VCU set to turn Siegel Center into city's largest indoor concert venue
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Beyonce at the Stu? Why not! Photo: Ryan M. Kelly/Getty Images
VCU will soon start hosting concerts and other ticketed events at the Siegel Center to help raise money to pay its student athletes, the Times-Dispatch reports.
Why it matters: The move would make the Stu, by far, Richmond's largest indoor concert venue.
The big picture: Last spring, the NCAA and its five power conferences voted to let schools pay athletes directly.
- The challenge for schools was finding the money to pay them, which VCU estimates will cost around $5 million a year, per the RTD.
- With an estimated 30 events a year at the Siegel Center, including concerts, private events and family shows, VCU estimates it could bring in $650,000 a year to put towards paying athletes.
The intrigue: Concerts at the Siegel Center aren't new. Since it opened in 1999, the Stu has hosted Drake, Sheryl Crow, Ludacris, Trey Songz, Dave Matthews and many, many more.
- President Obama and Hillary Clinton, then-presidential candidates, spoke there, too.
- It seems that the basketball arena hasn't hosted any big public non-sporting events in the past few years beyond high school graduations.
What's different now is that Richmond has been without a large, indoor concert venue since 2019, when the Richmond Coliseum, which could hold around 13,000 people, closed.
By the numbers: At roughly 200,000 square feet, the Siegel Center can seat just over 7,600 people, or around 5,500 for concerts if they block one end, per the RTD.
- Altria, comparatively, can only hold around 3,500.
- Dominion Energy Center can do 1,800.
- The National has a capacity of 1,500, and The Broadberry 500.
Yes, but: Richmond's outdoor venues can still hold a lot more concert-goers than the Siegel Center will be able to.
- Brown's Island has room for 16,000. The new amphitheater will be able to do 7,500, and Virginia Credit Union LIVE! at Richmond Raceway can hold 6,000.
What's next: Beginning July 1, VCU will work with ASM Global to manage the Siegel Center's bookings and shows.
- The California-based venue management company also oversees Altria, Dominion Energy Center and Henrico Sports & Events Center.