St. Pete to run Mahaffey Theater ahead of new RFP

St. Petersburg will temporarily assume management of the Mahaffey Theater beginning May 19 after Big 3 Entertainment moved to end its operating agreement with the city early. City Council is now considering a $460,000 supplemental appropriation to support operations at the downtown venue.

The funding would come from the Mahaffey Theater Operating Fund and be directed to the Enterprise Facilities Department’s Mahaffey Administration Division. The agreement had originally been scheduled to expire Sept. 30, 2026.

Big 3 Entertainment currently manages the Duke Energy Center for the Arts – Mahaffey Theater, but the company notified the city it would end the arrangement early, with May 18 serving as its final day of management.

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City Development Administration will oversee the theater after the city rejected the sole proposal submitted in response to a December 2025 request for proposals for theater management services. Officials said a new RFP will be issued in the coming weeks as the city searches for a new operator.

The Mahaffey Theater serves as a major anchor in downtown St. Petersburg’s visitor and event economy, hosting touring Broadway productions, concerts, comedy performances, educational programming and community events that draw audiences to the waterfront district and nearby hotels, restaurants and businesses.

The resolution would also allow the city to assume certain existing Big 3 Entertainment agreements needed to keep the theater running without interruption. Under the proposal, the city would retain theater revenue tied to assigned use agreements and any new agreements executed after May 19 during the management transition.

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