Ruoff Music Center had the #1 ticket sales globally in 2018 for amphitheaters. However, the report identifies issues like a muddy lawn from grass, dated equipment causing poor sound quality, and giving away too many unsold tickets for free. It recommends converting the lawn to turf, yearly system evaluations, and selling discounted unsold tickets to enhance the experience and increase loyalty and sales. Implementing these changes by 2022 could help Ruoff Music Center continue its success.

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A Market Analysis for
Ruoff Music Center
Rebeka Bishop
Full Sail University
Project & Portfolio II: Business and Marketing
12/16/19

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This market analysis report covers the success and failures of Ruoff Music Center, an
amphitheater venue in Noblesville, IN. It addresses issues that Ruoff Music Center can fix in
order to improve ticket sales and enhance the experience for consumers in hopes that they
become loyal customers. This report focuses on ticket sale success and the tie between the music
industry and the local community. Also featured are recommendations on how to help Ruoff
Music Center grow in the future with examples of switching the general admission lawn from
grass to turf, initiating yearly system evaluations to keep up with advancing equipment, and
refraining from giving too many unsold tickets away for free. Although Ruoff Music Center is
very successful, these are feasible ways to enhance its success. Limitation include lack of current
information regarding 2019 ticket sales which results in this report focusing on 2018.

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Ruoff Music Center Logo
OBJECTIVE
This report was compiled for the managers of Ruoff Music Center to take further action
in improving the venue to exceed ticket sale records and enhance the experience for the concert
attendees in hopes of gaining loyal customers. These actions will help Ruoff Music Center to
further capitalize and continue to dominate the industry.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The information gathered in this report was collected from mostly external, secondary
research sources from online databases and the internet. The information provided is both
quantitative and qualitative. This information was gathered throughout December of 2019 and
most sources were published within the past two years. Information regarding 2019 ticket sales
at Ruoff Music Center were unknown when this report was constructed.
RESEARCH AND KEY FINDINGS.
For Hoosiers, short for Indiana natives, and residents of surrounding Midwest states who
want to enjoy a concert under the stars, Ruoff Music Center is the most feasible option. Ruoff
Music Center is a Live Nation owned amphitheater located in Noblesville, Indiana. Ruoff Music

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Center has a pit, covered seating, and general admission seating in the lawn. Concert attenders will
enjoy their time listening to music surrounded by others who enjoy the same kind of music. Live
Nation is a well-known, household name. With a recent name change in 2017, the new title
sponsor, Ruoff Home Mortgage, was able to connect
the community to the music industry, making it feel
more local (Fort, 2017). Ruoff Music Center also
committed to only serving “locally grown produce
and humanely raised meats” at their concession
stands (Ruoff, n.d.). Recently, Ruoff has allowed
local food trucks to be inside of the venue as well! These actions have not only allowed more
Hoosier businesses to flourish, but also has made Ruoff Music Center feel community based,
which is a likeable Midwestern attribute.
In recent years, Ruoff Music Center has exceeded expectations in ticket sales. In 2018,
Ruoff Music Center was
ranked in the #1 spot for
ticket sales for amphitheater
venues worldwide (2018
Year, n.d.). These results
coincide with how successful the live music industry has been recently and potentially will be in
the future. The live music industry revenue is expected to “increase at a compound rate of 3.3%”
from now into 2022 (Sanchez, 2018). It is possible Ruoff Music Center and other venues will
excel during this period due to high demand for live concerts.
To keep up with this demand and gain from the benefits, Ruoff Music Center hosts tours
in a variety of genres. Three of these targeted genres are Country, Rock, and Pop. Consumers
Pollstar 2018 Amphitheatre Rankings (cropped)
Ruoff Music Center Crowd

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have the option to purchase pit, covered seating, or general admission seats. Consumers who
purchase general admission tickets risk the effects of bad weather including precipitation and
mud. Multiple complaints about mud can be found on social media. The landscaping in the lawn
has become a recent majorly verbalized issue at Ruoff Music Center. Many amphitheaters are
choosing to go to turf grass for easy maintenance (Beautifying, 2013). Turf grass not only is easy
to maintain but could be beneficial to Ruoff Music Center because there will be little to no mud
which will help reduce replanting costs and possibly maintain general admission ticket sales.
Other complaints on social media relate to the sound quality. Potential reasons for these
complaints could stem from dated equipment, positioning of speakers, and incompatibility
between the artist’s equipment and the venues equipment. Artists who have overlooked playing
at Ruoff Music Center could revisit this option if they see that the company is making efforts to
update their facility.
Even though there are many negative comments about Ruoff Music Center, there are
also positive ones. Examples include appreciation for getting a free ticket upgrade, the amazing
line ups, and the unforgettable sunsets on summer nights. This is a great source for natural
advertising for Ruoff Music Center. However, giving unsold seat tickets to general admission
attendees for free might not be as beneficial for Ruoff Music Center as they hope it would be.
Having a concert venue in Indiana secure a notable ranking is a great accomplishment
within itself, but Ruoff Music Center is not excluded from having competition. The Farm Bureau
Insurance Lawn at White River State Park and Bankers Life Fieldhouse are two nearby
competitors, but Ruoff Music Center overwhelmingly trumps these competitors in ticket sales. In
order for the competition to keep up with Ruoff Music Center, many of the competitors are
finding ways to take after aspects of the venue. Although this is flattering, this may bring upon

