Nashville Venues Win Arena and Club of the Year at IEBA Honors: Full Winners List

Two Nashville venues – the Brooklyn Bowl Nashville and Bridgestone Arena – were honored at the 2025 IEBA Honors & Awards ceremony, which was held on Tuesday (Oct.7) at the Grand Hyatt in Nashville. Comedian Dusty Slay hosted the ceremony, which capped a three-day IEBA conference. IEBA (International Entertainment Buyers Association) is the leading trade organization for live entertainment industry professionals.

“These awards are truly special because they are selected by those who know the work best—their peers,” IEBA executive director Brian Wagner said in a statement. “They celebrate the visionary minds and tireless leaders working out of the spotlight who, with every show, propel our industry forward.”

The event also honored the induction of two new members into the IEBA Hall of Fame: Nederlander Concerts CEO Alex Hodges and legendary concert promoter Chuck Morris. The Hall of Fame was established in 2010.

IEBA’s 56th annual conference will be again be held at the Grand Hyatt & The Pinnacle Nashville Oct. 4-6, 2026.

Here’s a complete list of 2025 nominees, with winners marked.

Club of the year

    9:30 Club

    Billy Bob’s Texas

    WINNER: Brooklyn Bowl Nashville

    City Winery New York City

    First Avenue

    Joe’s Live 

    The Sylvee

Casino of the year

    Choctaw Casino & Resort – Durant     

    Foxwoods Resort Casino

    Fallsview Casino Resort

    Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Bristol

    WINNER: Mohegan Sun     

    Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort 

    Thunder Valley Casino Resort 

    Yaamava’ Resort & Casino    

Theater of the year

    ACL Live

    Altria Theater    

    Beacon Theatre

    Charleston Music Hall

    WINNER: Fox Theater Atlanta

    The Paramount (Huntington, NY)

    YouTube Theater

Arena of the year

    WINNER: Bridgestone Arena

    Climate Pledge Arena

    Crypto.com Arena

    Intuit Dome

    Madison Square Garden

    Moody Center

    Target Center

Amphitheater of the year

    Ascend Amphitheater

    The Gorge

    WINNER: The Greek Theatre

    Koka Booth Amphitheatre

    The Orion Amphitheater

    Pine Knob Music Theatre

    The Salt Shed

Fair/Expo of the year

    The Big E

    California Mid-State Fair

    Iowa State Fair

    Orange County Fair

    State Fair of Texas

    Wilson County/Tennessee State Fair

    WINNER: Wisconsin State Fair   

Festival of the year

    WINNER: Austin City Limits Festival

    BottleRock Napa Valley

    Lollapalooza (Chicago)

    Louder Than Life

    Newport Folk Festival

    Rock the Country

    Stagecoach

Club buyer of the year

    Jacki Becker, Mammoth Live

    Bobby Clay, C3 Presents

    Vickie Gordon, MassConcerts

    Jen Hass, 9:30 Club

    Colin Keegan, Live Nation

    Jesse Sherman & Summer Wuestenberg, FPC Live    

    WINNER: Ed Warm, Joe’s Live

Casino buyer of the year

    WINNER: Deana Baker, Choctaw Casino Resort – Durant    

    Billy Brill, DWP Talent Services

    Drew Dixon, Yaamava’ Resort & Casino

    Xavier Henry, Hard Rock International    

    Brandon Kaplan, C3 Presents

    Joe Moallempour, DWP Talent Services        

Special events/corporate buyer of the year

    Degy Entertainment    

    Elevate Experiences

    EVA

    Kerr Entertainment Group    

    WINNER: Neste Live!    

    OnStage Talent Group

International buyer of the year

    Kelly Berehulka, Club Regent Event Centre  

    Gerard Drouot Productions    

    WINNER: Susan Heymann, Frontier Touring    

    Emmanuel Patterson, F7 Entertainment

    Judy Seale, Judy Seale International    

    Anna-Sophie Mertens, Live Nation   

    Steve Tilley, Kilimanjaro Live   

Fair/Expo buyer of the year

    WINNER: Andrew Fortin, Neste Live!    

    Eric Marcuse, Romeo Entertainment Group    

    Sara Novak, Triangle Talent

    Pat Powelson, Jayson Entertainment Group

    Justine Vergeer, Variety Attractions   

Festival buyer of the year

    WINNER: Amy Corbin, C3 Presents

    Gil Cunningham, Neste Live!

    Hannah Gold, Newport Festivals Foundation

    Tom Hoppa, BottleRock Napa Valley    

    Lauren Stark, Summerfest

    Del Williams, Danny Wimmer Presents

Venue executive of the year

    Becky Colwell, Kia Forum/Intuit Dome

    WINNER: Laurie Jacoby, BSE/Barclays Center

    Rich MacKeigan, Legends Global/Van Andel Arena/DeVos Performance Hall

    Michael Marion, Simmons Bank Arena

    Jeff Nickler, Moody Center

    Hallie Yavitch, AEG/Crypto.com Arena/Peacock Theater/L.A. Live   

Young professional of the year

    Ann Carlson, Mammoth Live

    Trevor Chesler, Sphere

    Carly Dibble, Romeo Entertainment Group

    WINNER: Marcus Greenstein, Day After Day Productions    

    Victor Sanchez, Hard Rock/Seminole Gaming

Music & entertainment industry educator of the year

    WINNER: Mike Garcia, University of Southern California

    Gloria Green, Middle Tennessee State University

    Philip Rothschild, Missouri State University

    Ed Traversari, Point Park University    

    Jasmine Young, Howard University

Boutique agency agent of the year

    Heath Baumhor, Reliant Talent     

    Sullivan Bigg, BTE

    Ali Hedrick, ROAM    

    Bob Kinkead, The Kinkead Entertainment Agency     

    WINNER: Seth Shomes, Day After Day Productions

    Adam Zagor, Universal Attractions Agency

Major agency agent of the year

    WINNER: Kevin Kastrup, Wasserman Music   

    Adam Kornfeld, IAG

    Braeden Rountree, WME

    Mario Tirado, CAA    

    Elisa Vazzana, UTA   

Promoter of the year

    Pat Fielder, Mammoth Live

    Darin Lashinsky, NS2     

    Colin Lewis, Live Nation

    Jason Oschwald, Big Spring Entertainment     

    WINNER: Adam Weiser, AEG Presents    

IEBA Hall of Fame Inductees

    Alex Hodges

    Chuck Morris