Upgrades Expected to Make MassMutual Center More Competitive
Sean Dolan says the hard work to secure nearly $100 million from the state for upgrades to the MassMutual Center began years before the press conference earlier this summer to announce the funding.
Much of that work involved tours, or walk-throughs, said Dolan, general manager of the facility, of both the MassMutual Center and competing venues in Hartford, Providence, Worcester, and elsewhere, to show where the more than half-century-old arena and quarter-century-old convention center were showing their age and falling behind that competition.
“It started back in 2019 … mentioning to those at the Mass. Convention Center Authority that, with our competitor set, we were doing very well, but we had fallen behind our competition,” he told BusinessWest, adding that there are different competitors for both the arena and the convention center, and the Springfield facility was losing out on business in both realms and in danger of losing more, especially as the other venues went about their own improvements.
