![\"Santander](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/GettyImages-1323066809-scaled.jpg\")
An exterior photo of the Arena, with a promo for a Melissa Etheridge concert on the electronic sign at the Santander Arena on Penn Street in Reading, Pennsylvania, on June 2, 2021. (Photo by Ben Hasty\/MediaNews Group\/Reading Eagle via Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Oak View Group struck up a deal with Berks County Convention Center Authority to manage operations, create a food and beverage program and sell new sponsorship opportunities for two major venues in Reading, Pennsylvania \u2014 the 8,800-capacity Santander Arena and 1,700-seat Santander Performing Arts Center \u2014 beginning July 1, 2025.<\/p>\n
In partnering with OVG, the parent company of Pollstar, the BCCCA aims to increase bookings and improve the guest experience at the venues, both of which ranked among the top 200 in their respective categories on Pollstar\u2019s 2024 Top 200 Worldwide charts. Santander Arena was No. 114 on the Arena Grosses list with a total haul of $19,293,279, and the Santander Performing Arts Center was 139th with $3,677,260 in the Top Theatre Grosses chart.<\/p>\n
\u201cOak View Group has an excellent reputation for providing a high-quality, premium guest experience, and we\u2019re excited to partner with them to enhance the live entertainment experience here in Reading,\u201d Michael J. Gombar, Jr., chairman of the Berks County Convention Center Authority, said in a statement. \u201cThe live entertainment industry is very competitive and ever-changing.\u00a0 We are confident that Oak View Group has the resources and experience to grow Reading\u2019s presence in the industry as we approach our 25th year of operation. We are also ecstatic about the significant capital investment committed by Oak View Group for upgrades to the Arena and Performing Arts Center. The Authority considers both venues as major anchors for economic development in the Greater Reading area. So, the Authority Board is excited to make this announcement and provide another piece of the puzzle in the revitalization of downtown Reading.\u201d<\/p>\n
OVG, a global leader in live entertainment, food and beverage service and venue management, will handle day-to-day operations, booking, scheduling, marketing, advertising and sponsorship sales for Santander Arena and Santander Performing Arts Center. The OVG Global Partnerships team will execute a program to attract new partners and enhance the fan experience, and OVG Hospitality will also help upgrade concessions at both buildings and introduce new menu options inspired by local cuisine.<\/p>\n
In addition to managing the venues, OVG will manage the Reading Royals, a minor league hockey affiliate of the NHL\u2019s Philadelphia Flyers, who play at Santander Arena.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are excited to partner with Berks County Convention Center Authority and bring a new level of excitement and activity to both the Santander Arena and Santander Performing Arts Center designed to elevate the guest experience,\u201d said Peter Luukko, co-chair of Oak View Group. \u201cReading is a terrific market for live entertainment, and we look forward to generating a new level of excitement in the industry and across the region for both properties.\u201d<\/p>\n
The deal with BCCCA expands OVG\u2019s presence in the state of Pennsylvania, where the entertainment company operates PPL Center in Allentown, PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, the Liacouras Center at Temple University in Philadelphia, Kovalchick Convention and Athletic Complex in Indiana and UPMC Events Center in Moon Township. OVG Hospitality also provides food and beverage at nearly all of Penn State\u2019s facilities, including Beaver Stadium.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An exterior photo of the Arena, with a promo for a Melissa Etheridge concert on the electronic sign…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4219,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[128,130,129],"class_list":["post-4218","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-reading","tag-reading-city","tag-reading-city-headlines","tag-reading-city-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4218","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4218"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4218\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4219"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}