Oak View Group has reached an agreement to buy Invited’s Stadium Club unit, a move that will accelerate OVG’s push into college football hospitality.
The largest arena developer in the world, OVG will take over ownership and operations of stadium club properties at six college football stadiums across the country–Baylor, UNC, Arizona, Utah, Texas Tech and Virginia Tech. These clubs function similar to social clubs, with members paying for access to year-round lunches, dinners and themed events, and of course, football games on Saturdays.
The acquisition comes as pro and college teams place more and more emphasis on premium hospitality. Fans with deeper pockets want more than just a seat with a good view; they increasingly want elevated travel, food, social and entertainment options. Sponsors are also shifting money toward tailored premium experiences.
OVG has reacted accordingly. Last year it acquired Rhubarb Hospitality Collection, a luxury catering provider, and partnered with noted wine expert Christian Navarro to further curate the food and beverage strategy at OVG venues.
“This reinforces our commitment to elevating the premium space,” Chris Granger, president of OVG’s venue management unit, said in an interview. “Now you add this to the mix, where we’re thinking about membership on a year-long basis, and not just on an event-by-event basis.”
Granger declined to comment on the price of the Stadium Club deal, but said OVG was adding about 500 employees as part of the transaction. Club membership costs vary by school and by tiers, but typically include an initiation fee and monthly costs of a few hundred dollars.
The move also comes amid major changes in the business of college sports. Every school is looking to maximize revenue and, like their professional peers, those in college football’s top tier are eying hospitality as a growth area. Granger said the stadium club model achieves three key business drivers for schools—it adds revenue, it monetizes non gamedays and it helps build community among a school’s most valuable fans.
“So we love this business for those reasons, because we think it does actually solve real problems that universities and athletic departments face,” he said.
It’s a relatively new direction for Oak View Group, which was founded in 2015 by industry veterans Tim Leiweke and Irving Azoff. The company’s portfolio includes more than 400 venues worldwide (with some on college campuses), and its services cover everything from ownership and operations to venue consulting, security and content development. Its food and beverage arm also has a number of existing university accounts.
OVG’s buildings include UBS Arena (New York Islanders), Climate Pledge Arena (Seattle Kraken), Mullett Arena (Arizona Coyotes/Arizona State University) and the Moody Center (UT Austin). While the company’s portfolio does include stadiums, that part of its business is significantly smaller than its arena footprint. The deal with Invited should also increase OVG’s presence in stadiums around the world.
Based in Dallas, Invited’s business will continue to focus on ownership and operations of private golf clubs and country clubs around North America. Its portfolio before the sale covered more than 170 properties—including Firestone Country Club in Ohio and Mission Hills Country Club in California—with approximately 20,000 peak-season employees.
As part of the transaction, OVG and Invited have agreed to partner to expand the benefits of club membership. In the future, for example, members of the Carolina Club might also have access to golf events at an Invited property, or opportunities to attend a sporting event in another part of the OVG portfolio, like the F1 race in Las Vegas.
