Tampa, Florida / New York, USA, May 8, 2026
Straz Center is a cornerstone of Tampa Bay's cultural landscape. Opened in 1987 and located on a nine-acre campus along the Hillsborough River in downtown Tampa, the complex houses six distinct performance venues: the 2,610-seat Morsani Hall, the 1,042-seat Ferguson Hall, the 300-seat Jaeb Theater, the 250-seat TECO Theater, the 130-seat Shimberg Playhouse and the soon-to-reopen Riverwalk Stage. Straz hosts one of the nation's leading touring Broadway series, produces professional theatre, stages grand opera through Opera Tampa, and is home to resident company Jobsite Theater Company, as well as Patel Conservatory which is a key component of Straz’s arts education programs which serve nearly 80,000 young people, veterans and lifelong learners annually.
In a typical season, more than 600,000 patrons attend 1,500+ events at Straz Center. The organization generates a regional economic impact of more than $130 million annually. In early 2025, Straz Center broke ground on an $80 million, 170,000-square-foot Master Plan expansion project. With completion expected in late 2027, the project ensures that Straz Center programs remain welcoming, relevant and accessible for the growing Tampa Bay community.
"Straz Center is not just a venue. It is a cultural institution that reaches hundreds of thousands of lives every year, through Broadway, opera, comedy, concerts, education, community programming, military veteran activities and events of every kind," said Greg Holland, President and CEO of Straz Center for the Performing Arts. "Partnering with vivenu gives us the infrastructure to match our ambitious growth. We gain full control over how our patrons experience Straz from the first click, the ability to connect ticketing data directly to our audience development and fundraising efforts, and a platform that can handle the complexity and scale of what we do, across five theaters, 1,500+ events, and a community that expects nothing less than excellence."
Summer Bohnenkamp, Chief Commerce and Marketing Officer/ Executive Producer at Straz Center, added: "We've built one of the strongest performing arts marketing operations in the country, and what we've needed is a ticketing platform that keeps pace with how we actually work. vivenu gives us real-time visibility into patron behavior across every venue and event type, the ability to segment and reach our audiences with precision, and a checkout experience that keeps our brand front and center. For a marketing team managing the incredible volume and variety of programming we do, that changes everything."
"This is the partnership we've been building toward," said Simon Hennes, CEO and Co-Founder of vivenu. "Straz Center is one of the most respected performing arts institutions in the country. And the expectation from leadership is clear: ticketing has to be a strategic asset, not a back-office function. We built vivenu to meet exactly that standard, and we're honored to prove it at this scale."
Jyace Stutsman, Director of Global Partnerships at vivenu, added: "Working with Greg, Summer, and the Straz team, it became clear very quickly that this is an organization that thinks about ticketing the way we do: As the foundation for every patron relationship, every fundraising conversation, and every programming decision. Straz Center is the largest performing arts partner in vivenu's history, and it's one of several major performing arts signings we're announcing this year."
The implementation will cover the full scope of Straz Center's ticketing operations, including online and box office sales across all theaters, season and flexible subscription management, reserved seating with interactive seat maps, donation and fundraising integration at checkout, patron data unification, and mobile-optimized ticket delivery. The vivenu platform will give Straz Center's marketing, development, ticketing and administration teams a connected view of patron behavior across all venues and event types.
About the Straz Center for the Performing Arts
One of the largest performing arts complexes in the country, Straz Center boasts one of the nation’s leading Broadway series and is nationally respected for producing grand opera through Opera Tampa, as well as presenting a wide variety of concerts, performances and events. Straz Center’s Patel Conservatory annually serves nearly 80,000 students though extensive arts education programs. For more information about Straz Center, Opera Tampa or Patel Conservatory, visit www.strazcenter.org/.
About vivenu
vivenu is the leading global primary ticketing solution, empowering organizers and rights holders to transform their primary sales channel into a strategic business asset. Designed for high performance and full customization, vivenu's platform powers the world's most premier event brands. This includes the Grammy Awards, the Golden Globes, and global sports organizations such as HYROX and Stanford Athletics. With a footprint spanning 50+ countries, vivenu specializes in flexibility across all ticketing aspects from ticket design to distribution and premium experiences. vivenu provides services for 1,000+ clients and the digital tools for the future of live entertainment. By prioritizing control and ownership of first-party data and serving as the only platform for the AI-first fan engagement era, vivenu ensures that rights holders and event organizers streamline their operations, gain full control of their ticketing, and drive top- and bottom-line results, as well as enterprise value.
For more information, please visit vivenu.com, or send a press inquiry to media@vivenu.com.