Sacramento State has a historical football season ahead and the university has big plans to match the moment.
They’ve announced they’re partnering with Bay Area-based real estate and entertainment company NPU Live to bring big artists to its homecoming festival as they enter their first year in the Mid-American Conference (MAC). The MAC is a Football Bowl Subdivision conference, which is the highest level of college football. Sac State paid a total of $23 million to join.
The three-day festival, set for October 16-18, will bring three-time Grammy-winning producer Diplo, country artist Dustin Lynch and Latin EDM DJ Deorro to Sac State’s homecoming.
The celebration will take place on Sac State-owned land across from NPU Live’s music venue on Ramona Avenue — Great World Co, which is slated to open in January.
Michelle Willard, Sac State’s chief external and economic development officer, said it’s not uncommon for universities to partner with entertainment companies, pointing to San Diego State University and Stanford who’ve partnered with Live Nation.
“It’s really important to create a culture and experience on campuses for students,” Willard said. “What better way than to have a special homecoming concert festival and really activate not only our campus community, but the Sacramento region.”
The event’s expenses are fully funded by NPU LIVE, and Sacramento State will incur no cost for the event, according to Ian Malloy, the managing partner for NPU Live.
“We are paying for 100% of the cost of the show, and in addition to the kind of exorbitant show costs — artist fees, production fees, operations fees,” Malloy said. “We also undertook the cost of cleaning up the property that Sac State owns, or at least a portion of it, and have spared no expense in getting a concert ready.”
Willard said it’s great to partner with a production company that has experience managing concerts and security making them safe.
Last year, Sac State hosted post-football game concerts where Lil Yachty’s performance was cut short due to crowd misconduct. He was paid $100,000 for what ended up being a 10-minute performance.
“These are proven individuals who do this for a living, day in and day out, so we’re really excited to have them running the production and the shows,” Willard said.
Besides homecoming, NPU Live plans to host a pilot program that will offer internships and credit for students interested in live entertainment production and venue management.
Malloy said they’re still figuring out the details, but it would give students hands-on experience on what it takes to host a production.
“I know, speaking as somebody who grew up in the region, there were pretty limited offerings in terms of alternative education, and I think this is an opportunity that I would have really jumped on as a college age student,” Malloy said. “So to be able to provide this for the community that, in no small part, helped me become who I am in the music industry is something that we’re extremely excited about.”
Diplo and Dustin Lynch will also be joined by Karley Scott Collins, and DJs WUKI, Nico Crespo and Chango on Friday. And joining Deorro on Sunday would be Latin artists Farruko, 3BallMTY, JUOS, Jessica Audiffred and Banda La Más Pedida Official.
Willard said tickets for the event will range from $40 to $100 for VIP packages. They have reserved a number of student tickets for $25, and then discounted tickets for Sac State alumni, she said.
“I would be remiss not to mention how much we feel supported by the city of Sacramento, in addition to the university, and it’s a big reason why we’ve gone through the effort and the financial burden of acquiring this property,” Malloy said.
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