Blast Pro Series LA venue change explained

Director of product and experience Nicolas Estrup talked about why it was moved away from the Galen Center.

The Blast Pro Series Los Angeles tournament is starting this weekend, but we've just had a surprise venue change from the Galen Center to another smaller venue on Beverly Avenue. This has surprised fans, and director of product and experience Nicolas Estrup has talked about the reasoning behind the change to Unikrn.

"It came from a desire we've had for a long time, to do something as immersive, intimate and inclusive as this, but we hadn't figured out when would be a good time to try it out. When looking at how we sold out São Paulo in a matter of hours, we could see that we didn't get the same level of ticket engagement on a broad scale. Instead, we primarily had ticket sales focused on the most expensive Blast Zone tickets."

"That to us meant that we now had the opportunity to tweak the experience for the better, with the focus being on that ticket group but opening up a bit wider to let more people in to this more inclusive and intimate show."

Estrup explained that everyone will be closer to the action as a result, and he said material will be released to detail what will happen at the event. An outdoor viewing area will be there too, as well as a 360 experience indoors as well.

"When doing an event that all of a sudden goes from 6000-7000 tickets down to 1000-1500, that of course comes at a cost. We are then able to create more activities/engagements than at our normal big shows, but we definitely feel that the value added corresponds with the updated ticket price," he continued.

"The way we look at it is that we've taken a stadium concert and made it into a more intimate concert but the artist is the same. We think that most people would prefer seeing their favorite artist in as intimate a setting as possible. So when talking compensation, we have made it possible for people to repurchase their tickets again to their original price, which we feel is a great solution and hope fans agree."

Tickets have already been refunded for those who bought tickets to the Galen Center, and fans are understandably curious as to why the change has been made. Does this answer some of your questions?