Eric Granger Named KFC Yum! Center GM For AEG

AEG Facilities has named Eric Granger GM Of the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky., the 22,000-capacity venue that was No. 40 on Pollstar’s 3Q 2017 Top 200 Arenas chart. 

DoaneI MG – KFC Yum! Center

Granger comes to AEG Facilities with more than 20 years in the entertainment and sports business, including as vice president and GM of the FedEx Forum in Memphis, as well as GM of Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio – both of which have major sports tenants in the NBA’s Grizzlies and NHL’s Blue Jackets.

Granger will take over the role vacated by Dennis Petrullo, who abruptly resigned earlier in the month.

Granger will be responsible for management of all the arena’s business operations, creation of new events and development of new revenue opportunities for the seven-year-old venue that is also home to the University of Louisville’s men’s and women’s basketball teams.

Granger will also oversee numerous proprietary initiatives of AEG Facilities including AEG S.A.F.E., AEG 1Source, AEG 1EARTH, AEG 1Force, AEG Encore and AEG Energy Services, in addition to working closely with AEG Global Partnerships and other divisions of the company, according to the announcement.

“We are thrilled to have Eric join the AEG Facilities and KFC Yum! Center team in Louisville,” said Bob Newman, President of AEG Facilities which operates the KFC Yum! Center. “Eric brings a great depth of knowledge and industry experience and will play a key role in the continued success and stellar reputation of one of the region’s premier and busiest destinations for sports and entertainment.”

KFC Yum! Center is a very active concert venue, with recent box office reports submitted to Pollstar including Janet Jackson Dec 1 (7,693 tickets, $521,846 gross), 17,997 tickets for Lady Gaga Nov. 13, which grossed just under $2 million, Guns N’ Roses Nov. 11, which sold out at 15,261 tickets and grossed just more than $2 million, and Eagles Oct. 24, which sold out 15,319 tickets and grossed $2.12 million.

At 3Q this year, KFC Yum! Center was No. 40 on Pollstar’s Top 200 Arenas chart based on worldwide ticket sales, and in 2016 Year End was No. 59 with 284,696 tickets sold.