Getting back into action

In the coming weeks, professional sports leagues like Major League Baseball, the National Hockey League and the National Basketball Association will start or restart league play after delays related to COVID-19. Two of those leagues will use bubble cities and fans won’t be attendance. Unfortunately for fans of the Richmond Flying Squirrels or NASCAR, the Richmond sports scene will consist only of canceled games or empty venues. Or, at least, it might seem that way.

Fortunately for some entertainment venues and local residents, nearly 200 venue operators statewide have been collaborating, in conjunction with Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam’s office, to determine just exactly how to hold events in the COVID-19 era.

This committee of venue operators, university athletic directors and high-ranking minor league sports officials has been meticulously (see timeline infographic) and quietly crafting a plan that its participants believe will be ideal and beneficial – allowing not only for Virginia venues to reopen but also to exceed COVID-19 public social distancing standards, according to a handful of members who spoke exclusively with the Citizen recently.

Talk with local members of Virginia’s Event & Entertainment Industry Committee, and the results of this unlikely team-up of competitors, diverse venues, and organizations from areas that have many different needs is nothing short of miraculous.

“It's really relevant because in some cases, in a lot of cases, it would be disjointed,” explained Dan Schmitt (who serves as Brookland District Supervisor and also is president of event management firm RMC Events) in a recent Zoom call with the Citizen. VCU Athletics Director Ed McLaughlin, Richmond Raceway President Dennis Bickmeier, Richmond Flying Squirrels Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Todd “Parney” Parnell and Busch Gardens & Water Country USA President Kevin Lembke also participated in the call.

These industry leaders are just a handful of the members of the committee (see Virginia’s Event & Entertainment Industry Committee infographic).

“In this particular case, it has been remarkably collaborative,” Schmitt said of the process. “I don't think I've ever seen the industry as a whole in this Commonwealth, in this region come together for a purpose. The feedback we've gotten on our documents has been fantastic. It's been give-and-take.”

According to the committee members who spoke with the Citizen, plans in Virginia are very fluid in relation to COVID-19. The commonwealth entered Phase 3 of its reopening July 1. For amusement parks and many concert venues, their peak of their seasons are lost. And, reports from John’s Hopkins University and the Virginia Department of Health recently do not bode well for the committee.

John’s Hopkins is reporting an upward trend of COVID-19 cases in 33 states, including Virginia. In fact, only three states – Delaware, Maine and New Jersey – are reporting a decline (the remaining states have seen little to no change).

Conversely, Henrico County – despite a recent uptick – has been largely on a slight downward trend in recent weeks, with just a handful of new cases on a number of days. In fact, cases are down in central Virginia (as well as the rest of the state). Where there should be concern in the eastern and southwestern regions of Virginia, which have seen substantial increase in COVID-19 related cases.

In an email to the Citizen, Schmitt said that public health concerns are still the main reason a solid plan has not been created.

“We were able to meet with the governor and his team on Wednesday and he and his staff were terrific,” Schmitt wrote. “They were appreciative and understanding of both the efforts of the industry and the position we are in. They were as concerned as us about the public health/safety aspects of a potential reopening scenario as well as the economic and workforce benefits of re-opening the entertainment industry.

“It was made clear by the administration that public health is their No. 1 concern and that the situation and circumstances surrounding this virus change daily. We made clear that our industry is prepared to be a good partner and abide by any and all regulations but needed a ‘runway’ of sorts to at least begin planning. The timeline under discussion spans nearly until the end of 2020 and offers the industry a slow, very slow rollout with limited capacities while also offering the commonwealth full control of the dates and go/no-go decisions at each stage/tier.

“The current discussion allows for the industry to be categorized into Outdoor/Open Air and Indoor with more favorability in percentage of capacity being offered to outdoor initially.”

'Like trying to do archery with a blindfold on'
For some venues, a percentage cap will allow people to begin to flow (or slowly trickle) into the facilities in the coming months. For others, such as Busch Gardens, the percentage cap does not translate very well.

Busch Gardens & Water Country USA, which has a capacity of 24,000 patrons across 350 acres, requested a minimum allowance of 5,000 customers, according to its president, Kevin Lembke; instead, it was approved to have just 1,000 guests, or 1/24 of its capacity.

“We need the ability to give folks the Busch Gardens experience or the Water Country experience,” Lembke explained. “And in order to do that, we need to staff appropriately, have all the attractions open. With a thousand people a day, the model just financially doesn't make sense for us. So right now, if everything stood as is, we're just in a holding pattern.

“The peak summer season is going by very quickly. So, it puts us in a tough spot, obviously.”

Although the committee’s proposals did not work in Lembke’s favor, he was adamant to point out the positives of the collaborative effort by the group as well as the efforts of the United States amusement park’s governing body, the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions. Much like Virginia’s committee, Lembke has been collaborating with competitors who have put aside their egos and agendas in order to figure out how to reopen.

“That's brought a lot of consistency to each of the parks approaches,” Lembke explained. “What you see at Universal is very similar to what you see at Busch Gardens in Tampa, our sister park. I was able to travel down to Tampa about two weeks ago and I was there for their opening to see everything and in person. You learn constantly that things change constantly… But it's been a very good, consistent experience.

“The feedback continues to get better and better from the guest saying we have a good balance of safety measures. And at the same time, I still feel like I can have fun. At the end of day, it is still an amusement park or a theme park. Collaboration amongst industry leaders, I would say is unparalleled. I've been in the industry now 20 years and I can't remember a time where all of those groups were on the same calls and really sharing details like that again. We do collaborate, but not at that level.”

