas in New York City?
Lane: If you’re at a concert or a game at MetLife, you are the one percenter. For the other events and artists that tour, their options are really kind of like a 12-to-15 thousand NHL-style arena. We’re a 25,000 outdoor stadium—smaller than MetLife and more smaller/manageable than the average event, but much bigger than the others, and the environment is special. The excitement and the way people are accustomed to watching sports in that environment—every seat is a great one. We want Sports Illustrated Stadium to be thought of as an entertainment venue, and we want concerts to tour and route through our stadium.
SN: To that point, let's talk about the upcoming inaugural "Sports Illustrated Stadium Concert Series.” What went into that process and selecting the artists you guys did?
Lane: It is our goal to be a partner, not a vendor. That’s what makes us different, and that is what makes us stand out. The audience in the New York market is very diverse, so we needed different genres. For our first concert series, profitability on shows is very important, and every event wants to make sure they put on a great show, fans have a great experience and ultimately the event as a business makes money for everybody involved. There are a lot of artists who are unbelievably popular and very expensive. For us, we needed the best artists we could support, and Jason Aldean is a superstar. Our venue has the potential to be very special in the country music genre, and the legacy of hip hop is in New York. So, you’ve got this great lineup of artists that have never been together before, and this is exactly what we wanted to start with for the first two shows.
SN: Do you have anything else you want to add?
Lane: When you think about the goal of creating the first-ever Sports Illustrated Stadium, it’s a showcase for our partners on all the other things we can do. It’s what we can do to help improve the fan experience everywhere, whether it’s Europe or America. It’s not just about putting our name somewhere; it’s about the fan experience. This is our showcase, but it translates into what we do with every partner around the world.
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