Taylor Swift's gig at the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Shanghai in 2015 was organized by the Los Angeles-based AEG.(Photo provided to China Daily)
Dalian Arena, a large entertainment and sports venue in Northeast China's Liaoning province, has been renamed Damai Center.
The name change was announced on June 17 in Shanghai after venue operator Anschutz Entertainment Group and Damai, an online entertainment ticketing platform, signed a deal.
AEG is a Los Angeles-based sports and live entertainment company. Its subsidiary, AEG China, manages the venue that is owned by the local government of the port city of Dalian. The venue has been named after Damai to promote the online platform's own branding under the new agreement.
AEG's business covers live-music shows, and the company provides management or consultancy to more than 120 venues around the world.
Damai was founded a decade ago, and today sells nearly seven of every 10 live-show tickets in the mainland market. Its website has more than 100 million registered users and its phone app has 60 million active users.
In recent years, the company has extended its ticketing business to film and sporting events, and aims to cover more of the entertainment sector.
Damai hopes to facilitate the rapid expansion of live entertainment and sporting events in the country's northeastern areas, according to Xu Wei, chief operating officer of the platform.
The partnership with AEG China will help Damai to enhance consumer experience and improve the efficiency of venue operation.
With 18,000 seats, the venue held the 12th China National Games in 2013. It has also hosted musicians Justin Bieber, the Backstreet Boys and Chinese performers.
The name change of the venue was marked with a Chinese pop concert by singer-songwriter Li Jian on Saturday. In the past, Damai has hosted Li's tours in New York, Los Angeles, Sydney and Melbourne, among other cities.
"Ninety percent of our overseas ticket buyers for concerts are Chinese, and many pay with international credit cards over our phone app," Xu says.
Damai has worked with AEG China for the ticketing of its shows on the mainland for more than eight years.
The new partnership also makes Damai the exclusive ticketing partner of the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Shanghai, which is also managed by AEG China.
"Mercedes-Benz Arena and Damai are committed to customer service and our partnership really raises the bar to international standards," says Jim Foss, general manager, Mercedes-Benz Arena.
China has only a few multifunctional venues such as the Mercedes-Benz Arena, says John Cappo, president and CEO of AEG China.
Show production costs are expected to drop significantly and operational efficiencies of venues are likely to improve if more such properties are designed and built to international standards, seeking to integrate requirements of sporting events, concerts, circuses, ice shows and so on, he says.
Damai is also expanding its business beyond selling tickets. It has worked with famous actor Deng Chao and scriptwriter Yu Baimei to start Super Theater in Beijing.
Super Theater, which was launched on Thursday, will stage original Chinese dramas produced by Yu's studio.
Damai is also planning more theater projects in second- and third-tier Chinese cities this year.