Ed McLaughlin, vice president and athletics director at Virginia Commonwealth University is facing a similar conundrum. He is a member of the Event & Entertainment Industry Committee, and he is taking cues from its work. But he also has to navigate through what VCU wants, what the NCAA wants and how the Atlantic-10 conference plans to address COVID-19.

“It's like trying to it's like trying to do archery with a blindfold on,” McLaughlin quipped. “And we've been through things before, like 9/11. We've been through things that have challenged us. And we've had to rethink how we do it, you know, getting people and buildings and safety and metal detectors and all this stuff. But we've adapted and people will adapt. And, certainly once November comes in, basketball season starts for us, will adapt as we need to.

“I do think this group will help lead that change in how we watch sports, at least for the next year.”

McLaughlin added that so far, both the school’s men’s and women’s basketball squads were on campus.

'We've been sopping up as much information as we can'
While McLaughlin is yet another venue manager wading through COVID-19 challenges, Dennis Bickmeier, the president of Richmond Raceway has had the advantage of being part of one of the few sports that has already returned. But he still has his challenges. The Henrico County venue not only holds races; it also has an amphitheater, multiple sized meeting and convention spaces and hosts other outdoor events.

Racing will not return to the track until Sept. 11, meaning the week leading up to that Friday will see the return of racers to the venue. NASCAR has been running races mostly to empty tracks, but the sport has been televised nationally. Bickmeier, at this point, is exploring his options.

“We're not operating our normal business. But how can we serve our community?” he said.

The racetrack hasn’t pulled the trigger on any “out of the box” events yet, Bickmeier said, but he’s open to many opportunities.

On the farthest end of the spectrum is Todd “Parney” Parnell, CEO of Richmond Flying Squirrels. The MLB canceled all Minor League Baseball activity June 30, leaving Parnell, affectionately known around the region as Parney, to get creative with events. The Diamond kicked those off with a made-for-television Fourth of July fireworks event in conjunction with WTVR-CBS6. Parnell understands the importance of the work that the committee is doing and realizes that he going to need to be creative and safe in order to have events.

“Our fan base and the region in general is going to be receiving a lot of information from us. And I think it was big,” Parnell said. “We've been sopping up as much information as we can from creative ways of utilizing not only inside the ballpark, outside the ballpark, different parts of the ballpark. And I think everybody on this call is expanding their minds that more than we ever have to get creative to recover at least a small percentage of the revenues that we're losing on an hourly basis.”

Last week, the team launched its twice-a-week series Movies in the Outfield, a socially distanced movie-going experience on the field at The Diamond that will continue each Thursday and Saturday night. admission is $8 per person, with children 3 and younger admitted free. Seating is located in 10-foot by 10-foot spaces for as many as four people or 10-foot by 20-foot spaces for as many as eight. The organization is selling concessions, too.

Parnell described the opening week of the event as a success.

“It was great. People had a great time,” he wrote in an email to the Citizen. “We worked out the kinks Thursday to Saturday, basically doubled our attendance from Thursday to Saturday and the fans have enjoyed the experience. The amount of momentum we built in a few days has been inspiring.

“We look forward to building this and other things this summer and continue to make memories with our fans, just differently.”

The Diamond also will host a drive-in concert July 31 featuring local Richmond musicians Carbon Leaf at 8 p.m. Concert-goers will be expected to follow social distancing requirements at the show, which is being sponsored by the Broadberry.

Seizing an opportunity to work together
As far other music venues, Innsbrook After Hours has artists scheduled to perform but calls and emails to the organization were not returned. It’s unclear how many, if any, of those events actually will occur. The Innsbrook Foundation hosted a drive-in movie July 16 and may hold similar events in the coming weeks.

Most Henrico County high school athletes will have to wait a little while longer to find out if they are hitting the fields this fall, although football players learned their fate July 15, when the Virginia High School League announced that sport would not play in the fall. (Unknown as of yet: whether it could resurface in the spring.)

“While we’re working on plans as well [for high school sports], the VHSL could also impact how we move forward,” Henrico County Public Schools Chief of Communications and Community Engagement Andy Jenks told the Citizen.

The biggest takeaway that Schmitt and other committee members wanted to stress was how smooth the process has been working with so many who normally compete with one another for fans, money and sponsors.

"I think you've seen from our group and sports and entertainment and the Commonwealth of Virginia, we've seized that opportunity to come together and work on this project together," Parnell said.

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Virginia Event & Entertainment Industry Committee members• CT Hill • Dolly Vogt, ASM Richmond • Jack Berry, President/CEO, Richmond Region Tourism • Dennis Bickmeier, President, Richmond Raceway • Dan Schmitt, President, RMC Events • Steve Pritzker, Executive Assoc. Athletics Dir., UVA Athletics • Kelly Flanigan, President, Live Nation • Ed McLaughlin, VP and Athletics Director, VCU Athletics • Matt Rogers, Senior VP, Live Nation • Tabitha Webster, GM Va. Beach, Live Nation • Jack Meyer, VP, Nederlander • Rick Mersel, VP, AEG Live / Bowery • Ken MacDonald, President, Integrated Mgmnt. Group • Todd “Parney” Parnell, CEO, Richmond Flying Squirrels • Tony Johnson, President/CEO, Kings Dominion • Kevin Lembke, President, Busch Gardens & Water Country USA • Aaron Gomes, Colonial Downs Group • Glenn Major & Tim Miller, ASM Richmond • Terri Vander Vennet, Director, Hampton Coliseum/Arts • Bob Cavalieri, Regional VP, ASM Global • Kurt Krause, President/CEO, Visit Norfolk • Barry Bigger, President/CEO, Visit Fairfax (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});