Skift Take
ASM Global punches back after some recent challenges that include OVG taking over the management of one of its largest clients, Chicago’s McCormick Place. In the latest back and forth, the Colorado Convention Center in Denver has renewed its contract with ASM Global.
Denver’s Colorado Convention Center (CCC) signed a new ten-year management contract with ASM Global. This is the latest in a one-two-punch battle with the Oak View Group’s OVG360, a full-service venue management company specializing in sports, live entertainment, and hospitality.
Heads turned in July when Chicago’s McCormick Place chose OVG to manage its facilities and food management.
There are also rumblings in the industry that Legends, a stadium operations corporation, is in talks to acquire ASM Global.
The CCC operates under the Denver Alliance Partnership established in 2008. The partnership is a collaboration between ASM Global, VISIT DENVER, the City and County of Denver, the Denver Arts & Venues, Sodexo Live!, and the Hyatt Regency Denver at the CCC.
“I believe we won the bid at the Colorado Convention Center because we were to best fit for the local meetings and entertainment culture and we are well known and respected for providing first class service to our customers and their invited guests and financially responsible to the owners, the city of Denver. We are more than a box with docks, we are a destination we understand the changing demographics of our customers and we focus on staying ahead of the curve with facility technology and service embellishments,” said John Adams, general manager CCC.
The new ASM Global agreement commences on Jan.1, 2024. Leveraging ASM Global’s expertise, the CCC plans to implement several initiatives including a worksite for guests and expanding the venue’s sustainability and social-impact plan. It also aims to be the most high-tech, user-friendly meeting and event space in the country.
“We deeply appreciate the City of Denver’s continuing vote of confidence. This facility’s growth potential is boundless. ASM Global is the largest and best event platform on Earth, which enables us to deliver unparalleled participant-engagement moments for clients in environments that no one else can deliver,” said Dan Hoffend, ASM Global executive vice president, convention centers.
“We’re exceptionally proud of the caliber of events that we, along with our hospitality partners, have secured for the region over the past nearly three decades. What really encapsulates our success is the substantial economic impact from events that have taken place in this building. I’m excited and confident that with the opportunities for the future, the convention industry in Denver will continue to strengthen,” said Adams.
Photo credit: Miranda Joondeph / Unsplash
