How quickly does Oceanside’s new $85 million Frontwave Arena hope to establish itself as both a sports and live-music venue, after opening with two mid-September performances by a troupe of top gymnasts led by Olympics legend Simone Biles?
“Our goal is to have 150 events a year, which is challenging,” said Josh Elias, the privately funded arena’s co-founder and CEO. “But we have a few advantages.”
Those advantages include being the new home for both the San Diego Sockers — the Major League Indoor Soccer League team that will be Frontwave’s most prominent tenant — and for the Los Angeles Clippers’ G-league basketball team, which is being rebranded as the San Diego Clippers. Sockers’ owner and coach Phil Salvagio is one of the co-owners of the new 170,000 square-foot arena in the Rancho Del Oro area. The owners hope to announce a third sports team tenant in the next week or two.
Six of the 11 events confirmed for the state-of-the-art venue so far — including today’s just-announced USA vs. Mexico International Arena Soccer FANCLB Cup on Oct. 27 — are sports-related.
The other five are all live music performances, including the Oct. 5 grand opening concert by veteran rock band Cake and the Oct. 26 Monsters of Hip-hop show headlined by the Grammy Award-winning Cleveland group Bone-Thugs-N-Harmony.
“We’d love to do a concert or entertainment event a week, above and beyond sporting events, and that’s what we’re working toward,” said Robb Spitzer, the arena’s executive vice president of programming. “It takes time obviously to establish a new venue, but we are moving quickly.”
Spitzer is working closely with Thierry Gray, the arena’s chief operating officer. Each has formidable track records in the concert and live-event industries, and each worked for both Live Nation and AEG, the world’s two largest such production companies.
Spitzer was the managing director and head promoter for Live Nation’s concert touring division in China from 2013 to 2016. As a senior vice president for AEG Presents from 2017 to 2020, he oversaw AEG’s concert and sports operations in Asia, the Middle East and India.
Gray was, for more than a decade, the general manager of Chula Vista’s Live Nation-owned Coors Amphitheatre (now North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre). He was also the general manager for Irvine Meadows Amphitheater in Orange County and played a key role in overseeing Live Nation concerts at Qualcomm Stadium, the Rose Bowl and the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
The decision to bring both Gray and Spitzer on board earned praise from Chris Goldsmith, the president of Belly Up Entertainment. The company owns and operates the Belly Up in Solana Beach and books concerts at The Sound in Del Mar, The Observatory in North Park and the Music Box in Little Italy. Frontwave Arena’s Oct. 5 grand opening concert with Cake is a co-production by the venue and Belly Up Entertainment.
“Thierry and Robb are both top-tier professionals, Goldsmith said.
“It speaks highly of the arena’s ownership that they are making these kind of choices about they are hiring and collaborating with. We’ve been having conversations with them about working together ever since they first broke ground for the arena. And we’re looking forward to a long and beneficial relationship and to bringing as much music for San Diegans as we can in the arena.”
Capacity will be 5,500 for most concerts and 7,500 for sporting events at the venue, located just east of the SoCal Sports Complex on Hero Drive. The arena signed a 10-year naming rights agreement in 2022 with Frontwave Credit Union, which is headquartered in Oceanside.
Distinctive factors
The San Diego area concert market has grown larger and more competitive in recent years, with new indoor and outdoor venues opening in La Jolla, Del Mar, downtown San Diego and other locales. But a number of factors could set Frontwave apart, starting with its location in Oceanside and the venue’s layout, which is designed to make attendees at the rear of the arena, 16 rows back, feel close to the action for concerts and sporting events alike.
Frontwave is situated five miles inland from the beach in Oceanside and five miles south of the front gate at Camp Pendleton, Elias noted. The venue has 2,500 parking spaces and is adding 650 VIP parking spaces. The Rancho Del Oro Sprinter light-rail station is a 15-minute walk from the arena, whose owners aim to draw attendees from across San Diego County and from southern Orange County and points east.
The arena has 16 VIP suites, three VIP decks and premium lounge and patio areas that can accommodate 300 people. Its outdoor plaza can hold up to 1,500 people. There will be four food and beverage concessions inside the arena and three more outside.
“We are getting ready to announce our food partners,” Elias said. “They will all be local craft-food vendors to give a true San Diego culinary experience for North Country. We really expect our food to be on an elevated level, similar to what you’d see at Petco Park and Snapdragon Stadium.”
The arena is co-owned by Elias, Salvagio and San Diego real estate developer Colton Sudberry. It is unusual for a venue that is home to a minor league sports team to be owned and operated without involvement from any local government entities — and without being affiliated with Live Nation, AEG or other dominant live-events production companies.
“An independently owned arena is a rare animal and it’s great to have one in San Diego,” said Belly Up Entertainment honcho Goldsmith.
“Independently owned venues are more sensitive to the communities they serve and to collaborating with a variety of local entities. It’s nice to go to venues like this where the atmosphere reflects local sensibilities, instead of being a cookie-cutter, national chain venue. Having walked through Frontwave Arena several times now, I like how airy it is, how scenic the environment is and the way the venue is designed with its sightlines and amenities. Everything seems really well thought out.”
The general rule of thumb in the live-events business is that it takes at least three years for a new venue, festival or concert series to begin to break even financially.
“Our goal is to do that within the first two years because of the way we have structured our business plan and our being the operator of the venue,” Elias said. “This isn’t an investment-only project for us as owners. This is really a legacy project to create a great fan experience in a landmark destination.”
Frontwave Arena schedule of events
Tickets and more information are available online at: frontwavearena.com/events.
Sept. 16/17: “Gold Over America Tour” featuring Olympics gymnastic superstar Simone Biles. 7:30 p.m. $112-$593
Oct. 5: Grand opening concert, featuring Cake. 8 p.m. $61-$112
Oct. 8: LA Clippers vs. Brooklyn Nets preseason game. 7 p.m. $65-$570
Oct. 12: Rocktoberfest, with Seether, Giovannie & The Hired Guns, The Warning, and Tim Montana. 7 p.m. $47-$69
Oct. 19: Association of Volleyball Professionals. 6 p.m. $54-$126
Oct. 20: Association of Volleyball Professionals. 1 p.m. $54-$126
Oct. 26: Monsters of Hip-Hop, featuring Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Too $hort, MC Magic and more. 7:30 p.m. $25-$107
Oct. 27: USA vs. Mexico International FANCLB Cup. 6 p.m. $20-$70
Nov. 2: Freestyle Explosion, featuring Steve B, Lisa Lisa, Exposé, Shannon, Connie, Lime, Will to Power, Pretty Poison, and Nocera, 7:30 pm. $53-$374
Dec. 7: Country Christmas, featuring Megan Moroney, Tucker Wetmore, Tyler Braden, and more. 7 p.m. $46-$58
Where: 3475 Hero Drive, Oceanside
Tickets: frontwavearena.com
Thierry Gray was the general manager of Coors Amphitheatre for 12 years, but he was not the venue's first general manager as the original version of this article incorrectly stated.
