Sports Facilities: The Renovation Wave: Why Venues Keep Getting Rebuilt

Wednesday, August 19 | 12:30 PM ET

Sports Facilities

The Renovation Wave: Why Venues Keep Getting Rebuilt

Arena development is not limited to new construction projects. Across professional sports, teams and venue owners are investing heavily in transformative renovations designed to unlock new revenue opportunities, modernize fan experiences, and extend the life of existing facilities. This episode will examine why organizations are increasingly choosing renovation over replacement, how they evaluate project economics, and what separates successful venue upgrades from projects that fail to meet expectations.

What We Will Discuss:

• The business case for major arena renovations versus new facility construction, including capital costs, operational disruption, and long-term revenue potential.
• How premium seating, hospitality spaces, and service models are reshaping renovation priorities.
• Managing large-scale construction projects while maintaining venue operations and event schedules.
• How teams and venue owners measure return on investment and communicate project value to ownership groups, public partners, and fans.
• Common challenges that derail venue redevelopment projects and lessons learned from recent renovations.

Who Should Attend:

• Team executives
• Venue operators
• Facility managers
• Architects and developers
• Premium seating and hospitality professionals
• Technology vendors
• Sponsorship and revenue leaders
• Real estate and construction executives
• Anyone involved in sports facility planning, development, or investment

Featured Speakers (Additional to be Announced)

Josh Cohen is President of Strategic Advisory at CAA ICON, a division of leading entertainment and sports agency Creative Artists Agency (CAA). CAA ICON is the world’s-leading owner’s representative and strategic consulting firm for public and private sports and entertainment facility owners/operators, professional franchises, and leagues. With more than 100 sports, entertainment, and public assembly projects and over 2,500 consulting engagements, CAA ICON has managed the development of many of the most successful venues around the world, including 11 professional sports leagues totaling $45 billion. CAA ICON offers world-class service in the areas of feasibility and planning, project management, consulting, and beyond.

Josh has nearly 25 years of experience in the sports and entertainment industry and lead’s CAA ICON’s Strategic Advisory group. Josh advises professional sports organizations, public agencies, universities, and leagues on the planning, funding, and development of major sports and entertainment venues. He has led clients through market feasibility studies, financial analyses, funding strategies, deal structuring, and economic impact assessments across the professional and collegiate sports landscape including MLB, MLS, NBA, NFL, NHL, NWSL, WNBA, USL, collegiate athletics, and major European leagues such as the Premier League, EFL Championship, Serie A, Serie B, and Premiership Rugby, among others. Further, he provides expertise and advisory services related to stadium and arena developments (new build, renovation), team valuations, arena/stadium valuations, and public-private partnerships.

Josh graduated from Arizona State University (ASU) with a Master of Business Administration (Emphasis Finance), and from University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science with a specialization in Business Administration.

Donna Julian is Executive Vice President & Chief Venues Officer for Hornets Sports & Entertainment.  In this role, she directs all aspects of arena administration, including operations, booking, guest experience, public safety and marketing for the venue that is the home of the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets.  

Julian initially joined the organization on February 1, 2005, and was part of the team that opened Spectrum Center in October 2005.  Under her leadership, the arena has hosted nearly 22,000,000 fans at more than 2,000 events, including sporting events, concerts, family shows, conventions and more.  Spectrum Center has been the site of two of the largest events ever to visit the city of Charlotte, the 2012 Democratic National Convention and the 2019 NBA All-Star Weekend, and has hosted the ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament twice and NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament action on five occasions.   

Prior to coming to Charlotte, Julian spent 15 years as General Manager of 1st Mariner Arena in Baltimore. She was elevated to General Manager after serving in a number of roles in sales, marketing and event administration for Centre Management, the operating company for the Capital Centre (later USAir Arena), home of the Washington Bullets and Washington Capitals.  

Julian was selected as one of Sports Business Journal’s Game Changers in 2020 and was one of VenuesNow’s inaugural All-Stars in 2019.  She serves on the North Carolina Emergency Response Commission representing the public assembly venue sector, the Governor’s COVID-19 Large Gatherings Task Force, the Executive Committee of the NC Live Coalition, the Executive Committee of the North Carolina Sports Leadership Council and the Leadership Development Committee of the International Association of Venue Managers. 

Julian previously served as Chair of the Board of Directors of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Carolinas and remains an active Big Sister to Little Sister Hannah. Recently, Julian received the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Carolinas 2024 Alumni of The Year Award. She is also very active within the community as a member of the Women Executives (WE) Governance Committee, the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Foundation Board, the Advisory Board of the African American Leadership Academy of Charlotte and the Blumenthal Arts Board of Trustees. 

Julian received her bachelor’s degree in athletics administration from Ohio University, where she was a four-year letter winner and co-captain of the tennis team as a senior, as well as a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority.  She and her husband, David, live in Matthews, North Carolina, and have two sons, Griffin and Donovan. 

Jeff Merritt has served as the Executive Director for the Centennial Authority since 2011. The Authority oversees operations of the Lenovo Center in Raleigh, North Carolina, the 19,000-seat multi-purpose home of the Carolina Hurricanes and NC State University Men’s Basketball.

Prior to coming to the Centennial Authority, Jeff was Business Development Director for Clancy & Theys Construction Company from 2007 until 2011; Eastern Regional Director for Government Affairs for KB Home from 2003-2007; and Vice President for Government and Community Affairs for the Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce from 1998 until 2003. He began his career in 1989 as a Press Assistant to then-North Carolina Governor Jim Martin.

Jeff is a graduate of Appalachian State University where he earned a bachelor’s in political science with a concentration in Communications and North Carolina State University where he earned a Master of Arts in Liberal Studies. He is a Fellow of the North Carolina Institute for Political Leadership and The German Marshall Fund of the United States. In 2007, he received a Marshall Memorial Fellowship. He was recognized in 2001 as one of the Triangle Business Journal’s “40 Under 40”, is a recipient of North Carolina’s Order of the Long Leaf Pine and was recognized by the Raleigh News & Observer as one the three Most Influential in Raleigh-Durham Sports for 2023. In 2025, he was awarded the John B. Ross Jr. Leadership Award by the Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau.

He serves on the Board of Directors and Executive Committee for the Greater Raleigh Sports Alliance and a liaison to the Board of the Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau. He is a past president of the Appalachian State Alumni Council. He served from 2006 until 2013 as the Wake County Commissioner’s appointee to the Triangle Transit Authority (GoTriangle) Board of Trustees and served for more than two years as the agency’s Chairman. In 2005, he chaired Leadership Raleigh. He has had leadership roles in committees tasked with passing local and county bond efforts for school construction, transportation, parks and open space.

Registration is free. All registrants will receive a recording of the webinar following the event.

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