Kenny Chesney, Blake Shelton, Keith Urban and Rascal Flatts are among the stars in country music who will turn Ohio Stadium into a concert venue for the first time in almost 12 years. Also on the bill for the inaugural Buckeye Country Superfest - set for June 20-21 - are Lee Brice, Cole Swindell, David Nail and three other acts, Ohio State University officials and a Louisiana promoter announced yesterday.

Kenny Chesney, Blake Shelton, Keith Urban and Rascal Flatts are among the stars in country music who will turn Ohio Stadium into a concert venue for the first time in almost 12 years.

Also on the bill for the inaugural Buckeye Country Superfest � set for June 20-21 � are Lee Brice, Cole Swindell, David Nail and three other acts, Ohio State University officials and a Louisiana promoter announced yesterday.

"We�re gonna rock this joint, I�ll tell you what,� said producer Quint Davis, whose Festival Productions Inc. will stage the event � similar to the country shows the company organizes in Baton Rouge, La., and Jacksonville, Fla.

�Y�all come.�

At $40 to $250, tickets for the Columbus concert will go on sale on Tuesday, with seating available both in the stands and on the field (whose artificial turf will be covered to ward off damage).

RV camping will be offered, as will sales of beer and liquor during the festival.

Praising the legacy of the open-air venue and its central location in the state, Davis hopes to attract an audience of 60,000. Based on his previous stadium shows, he said, the event should generate at least $30 million for the area economy.

OSU�s Gene Smith hopes the concert marks the first of many more to come in the Horseshoe, perhaps as many as three or four a year.

�We cannot have an asset of this magnitude and this level of importance sit idle and just rely on the seven or eight football games,� said Smith, who in January was given the title of vice president and charged with overseeing not only Ohio State athletics but also the university�s sports and entertainment venues.

Although 92 years old, the stadium is relatively new to the music business � having hosted its first concert in 1988, Pink Floyd. Seven acts followed, including the most recent: Metallica in 2003.

Why the drought of late?

Xen Riggs, an associate vice president who oversees Ohio State�s major-event buildings, said the gap is attributable mostly to summertime construction or upgrades at the stadium � including the installation of artificial turf, the addition of permanent lighting, drainage-system repairs and expansion of the south stands.

And, he noted, the �Shoe is already off the table for a period around spring commencement and during football season, prohibiting any concerts during those times.

Unlike a comparable tour stop in a enclosed venue such as Value City Arena or Nationwide Arena, a show in Ohio Stadium requires a 10-day window from setup to teardown.

�They�re not easy; they�re not cheap,� said Riggs, noting that a 60-by-170-foot stadium stage is three times the size of a typical arena platform. �It�s a big place to fill.�

Cranes are brought in to build infrastructure for sound, lights and video screens.

Also needed are �sound delay� towers to ensure that fans throughout the stadium hear the music from speakers at the same time without echo (audiences near the front, as a result, purposely receive the noise a few seconds late).

Such particulars explain why only a certain caliber of acts can pursue a stadium � and drive enough food and merchandise sales to recoup a promoter�s investment.

Although the university might want to host more concerts in the stadium, fewer big-name acts seem to fill the bill, said Scott Stienecker, whose PromoWest Productions company produced three of the �Shoe�s previous concerts.

�We�re not developing a lot of superstars like we used to,� said Stienecker, who in 1997 sold his 20,000-capacity Germain Amphitheater to entertainment monolith Live Nation � which, facing competition from arenas and lackluster attendance, shuttered the property in 2007.

A reliable sweet spot, though, can be found in country music, Stienecker said.

According to Billboard magazine, the top three tours in August featured Jason Aldean, Shelton and Rascal Flatts.

With overhead that can exceed 10 times the cost of a concert for two-thirds fewer guests in nearby Value City Arena, Riggs said, outdoor stadium shows pose a significant risk.

The university spent no money upfront to draw the festival, he added, but is liable to the promoter for some show costs.

OSU can make money through concession and merchandise sales as well as parking fees. Any proceeds after expenses, Riggs said, will benefit the business-advancement division, which supports and maintains some athletic and event facilities.

Still, ticket sales remain key to turning a profit, said Gary Bongiovanni, editor-in-chief of the concert-industry publication Pollstar.

�There�s a big spread in that last 10,000 tickets that can add up to success or financial failure,� he said.

Bongiovanni praised Davis and his country festivals: �Those guys know what they�re doing .�

The Associated Press reported in May that the fifth-annual Bayou Country Superfest, held in Tiger Stadium at Louisiana State University, attracted a record number of attendees: 135,000 over three days.

And, in Jacksonville, a survey commissioned by the tourism bureau found that the first Florida Country Superfest in July spurred $23 million in visitor spending � more than any other festival in the city this year.

Columbus Crew Stadium, which opened in 1999 and built a permanent stage in 2008 after the Germain closure, has hosted its share of country concerts, including recent gigs by Aldean and Chesney.

Situated on the north end, the stage allows the venue to toggle more easily between soccer games and shows such as the three-day Rock on the Range, a festival that sells out its 35,000 available seats.

As for Ohio Stadium, the logistics and reception of Buckeye Country Superfest will serve as a litmus test for future musical bookings.

�We�ve always wanted to have shows,� Riggs said. �We�re really at the mercy of what�s out there."

kjoy@dispatch.com

@kevjoy

Buckeye Country Superfest tickets, at $40 to $250, will go on sale at 10 a.m. Oct. 14.



@kevjoy