This is part of The Enquirer’s series on the Future of Downtown.
Colleen Reynolds has been going to concerts in downtown Cincinnati since 2011, when she was a student at Xavier University.
Big concerts back then usually meant a trip to U.S. Bank Arena, now Heritage Bank Center, and maybe going out afterward in Mount Adams. She and her friends had to take a cab.
The Banks development was coming out of the ground but was nothing like the entertainment destination it is today.
As Reynolds prepares to see Taylor Swift on June 30 and July 1 at Paycor Stadium − yes, both nights the superstar is in town − she is expecting a much better concert experience.
“I grew up listening to Taylor Swift and now she’s coming to my city,” Reynolds said.
That is hardly by accident. Everything that’s happened in Cincinnati in the last two decades has led Swift to pick Cincinnati for her Eras stadium tour. Swift, at one point, even considered adding a third night in Cincinnati.
Swift isn’t going to Louisville. She isn’t going to Indianapolis. She isn’t going to Columbus or Cleveland.
She’s coming to Cincinnati.
Reynolds, Swift’s No. 1 fan in Oakley, said: “We 100% have everything in Cincinnati that makes it possible to attract one of the biggest music stars in the country. It’s a real opportunity to show off Cincinnati, not only to neighboring cities but to competitive cities too.”
A stadium that can accommodate 61,000 concertgoers? Check.
An entertainment district adjacent to the stadium? Check.
Enough hotel rooms, even if they are spread out into the suburbs? Check.
An easy destination to drive or fly to? Check and check.
Hamilton County voters made it all possible. In 1996, voters approved a half-cent sales tax that was used to build the Cincinnati Bengals’ Paycor Stadium in 2000, the Cincinnati Reds’ Great American Ball Park in 2003 and the infrastructure to support them. Over the last 20 years, the city and county jointly developed the riverfront land that sits between the stadiums, creating an entertainment area.
Today that area − an 85-acre open drinking district and 21 acres of park − features bars and restaurants, apartments and a hotel. Smale Riverfront Park runs just south, along the Ohio River. Music and Event Management Inc. opened the Andrew J. Brady Music Center at The Banks in 2021.
Growing pains aside, and there were plenty, The Banks today is an entertainment destination − whether it’s game day or not.
More than 100K expected at Banks for baseball, Eras Tour
City officials expect more than 100,000 people to flock to The Banks for Swift, baseball games and just to have fun, even if they don’t have tickets to either. Visit Cincy and the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber estimate the economic impact of Swift’s tour stop at $92 million.
“This is why you do the big stuff,” said former Mayor Mark Mallory, who was elected in 2005 and made it a priority to get the flailing riverfront development on track after a handful of failed attempts. The groundbreaking on Phase I was in 2008, at the start of the recession. The Holy Grail was the first bar to open there on St. Patrick’s Day 2011.
“You want to be able to take advantage of the opportunities that are presented around the country,” Mallory said. “We’re building Cincinnati to the point that we can accommodate just about anything going on around the country. It puts us on more equal footing with other cosmopolitan cities.”
Bob Bedinghaus, who was a Hamilton County Commissioner when the county passed the stadium tax and later worked for the Bengals as director of business development before leaving for a new job in 2020, is running the concert. He said Swift’s touring company, Messina Touring Group, approached the Bengals about a tour stop.
Swift’s touring company also represents Kenny Chesney, who performed at the football stadium in 2012, and knew Paycor Stadium had what the Swift tour requires. And that’s a lot. The tour is so popular tickets are selling for thousands of dollars more than face value. Thousands of fans without tickets flock to the venues just to listen to what can be heard outside the stadiums and merchandise sales begin days in advance of the concerts.
“This is the kind of event Great American Ball Park and Paycor Stadium can draw,” Bedinghaus said. “Riverfront Stadium did an OK job at it back in the day, but without a major venue you don’t even get a shot at it.”
While Swift is grabbing headlines now, Pink will soon with a tour stop at Great American Ball Park in July.
“Without one of these major facilities, you just don’t get a call,” Bedinghaus said. “Lots of cities within thousands of miles of us simply don’t have the facilities. We are blessed with a very solid urban core that matches with today’s needs of an urban area. There’s entertainment, hotels and dining.”
“I absolutely think we’ll get more big concerts like this,” Bedinghaus said.
Swift in Cincinnati: ‘Combination of Elvis meets the Beatles’
Jim and Rosemarie Moehring have had a front-row seat to The Banks’ success.
Jim Moehring owns The Holy Grail, a sports bar across the street from Great American Ball Park in The Banks. His wife, Rosemarie Moehring, is vice president of marketing for the owner of the Brady Center.
“It’s why we are here,” Jim Moehring said. “It’s why we pushed so hard for concert venues. It’s why we pushed so hard for The Banks. Everything we believed has come to fruition.”
Jim Moehring was vice president and general manager of Heritage Bank Center from 2001 to 2009 when it was U.S. Bank Arena. A sold-out Van Halen concert with no bars open anywhere downtown prompted him to open Holy Grail.
There is only one way to describe the excitement leading up to Swift’s Cincinnati Eras Tour stops, Jim Moerhing said: “This is a combination of Elvis meets the Beatles. The fervor behind this is literally something I’ve never seen before.”
The Beatles performed at Crosley Field in 1966.
“We have built up a destination that has made artists look at Cincinnati when they may not have before,” Rosemarie Moerhing said. “We’re getting a lot of tours we didn’t before. We’re on the map.”
