Officials plan to cut the arena in half to reduce its 18,000-seat capacity for selected acts.
Artists always prefer to sell out and turn people away than play to half-empty arenas.
The Pond shouldn't siphon off much business from Universal Amphitheatre, said Alex Hodges, executive vice president for House of Blues Concerts, which books the Universal. But the way I view other venues is that on any given day, any venue or every venue may be your competitor. Capacity typically will range from 5,000 to 7,000, with a maximum of around 8,000 seats. It doesn't help to cut seating from 18,000 down to 6,000 if the overhead to promoters is essentially the same as in the full arena. The cost of doing a show has to be proportionally reduced as well.