Venu Amphitheaters To Debut Troy Aikman Clubs

CHAMP AT THE AMP: A rendering of both Sunset Amphitheater in McKinney, Texas, and the Aikman Owners Clubs that will be custom-built and branded after Pro Football Hall of Famer Troy Aikman. (Courtesy Venu Holding Corporation)

TWO PREMIUM AMPHITHEATERS UNDER DEVELOPMENT

Venu Holding Corporation, the venue developer formerly known as Notes Live and which recently opened Ford Amphitheater in Colorado Springs, has announced a partnership with three-time Super Bowl champion Troy Aikman to brand clubs at multiple venues.

The new, custom-built Aikman Clubs will be located at Sunset Amphitheaters under development in Texas and Oklahoma, which includes a $300 million project in McKinney, Texas, near Dallas.

“The Aikman clubs are the elevated club spaces,” said J.W. Roth, founder, CEO and chairman of Venu. “You go to the club, you buy a ticket and then you have elevated food and beverage.”

Along with concerts, Roth says the Aikman clubs will also be open on non-event days for rentals, hosting corporate events and other functions. “We’ve expanded our vision beyond the concert space,” said Roth, whose signature features at his venues are “firepit suites” situated between seated sections, including food and drink in a relaxed, intimate environment.

The Aikman Club idea started with Aikman’s “Eight Elite” beer brand, named for his uniform number. The brand launched in 2022 as a healthier, low-calorie alcoholic beer, which led to discussions with Roth and Aikman’s team about sponsorship or branding opportunities.

Aikman’s status as a music fan and hometown Oklahoma kid made for a good fit for Roth and his outdoor music properties. Aikman played football at the University of Oklahoma before transferring to UCLA before playing quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys for 12 years.

“Troy’s a music fan and started his own festival,” said Roth, noting Aikman’s “Highway To Henryetta” festival in 2022 that featured country artist Blake Shelton. “He’s Oklahoma and Texas- centric. There’s a lot of different things we can do together. All of my amps in Oklahoma and Texas will be ‘Powered by Number Eight.’”

Club memberships are currently on sale, with McKinney, Texas, at $150,000 including two tickets per membership, with premium reserved assigned seats to every ticketed event for life, according to information provided by Venu. Memberships include access to a five-star buffet and premium cash bar service, VIP parking and option to resell Aikman Club Tickets and Parking Passes. Price for Broken Arrow is $100,000 per membership, with 175 founding memberships up for grabs.

Sunset Amphitheater in McKinney is scheduled to open in 2026 at a capacity of 20,000, while Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, is set to open mid-2025 for a partial summer season at 12,500. Another venue is under development in El Paso, Texas, also planned to open in 2026 at 12,500 capacity. The name “Sunset” is a placeholder until naming rights are secured. Booking partners have not been announced for those venues.

The Aikman partnership got some primetime love on Monday Night Football, with a commercial narrated by Aikman advertising the Aikman Clubs specifically at Sunset Amphitheater in Texas. The ad ran during the game between Cowboys and Houston Texas on Nov. 18, a game Aikman helped broadcast from AT&T Stadium.

Roth says while his venues feature high-end touches like rooftop clubs and firepit suites, which can be sold into the tens of thousands as a direct investment in the venues, he wants his amphitheaters to be welcoming to fans of all types, offering modern, high-quality experiences for everyone.

“The fan is seeking that type of experience,” said Roth. “I start every project with one word in mind, and that’s ambiance. There’s a demographic for the lawn, there’s a demographic for Section 101, there’s a demographic for firepit suites, club areas, and rooftop bars. Being intentional about those spaces is super important.”

Those modern touches are on display at the new Ford Amphitheater in Colorado Springs, which opened with three OneRepublic shows in August and wrapped its first season with Godsmack in mid-October. Outdoor venues are always subject to the elements, which aren’t always conducive to premium experiences, but Roth is putting real money into controlling conditions as much as possible.

“We use HydroChill technology in our lawns, because I wanted the least expensive ticket to be premium,” Roth said, putting the price tag for the infill precoat at $3 million to install. “It allows me to keep the lawn at 70 degrees no matter how hot it is outside. You may not sit in a premium seat, but you’re going to sit in the lawn and say this is the nicest lawn I’ve ever sat on.” HyrdoChill is applied to sand or infill under grass and is activated by moisture, resulting in significant temperature decrease.

Five rooftop bars are under development at Ford Amphitheater,  an 8,000-capacity venue booked by AEG Presents and whose price tag reportedly totaled more than $90 million.

The temperature in McKinney, a North Texas suburb not far from Dallas, regularly reaches the high-90s in the summer.

“In McKinney, the type of roof system that we had to create keeps the sun and rain off of you, but it allows us to move airflow through the whole system to temperature down,” Roth said. “It can be 100 degrees when the sun goes down, and between the HydroChill technology in the lawns and the airflow systems inside, it’ll be 79 degrees inside the amp, perfect for a show. I have to make it a pleasant experience for a premium amphitheater. “