VENU Holding Corporation‘s $350 million Sunset Amphitheater in McKinney, Texas, is advancing on schedule, marking a significant step in the company’s strategy to create real estate-backed, integrated entertainment hubs across the nation. This flagship, state-of-the-art venue is set to redefine the live music experience for the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex.
Redefining the Live Experience and Market Potential
The 20,000-seat premium amphitheater is slated to host its first concerts in 2026. Projections suggest the venue could rapidly scale to over 80 annual shows in its first full year, drawing premier global talent.
The project’s strategic location at the junction of US 75 and the Sam Rayburn Tollway is key. It sits within a lucrative area, accessible to nearly 4 million residents in a 30-minute drive and almost 10 million people within just over an hour. This places the venue in one of the most economically and demographically dynamic catchment zones in the country.
Year-Round Design and Premium Amenities
The designers engineered the 46-acre site for multi-season use, which enables year-round operation. While the venue will accommodate 20,000 guests in warmer months, the design ingeniously incorporates a winter configuration for 5,000 guests, complete with heated flooring, a partially enclosed roof, and wind walls to ensure comfort during colder weather.
In addition to the flexible design, the venue emphasizes a premium experience through key features:
Fire Pit Suites: 295 available suites offer VIP parking, dedicated food and beverage service, and prime sightlines. Notably, over 250 exclusive suites have already sold, with prices ranging from $298,000 to $1 million.
The Aikman Club: This ultra-premium, members-only space, named for NFL Hall of Famer and VENU partner Troy Aikman, will offer fine dining, concierge services, and exclusive VIP seating.
Sponsorship: Furthermore, a sponsorship from EIGHT Elite Light Beer, a brand Aikman co-founded, reinforces the venue’s upscale, Texas-centric identity.
VENU’s Scalable Growth Model
VENU’s prior experience, which includes projects like its Ford Amphitheater in Colorado Springs, allows the company to efficiently develop and deliver high-end entertainment venues. This streamlined construction and delivery model, therefore, supports the company’s rapidly expanding portfolio. Currently, this portfolio boasts an impressive pipeline of over $5 billion in total value, with $1.3 billion under construction nationwide.
Crucially, strong financial planning supports this aggressive growth. CEO and Chairman J.W. Roth noted, “From day one, we’ve been clear about how we intend to fund expansion — through public-private partnerships, FireSuite sales, and sale-leasebacks… Our growth is accelerating faster than we expected, and the foundation we’ve laid is designed for scale.” Consequently, 38 municipalities actively negotiate for future VENU campuses.
Economic Momentum and Corporate Evolution
The McKinney project is expected to deliver a significant economic boost to the region; in fact, D Magazine projects it will generate $3.8 billion in local economic impact over the next decade.
Notes Live Inc. originally launched this project, but the company underwent a strategic corporate rebranding to VENU Holding Corporation (VENU) in September 2024. This change reflects the company’s broader mission to become a national network of live entertainment venues. Although the name changed, the company maintained its commitment to the McKinney Sunset Amphitheater, with the project breaking ground in June 2025. Ultimately, the transition from Notes Live to VENU represents an evolution in scope, as the company uses a wider corporate identity to leverage its established vision for high-end developments.
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“When the project was first unveiled, Notes Live CEO JW Roth captured the immense ambition, stating, ‘They say everything’s larger in Texas, and for the Sunset Amphitheater in McKinney, that was our guiding principle—larger, and better. McKinney is an incredible community, and we can’t wait to construct the most extravagant venue on Earth.”
The $350 million McKinney Sunset Amphitheater is the fourth new VENU’s announced in the past 2 years. One of the company’s recent amphitheater projects, the Sunset Amphitheatre in Colorado Springs, started building in March 2023 and is set to open in August.
Game-changer for entertainment offerings in McKinney
“This world-class music venue is a game-changer for our entertainment offerings in McKinney and will be a boon for our economic growth and tourism sector. With a state-of-the-art venue of this size, we can draw some of the largest musical acts to the city and attract fans from across Texas and the surrounding states. This new addition to our community will bring even more life and energy to our already thriving arts scene and undoubtedly continue to set McKinney apart as an entertainment and cultural hub in the region.”
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Is Sunset Amphitheater in McKinney the largest concert venue in the Metroplex?
The planned Sunset Amphitheater in McKinney is set to accommodate a sizable crowd, yet it won’t claim the title of the largest concert venue in the Metroplex. The Dallas’ Cotton Bowl Stadium boasts the highest capacity for a concert venue in North Texas, with over 91,000 seats. Following closely are Arlington’s AT&T Stadium, with an 80,000-seat capacity, and Choctaw Stadium, with a capacity of 48,000. With a capacity of 20,000, Sunset Amphitheater will align with other mid-size concert venues in the Metroplex, including American Airlines Center in Dallas and Dos Equis Pavilion in Dallas, both with a capacity of 20,000, and Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, boasting a capacity of 14,000.
The McKinney Sunset Amphitheater is soon set to join the ranks of new major venues like the Allianz Amphitheater at Riverfront in Richmond, VA, which opened in June 2025 and is now fully active.
The Dallas-Fort Worth area, renowned for its diverse entertainment scene, has traditionally hosted many of its major concerts and music events in venues—primarily repurposed sports arenas—not originally designed for acoustic or live music optimization.
George Fuller, the then-Mayor of McKinney, noted that the construction of the Sunset Amphitheater in McKinney would resolve this longstanding issue. He anticipated that the new $300 million facility would provide the DFW market with a purpose-built venue that is architecturally and acoustically tailored specifically to the preferences of music enthusiasts and major touring acts.
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