CHAMPAIGN — No matter if they win at the buzzer or lose by double digits, State Farm Center has been stuffed most times Brad Underwood’s Illini have taken the court the past few years.

The arena’s hope is to create that same level of consistent buzz around the community when a national act is booked for a concert, be it rock or country, Christian or Motown.

“The support of the community is what will create ‘downhill’ momentum and allow us to continue building on past successes,” arena Assistant Director Brad Swanson said.

One way State Farm Center officials hope to achieve that is by building relationships with local businesses and individuals, much the same way that the UI’s Division of Intercollegiate Athletics does with donors.

That could mean a company reserving a State Farm Center suite for shows while also advertising its business. Or, it could be a full-fledged partnership, like the one between State Farm Center and The News-Gazette’s parent company, Central Illinois Multimedia Group.

In recent weeks, the arena and CIMG announced they’d joined forces to promote a series of shows spanning a wide range of musical genres — country (Lonestar on May 4), Motown (The Temptations and Four Tops on Oct. 16) and the biggie, rock and roll (June 14’s REO Speedwagon reunion show).

“It’s just kind of looking at things in a new way and looking at it more from a long-term perspective, rather than just on an event-by-event basis,” arena Director John Marquardt said.

Said CIMG Chief Operating Officer Paul Barrett: “For us, partnering with John and the folks at State Farm Center is a natural progression in the longstanding relationship between the U of I and The News-Gazette and our parent company, CIMG.

"This remarkable facility is a focal point of our community, and as John has said, this relationship is about long-term community enhancement by two of the oldest and most influential institutions in the Champaign-Urbana area: the University of Illinois and The News-Gazette and its media subsidiaries.

“Just like our relationship with Learfield and the U of I with regard to sports broadcasting and promotion, this event/entertainment partnership is a marriage made in heaven.”

The arena’s pitch isn’t so much that people should come to concerts they aren’t interested in. Rather, it’s to encourage community members to look at shows as an option for an activity to do with friends or a chance to hear something new.

It’s also to encourage people to view attending a concert as an investment in the venue’s efforts to bring in more acts over time.

‘Year-round conversation’

State Farm Center makes a large financial commitment any time a concert is added to the schedule, creating a risky scenario if the local fan base for the act isn’t as large as expected.

That doesn’t even take into account the process of building relationships with agents or promoters.

Marquardt is in charge of booking for the arena.

“It’s a year-round conversation that takes place. We have relationships with promoters that we’ve been doing business with for decades,” he said. “When they have a tour that’s crossing the country and it might intersect with Champaign, they know to call me and we’ll try to work out the details.”

But he can’t just wait for promoters to come to him; arena employees also spend time reaching out to promoters for different acts that they would like to bring to town.

Marquardt said that one goal is to bring in a wide variety of acts and entertainment, including non-concert events like touring Broadway shows, to appeal to the diverse tastes of Champaign-Urbana and surrounding counties.

“Our bread and butter could truly just be country show after country show, but that doesn’t serve the purpose of the building to the community,” Swanson said.

Added Barrett: “Brad and John are absolutely correct that this wonderful facility should be for everyone to enjoy. Like many of the amenities around us in our community, sometimes we take for granted things that others living outside our region covet. By opening our minds and our pocketbooks, we can continue to create wonderful memories.”

That purpose is core to State Farm Center because it’s a nonprofit unit of the University of Illinois, not a solely revenue-driven operation like many venues.

“We have to charge for parking and concessions and other things to create the revenue streams that allow us to bring events to this facility. The costs of turning the lights on, staffing the venue and booking performers the community wants to see all add up quickly,” Marquardt said. “At the end of the day, we’re not out to make a profit like a lot of other buildings like ours.”

One challenge in bringing in larger musical acts is C-U’s placement near big markets like Chicago, Indianapolis and St. Louis, plus more midsize competitors like Bloomington, Peoria, Decatur and Terre Haute, Ind.

And, Marquardt said, the current trend is for artists to opt for large markets with guaranteed sold-out shows over areas where selling the last couple thousand seats might take a lot of extra work.

“We’re one of many smaller stops in between major markets in an industry that is highlighting primarily major markets,” Marquardt said. “As that piece of the pie that’s available to secondary and tertiary markets like ours shrinks, we need to try to do more to give ourselves the best shot at landing those shows.”

Another major challenge in bringing in more acts isn’t unique to State Farm Center: finding a time for a show that works for both the artist and the venue.

In State Farm Center’s case, Illini men’s and women’s basketball can fill up days that would otherwise be ideal for concerts. The venue also hosts other events, ranging from IHSA sports finals to the Illinois Junior Academy of Science’s annual exposition.

“Those are all things that are not huge concerts, but they require just as much advanced planning to weave those events into our already-aggressive entertainment calendar,” Marquardt said. “Those timelines are all set months, if not years, in advance.”

Concerts take a while to organize, too: It took around three years to arrange for the 2017 Garth Brooks concerts that ultimately sold 56,000-plus tickets.

