Frank Remesch
General Manager | CFG Bank Arena
Teams have vocal, passionate supporters. In Baltimore, Maryland, CFG Bank Arena has Frank Remesch.
Remesch, general manager of the recently refurbished, 14,000-seat CFG Bank Arena, started working at the facility in 1988 as an electrician and climbed his way up to general manager in 2004 when the building was known as Royal Farms Arena. Over the years, the Baltimore native has been the venue’s most ardent advocate, which wasn’t always easy considering that the facility, which was built in 1962, wasn’t constructed with modern concerts and live entertainment logistics in mind.
Since reopening in February 2023 after a $250 million renovation, the venue has gone from 15 concerts to 60 concerts and from three sellouts to 38. That activity propelled the arena into the fourth-highest grossing venue of its type worldwide. Challenges included ensuring that patrons and promoters understood the arena had undergone a complete transformation, rather than a touch-up.
“This wasn’t a simple transformation of new paint and artwork; it was a complete overhaul to the building including a brand-new rigging system,” he said. “What used to take shows days to move in, we can now accomplish in a matter of hours. CFG Bank Arena has been enhanced with state-of-the-art upgrades both back of house and front of house, for tours, acts and fans.”
The community embraced the revamped arena when it debuted, with praise from Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, and fans have continued to support the facility. Attendance increased from 540,000 to more than 900,000 in the first year. Remesch has also expanded the pool of promoters working with the venue, from a handful previously to now 15 different entities.
“What OVG has done for Baltimore has proved you can recycle an entire building by choosing to remodel over ‘build new,’” he said. “Here in Baltimore, we saved a landfill over 98% of the material in this building. That is the definition of green. Not everything in society needs to be thrown away. We were able to maintain the history and the character of this iconic building, bringing this reno up to modern day, state-of-the-art standards.”
In a city as diverse as Baltimore, that topic is also part of the mission.
“The building’s employees should mirror the city’s diversity of its citizens,” he said. “As such, Baltimore is 80% diverse, our upper management is over 60% diverse and over 70% are Baltimore city residents. We have a vigorous MBE/WBE program.”
A cornerstone of the downtown community, Remesch sees the venue having a greater impact on his hometown.
“Oak View is not stopping at the arena, we want to invest more in the city of Baltimore and activate in the surrounding area, whether it be restaurants, hotels or residences,” he said. “Working with city and state leaders, along with other developers in the city, we are on a mission to continue the downtown revitalization that the arena started.” ” — Wendy Pearl