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some competitive issues for Ruoff Music Center unless changes, additions, and evaluations are
made.
CONCLUSIONS
Ruoff Music Center had the top ticket sales for all amphitheaters in 2018. The success
from Ruoff Music Center is not only from ticket sales, but also from merging the glamorous
music industry and the local Hoosier community. Outside of the success, Ruoff Music Center has
a few problems to target. These issues include the general admission lawn being muddy, poor
sound quality most likely to incompatible equipment, and free unsold ticket giveaways. If Ruoff
Music Center wants to continue being profitable and values loyal customers, the venue must take
action to these issues.
RECOMMENDATIONS
To ensure the longevity of success and enhance the potential of gaining loyal customers,
Ruoff Music Center should consider upgrading the lawn from grass to turf, initiate yearly system
evaluations to keep up with advancing equipment, and refrain from giving too many unsold
tickets away for free. Since Ruoff Music Center is owned by Live Nation, it should be fairly
feasible to switch from regular grass to turf. This will refrain from concert attendees having to
interact with mud. Initiating yearly system evaluations will not only allow for better sound
quality and stage production during concerts but could also peak interest to artists who might not
have considered Ruoff Music Center before. Research will need to be conducted over the sound
systems, stage, lighting, and gear necessary for more theatrical performances (ie Lady Gage,
KISS, P!nk concerts). Concert attendees have shared on social media about getting upgraded
from lawn seats to covered seats for free. Although this a great marketing and company

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appreciation tactic, these tickets could be sold at an extremely discounted price the day of the
show in the box office. Monetarily, this will not make a huge impact on Ruoff Music Center, but
the company will lose less money for each ticket purchased.
In order to accomplish these recommendations, Ruoff Music Center should set goals. By
2022, Ruoff Music Center should have turf rather than grass in the general admission sections.
At the end of each season, Ruoff Music Center should evaluate all systems and assets within the
venue and upgrade when necessary to keep up with the advancing music industry. Ruoff Music
Center should set a goal to also sell at least a quarter of the unsold tickets to present consumers
the day of each show and reflect if giving away tickets will be of benefit to the company.
These recommendations may not bring drastic results of improvement for the company,
but long term, these changes can potentially grow loyal customers for the company and increase
the ticket sales at Ruoff Music Center. Further information about ticket sales for 2019 were not
available at the time of this report. Another report should be developed each year to examine if
these recommendations bring any benefit to the company.

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REFERENCES
2018 Year End Worldwide Ticket Sales Top 200 Arena Venues. (n.d.). Retrieved December 4,
2019, from
https://www.pollstar.com/Chart/2018/12/2018YearEndWorldwideTicketSalesTop200Are
naVenues_702.pdf.
Beautifying Amphitheaters with Synthetic Turf. (2013, July 23). Retrieved December 19, 2019,
from https://synthetic-turf.com/2013/07/23/turf-amphitheaters/.
Fort Wayne's Ruoff Home Mortgage now title sponsor of Noblesville music center. (September
28, 2017). The News-Sentinel (Fort Wayne, Indiana). Retrieved from https://advance-
lexis com.oclc.fullsail.edu/api/document?collection=news&id=urn:contentItem:5PKD-
72P1-JC6P-C12J-00000-00&context=1516831.
Klipsch Music Center. (n.d.). Retrieved December 2, 2019, from
http://www.noblesvilleamphitheater.com/.
Ruoff Music Center Venue Details in Noblesville, Indiana. (n.d.). Retrieved December 6, 2019,
from https://www.livenation.com/venues/14412/ruoff-music-center.
Sanchez, D. (2018, October 26). The Live Music Industry Will Be Worth $31 Billion Worldwide
by 2022. Retrieved December 18, 2019, from
https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2018/10/26/latest-live-music-revenue-31-billion-
2022/.
IMAGES
2018 Year End Worldwide Ticket Sales Top 200 Arena Venues. (n.d.). Retrieved December 4,
2019, from
https://www.pollstar.com/Chart/2018/12/2018YearEndWorldwideTicketSalesTop200Are
naVenues_702.pdf.
Ruoff Music Center Crowd. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.theindychannel.com/ruoff-
music-center-releases-concert-lineup-for-31st-season
Ruoff Music Center Logo. (n.d.) Retrieved from https://twitter.com/ruoffmusicenter/photo