‘More of a destination’

It’s up to the venue to market itself — not just to ticket-buyers but also to acts it hopes to lure to Champaign. The arena’s renovations in 2016 made it a much easier sell.

Marquardt said that work changed “everything.” At 50 years old, the building didn’t have air conditioning and only had one set of loading docks for shows, and it took up to a minute for the lights to turn on.

The renovations solved those issues, refreshed the backstage areas and added a whole kitchen and more points of sale, which introduced the ability to sell alcoholic beverages, as well as more food options.

Wider concourses made it easier for fans to get around, and new lobby areas added a level of security.

“It made us a more modern facility that became more of a destination for the guests,” Marquardt said.

The new sound system is, for some, too loud, but that means it’s flexible and customizable to an artist’s preferences.

The lights are new too, including elements that add color to the exterior or shine up toward the ceiling inside the seating bowl, accentuating part of the iconic architecture of the venue.

All of that can be useful for both musical acts and theater productions, which no longer have to rent out as much equipment to perform at State Farm Center.

The design of the building itself — a huge, circular arena that looks like some sort of flying saucer on the prairie — has some unique selling points for fans and artists, too.

Swanson said that it can be difficult to sell out the back row, which is troubling since it includes more than 1,000 of the 15,500 permanent seats, but those seats are much closer to the stage than in many venues of that size.

“If you’re in our last row, that’s equivalent to a club seat in a lot of big venues when comparing how far you are you are from the stage, how high you are off the ground, and how steep the seats are,” he said.

‘Accessible pricing’

More major changes from the 2016 renovations included the addition of suites and club spaces.

The suites are unique compared to other venues because they’re open-air and close to the action.

Both suites and club spaces have played a role in building out the experience for sports fans.

“Those are sold by our athletic development staff that cultivate relationships with donors,” Marquardt said. “That’s a long-term relationship that exists with the donors who buy tickets.”

Suites offer private spaces for large groups with included kitchen spaces and access to the Traditions Club.

Club seats are season tickets that include access to one of four clubs that each offer different amenities like additional food options and courtside seating.

That kind of specialized experience is soon going to be enhanced further for concerts.

Marquardt said the idea is to open up avenues for more repeat business and relationships with companies and individuals that will not be one-time purchases like a typical concert-ticket sale.

New offerings for businesses will include packages to reserve a suite or club space for a concert, but also to advertise in the venue on the night of the show and on other platforms.

Of course, Marquardt said that businesses aren’t his only priority in bringing in greater audiences for concert events.

“Something that’s a priority for me is making sure that we have accessible pricing for fans of all different means and backgrounds,” he said. “We want to have big acts here, but we also don’t want price to be a reason that somebody can’t attend a show here.”

‘Afternoon-out kind of thing’

Illinois-based concert promoter Ditto Basso believes the State Farm Center-CIMG partnership is a surefire winner: “The music concert business has changed dramatically since COVID. After many months off, all the major bands hit the road with their touring schedule,” he said.

“Everyone is in competition to bring the major acts to their communities. This is why it makes such sound sense for State Farm Center and Central Illinois Multimedia Group to combine their resources and bring A-list bands back to Champaign. State Farm Center has a legendary facility and will continue to work to bring world-class entertainment back to Champaign.”

Despite challenges with scheduling and competition with larger markets, Marquardt said State Farm Center is dedicated to using its resources, including in new unique ways, to create offerings for the local community.

That might include college students who can walk over to the arena or someone from Rantoul who shouldn’t have to drive to Chicago to see a show they’re interested in.

To continue increasing offerings and bringing in bigger acts, he’s hoping to move forward a conversation with that community about turning out for different shows.

For example, State Farm Center has an upcoming Sunday afternoon concert featuring the country band Lonestar, an example of an “outside the box” approach to try to engage the community in a different way, rather than just a offering a show at a typical time for a country music show.

The idea for that show is to position it as a “Sunday Funday,” where groups of friends can come experience a show on a Sunday afternoon, support a charitable cause and still be home in time for dinner.

“It’s an afternoon-out kind of thing,” Marquardt said. “That’s a great example of the concept of creating the experience, and not necessarily going to see the artist, but creating an afternoon-entertainment experience that people can get behind.”

Arena officials said they’d also be interested in booking local acts to open shows when possible — like next month, when the Feudin’ Hillbillys will take the stage before Lonestar — as another way to connect with the community.

“When we talk about our role as a community destination, that’s something that I take pretty seriously, and I know our whole team here is on board with that,” Marquardt said. “We want everybody to be able to come and enjoy events here, not just the people that want to buy the suite for the biggest concert or biggest basketball game of the year, but people that just want to come see a comedy show or want to see the Marching Illini in concert.”

Added Barrett: “This an exciting new time for State Farm Center, The News-Gazette and the citizens of our community. The collaboration will bring diverse shows and entertainment for all to enjoy. Sunday Funday will become a family commitment on refrigerator doors all over the region.

“With the marketing, digital and advertising reach of CIMG and the professional expertise of John and his crew at State Farm Center, the quality of life for our community will only continue to improve.”