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The new Sioux Falls events center is on its way up. But as crews bring in pieces of the new multi-million dollar facility, countless more are working behind the scenes, including a brand new face whose job is to sell the seats.
“It's a lot easier to look at a frame and make it out than when right now where it's a dirt lot,” Denny Sanford Premier Center sales and marketing general manager Ryan Querry said.
Querry's job has much less to do with the building construction than what's inside once finishing touches begin. He is part of the team selling sponsorships.
"[I] basically oversee the sales and marketing on this building and the sponsorships and all the premium products. So really deal with anyone who has interest,” Querry said.
Legends Sales and Marketing holds the city's sponsorship contract on the new building. While the name is sold, everything else has yet to be bid.
“Over the next 18 months, it's our job to sell the suites, club seats and other kinds of premium products that will be inside the building,” Ben Wrigley of Legends Sales and Marketing said.
The company isn't new to the area. It is selling sponsorships for the Pinnacle Arena going up in Lincoln, Nebraska.
And Querry is from Omaha, so this move is close to home. Querry moved to Sioux Falls from San Francisco, where he was doing similar work selling the new San Francisco 49ers stadium for Legends Sales and Marketing.
“We haven't been extremely proactive at this point. So, when we really get proactive is when they will start to really move,” Querry said.
But he says people are interested. Even without a major tenant, the new Denny Sanford Premier Center brings its own brand of excitement that will only grow as the building rises. That's because it opens up an entirely new set of opportunities for audiences who will no longer need to head out of town for a big show.
That's also why these folks think there's momentum in premium sponsor sales.
“You're looking at anything that would allow you to buy tickets to events up to suites that may have tickets to all events,” Wrigley said.
Economic indicators have improved, which city officials and the legends representatives selling building sponsorships hope will translate to brisk sales.
“I would say the best case scenario is that everything is sold; all the premium projects will be sold,” Querry said.
“Things have gotten better,” Wrigley said. “Companies are not spending nearly as freely as they were pre 2008, when the recession sort of hit but the level is coming back.”
The work over the next 18 months is exciting for the people watching the new building grow, but it's just as critical for those planning its profitability.