Spotlight On: Michael Fresher, President & CEO, Tobin Center for the Performing Arts
July 2025 — In an interview with Invest:, Michael Fresher, the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts’ president and CEO, highlighted the need for a growing metro area to have a solid arts and culture scene. The Tobin Center thrives because Fresher and his team regularly address changing audience expectations and ensure the center’s positive economic impact. “The return on investment has been met,” Fresher said. “While The Tobin Center is looked at as an arts center and an arts and culture driver, The Tobin Center is also an economic driver.”
What larger economic trends are impacting the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts?
The Tobin Center is one of the largest arts nonprofits in the region. Some of the current federal administration decisions have certainly impacted economic conditions. Additionally, some of the Tobin’s donors are more hesitant to commit to sponsorships and contributions due to the market volatility and the uncertainty as a result of these conditions. These have been two of the major impacts on the Tobin’s business model.
As far as operations, The Tobin Center averages two events every single day. This makes the venue busy. From an event activity perspective, The Tobin Center has not seen a significant impact on its business, but there has been a slight downturn in ticket sales, which may be attributed to current economic conditions.
How is the center working to combat some of these challenges?
The Tobin Center addressed this back in the pre-COVID era when it created Tobin Entertainment, LLC, the company’s off-site booking and promotion company, which currently operates in 36 states and 88 cities. The Tobin Center team learned that it could not simply rely on its Auditorium Circle venue alone to make an impact on the arts and was determined to bring its brand impression nationwide. Also, by creating such diverse and alternative revenue streams, The Tobin Center is able to ensure the financial stability of the organization.
What is the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts’ local economic impact?
When the Tobin Center was built in 2014, the city provided the property, which was worth approximately $40 million. The county raised about $108 million in a bond referendum. Together, this means about $148 million in public support was invested in this project by city and county government. Over the first 10 years, The Tobin Center had an economic impact of $208 million. The return on investment has been met. Continued economic impact that The Tobin Center generates for downtown San Antonio and Bexar County is an additional return-on-investment resulting from these public funds. Interestingly, The Tobin does not receive any ongoing financial support from the city of San Antonio or Bexar County.
The Tobin’s impact also reaches into job development. The Tobin Center generates 675 annual employee full-time equivalent jobs, which generate $145 million in personal income. While The Tobin Center is quite rightly looked at as a world-class performing arts center and as an arts and culture convener, the Tobin has evolved as an economic driver for the region. It is a business, and it seems that not enough business people look at the arts sector as an economic driver. However, these results cannot be denied, and the impact that The Tobin Center has had on the region has been real.
What makes San Antonio an ideal location for arts and culture investments?
San Antonio was the largest city in the country that did not have a performing arts center up until 2014. Economic development professionals will confirm that when businesses want to consider relocating their corporate leadership to larger metro areas, they take into consideration the region’s arts and culture scene. They consider whether the city has an opera, a ballet, or an orchestra, for example. With the impact of The Tobin Center over the past 11 years and the growth of its five resident companies (Ballet San Antonio, Children’s Chorus of San Antonio, Opera San Antonio, The Orchestra San Antonio and Youth Orchestras San Antonio), The Tobin Center has become the epicenter of the performing arts in the city and has checked that box for economic development efforts. The Tobin Center is consistently ranked as one of the top 3 performing arts centers in the world for theaters of its size. In just a decade, the Tobin’s name brand has been both nationally and globally recognized. Its events have attracted ticket buyers from every continent on the globe, and visitors come from both near and far to attend the Tobin’s events.
How has the public interest in arts and cultural events evolved in recent years?
Over the past 11 years, the market has become much more competitive. More of the major players in the entertainment and booking industries have taken notice of what The Tobin Center is doing in San Antonio. I believe The Tobin Center has awakened a sleeping giant in Texas, and the nation’s major players want to be a part of it. While The Tobin Center was once the only mid-sized venue in town, now there are many more. The entertainment sector is now more competitive. The cultural environment is thriving. Comparatively, the Tobin’s resident companies are all continuously improving, both artistically and financially. The collaboration among them and the way they work with The Tobin Center has benefited this growth.
How have audience expectations changed over time?
As audiences skew toward the younger demographics, they expect more of an experience. They do not want to simply sit in a seat and listen to a show. They want the entire experience, from the preshow party to the cocktails to the afterparty, for example, to be more immersive. They want it to be more of an experience than an event. The Tobin Center has made investments in that area to make the venue more inviting to people, to make it an evening versus just coming for a performance or event. It has expanded its Generation NEXT Education Initiative to include education-related enhancements tied to various events. In these ways, the Tobin strives to make a night at the venue a truly memorable experience for its visitors.
What type of events are in highest demand?
San Antonio is an interesting market. The Tobin team has learned that 1980’s rock and roll shows perform well in this city. Additionally, newer forms of entertainment – Korean Pop (“K-Pop”) and social media stars are in high demand. When the programming team brings these types of shows in, the ticket sales are brisk, and The Tobin Center usually sells out. In this market, exposing people to cultural arts, things that they may not be familiar with, is one of the biggest challenges for the Tobin and its resident companies. This is where there is much more effort that is expended in audience development, engagement, and education initiatives.
What is the outlook for the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts for the near term?
The Tobin Center strives for financial stability not only for itself but also for the Tobin’s five resident companies to make sure they are set up for success for the next decade. The Tobin Center experienced a great decade and is looking to ensure financial longevity for the upcoming decade. This is not only in terms of programming and revenue streams, but also developing planned giving programs and endowment programs, which help solidify the Tobin’s future. The Tobin’s offerings are vast, and its programming hits upon every genre. This is how The Tobin Center has achieved success thus far and how it will stay successful for the upcoming decade. The Tobin Center wants to reach the entire population and not just a select few. We have something for everyone.
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