Tom Cantone Aims For The Stars At Mohegan Sun Arena

UNCASVILLE, CT (CelebrityAccess MediaWire) — The Mohegan Sun Arena, overseen by Tom Cantone Vice, President, Sports And Entertainment, has in recent years, become a major destination for top-level touring artists.

2012 proved to be a big year for the Mohegan Sun Arena, with Billboard ranking the venue #3 with a capacity up to 10,000 in the U.S., and fourth in the world, on the strength of shows such as The Who, One Direction, Coldplay and the Dave Matthews Band.

As well, 2013 looks to be shaping up to be an even bigger year for the Sun and the arena's schedule already includes dates by a list of top-tier touring artists such as Lady Gaga, Kenny Chesney, Rush, Sting, Green Day, Fleetwood Mac, The Killers, Maroon 5, Pink and Muse among others.

"I'm proud of what we're doing here because, yeah, it is somewhat of an unprecedented and historic casino run that seems to have caught a lot of industry attention," Cantone told local newspaer, The New London Day.

Cantone's success comes in part from the leverage that the casino provides, both with developing artists in the casino's ancillary venues such as the Wolf's Den, which provides weekly free shows and with the Sun's ability to bolster their bids for major artists with the extra revenue revenue generated for the casino by concerts. As well, Cantone has been able to forge strategic partnerships with key agents, as well as major promoters such as Live Nation.

"They're great partnerships and we try to help each other with our respective resources. Together we try to think far in advance, tracking the buzz of certain names that we come to believe are going to become the next big things," Cantone told The Day.

As if running one of the leading arenas in the U.S. wasn't enough, Cantone is has also written a new memoir recounting his 30 years in the industry. Called "Book 'Em," it recounts Cantone's experiences and recollections of more than 100 major artists and personalities from Alicia Keys and Al Gore to Al Pacino and Ke$ha.

"I didn't really do it for any reason other than I'd been fortunate to meet a lot of great artists and people, and I thought I'd better do it while I can still remember it all," Cantone told The Day. – CelebrityAccess Staff Writers