Worcester Business Journal

44 Worcester Business Journal | October 28, 2024 | wbjournal.com 35th Anniversary WBJ more competition in the marketplace, a company with ASM Global's reach is a distinct advantage. "Without a consortium, a venue would be adri now, finding it difficult to compete. Our team has 300 facilities and is the largest in the world. You need that kind of power in the industry," Dunn said. "Artists are drawn to a global industry." e sheer number of venues now is a challenge, Dunn said. "ere are only so many artists coming into a venue of our size. Back in the 1980s? It was just the [Boston] Garden and us." Now, MGM Music Hall at Fenway, Great Woods (now the Xfinity Center) and other venues are in the running as well. But along with tougher competition came an opportunity, and the DCU Center jumped into the ring – or rather rink – with professional hockey . IceCat magic e DCU Center – known until 1997 (and still to many) as the Worcester Centrum – hosted the Worcester IceCats for more than a decade when the Springfield Indians American Hockey League franchise moved to the city in 1994 and stayed until the end of the 2004-2005 season. e advent of higher-level professional sports brought a new revenue opportunity, Dunn said. e AHL Worcester Sharks took the baton from the IceCats and played there half. It worked to find ways to enable more people to visit the mountain and get out of the house. It sold 4-hour blocks and 8-hour blocks. "Our high-speed lis got them a lot of vertical time," Crowley said. e DCU Center, meanwhile, was highly impacted by COVID, said general manager Sandy Dunn of ASM Global, the venue management company that oversees the 14,000-seat arena and 50,000-square-foot convention center. e venue – owned by the city of Worcester since it opened in 1982 – was far from empty during the pandemic, serving as a UMass Memorial Health Care field hospital in the spring of 2021 for patients with minor coronavirus cases, to free up hospital space. Over the years, the DCU Center has significantly expanded its ability to consistently book acts, Dunn said. With Continued from previous page Sandy Dunn, general manager, DCU Center COURTESY DCU CENTER The DCU Center operated a field hospital in 2020 to help treat patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. COURTESY DCU CENTER The DCU Center remains a go-to arena for headlining acts and fans alike. COURTESY DCU CENTER MASS. OFFICE OF TRAVEL & TOURISM

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