In May 2016 there was a multi-day musical event in Las Vegas called Rockin' Rio. It was going to be an annual event and there was talk of extending it to a six-day event this year, but I've not heard a peep about it. What's the story?
[Editor’s Note: We’re just putting the finishing touches on our new book Rock Vegas—Live Music Explodes in the Neon Desert, by Pat Christenson. Pat has worked in Vegas’ live-music industry since the early days: He was there when the Thomas and Mack Center opened in 1983 and managed its first concert (Loverboy); he was behind the scenes for more than 500 concerts through 2001 at TMC; and he was helped put together the first stadium rock show (Grateful Dead at Sam Boyd Stadium) in 1991, which finally put Vegas on the map for the major touring acts, decades behind the rest of the country. Since then, as president of Las Vegas Events, he’s been involved in the development of five major music festivals.
The following isn’t only the answer to this question, it’s a sneak preview of Rock Vegas. Look for it in a couple of months.]
In 1980, when Brazilian concert promoter Roberto Medina convinced Frank Sinatra to come to Rio, little did the crooner know that it would be the biggest concert—140,000—he ever performed.
Five years later, Medina produced the first Rock in Rio Festival in his home city. Rock in Rio has been hosted five times in Brazil and nine times in Spain and Portugal and has been hugely successful. Bruce Springsteen, Guns N’ Roses, Prince, Metallica, and Beyoncé, among a list of other major headliners, have drawn more than seven million fans. Unfortunately for Medina and his partners, the results were not the same in Las Vegas.
The initial plan was to bring Rock in Rio USA to the Strip in alternating years. At an estimated cost of $75 million, Medina and [international concert promoter] SFX partnered with MGM Resorts, Cirque du Soleil, and investor Ronald W. Burkle to design and construct the festival site on the 35-acre vacant lot on the southwest corner of Sahara and Las Vegas Boulevard across from SLS. They put in parking lots, power and water, three permanent restrooms, 750,000 square feet of field turf, and 10 VIP suites. Rock in Rio also built 60 houses into the western side of the parcel themed for the U.S., England, and Brazil.
Rock in Rio featured six stages, a Ferris wheel, and a zip line a couple hundred feet in front of the main stage stretching across the crowd 40 feet below.
The festival took place over two weekends, May 8-9 and 15-16, 2015. The first weekend featured rock acts Metallica, No Doubt, Linkin Park, and Rise Against. The second, the pop weekend, hosted Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran, Bruno Mars, and Sam Smith.
Rock in Rio’s festival plan was dramatically different than U.S. music festivals, which spend little on traditional TV or print advertising. RIR announced its U.S festival in Times Square, with a surprise performance from past headliners John Mayer and Sepultura. A media blitz, including a commercial starring Donald Sutherland and campaigns with Yahoo and Clear Channel, cost a reported $15 million.
In Rio, Madrid, and Lisbon, to support the large media campaign, Medina secured major financial sponsorships, more comparable to U.S. professional sports teams than music festivals. Sponsorship revenues for RIR’s international events average 51% of the total, more than triple that of major U.S. festivals.
Thus, Rock in Rio USA’s success was dependent on two revenue sources, sponsorships and ticket sales. Though a reported 100,000 tickets were sold over the two weekends, sponsorships fell extremely short.
The shortfalls of the first year can be attributed to several shortcomings, which might or might not be correctable. While the brand was well-established internationally, it had no history in the United States. Expenses were massive—$25 million alone for infrastructure. VIP tents were too far from the main stage. Rock in Rio also competed for both fans and bands with Coachella, the major southern California music festival, which took place only a few weeks earlier in April.
Though Rock in Rio had the biggest headliners of any other Las Vegas music festival, a successful return would mean adjusting the media budget and plan, expectations for sponsorships, and scale of production. Las Vegas benefited from one of the most iconic festivals in the world, but will there be a Rock in Rio 2? Stay 2ned.
