AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug 25, 2026--
Today, AEG Presents announced United Heritage Hall, a new state-of-the-art, 4,000-capacity live music venue in Austin, Texas, opening in spring 2027. Named through a partnership between AEG Presents and United Heritage Credit Union, the venue will blend Austin’s legendary live music heritage with a bold vision for the future of live entertainment. The venue will pair world-class production with an intimate, fan-first experience, creating a new destination for live music in one of the world's most celebrated music cities.
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Developed by AEG Presents in partnership with Westfield, Partners Group, and Presidium, United Heritage Hall will anchor River Park, the 109-acre mixed-use development in Austin's rapidly growing Riverside neighborhood. The venue will play a central role in River Park's vision for a vibrant, walkable district that brings new music, culture, and entertainment opportunities to Austin's east side. Located just minutes from downtown and Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, the venue is poised to become a lasting fixture in Austin's cultural landscape, honoring the city's musical legacy while helping shape its future.
"We are incredibly honored to announce United Heritage Hall in partnership with our amazing friends at United Heritage Credit Union. From day one, they believed in our vision of a venue that marries Austin’s rich musical legacy with the next chapter of its live music story,” commented Robin Phillips, VP, Southwest Region, AEG Presents. "United Heritage Hall is the culmination of our team’s tireless work anchored by an unwavering belief that this city deserves another truly iconic room. We cannot wait to open the doors and welcome everyone!"
“United Heritage Credit Union will celebrate 70 years of serving our members and communities in 2027, making the opening of United Heritage Hall especially meaningful,” said Michael Ver Schuur, President and CEO of United Heritage Credit Union. “For seven decades, we have grown alongside Central Texas and invested in the people and places that make this region extraordinary. United Heritage Hall represents both a celebration of that heritage and an investment in Austin’s future with a gathering place bringing together artists, music fans, and communities for generations to come.”
Every element of United Heritage Hall has been thoughtfully designed to enhance the live music experience. United Heritage Hall draws inspiration from 1920s Art Deco, the optimism of mid-century design, and a bold vision for the future, bringing together influences from across generations in a way that feels fresh, distinctive, and unmistakably Austin.
The approximately 65,000-square-foot venue will host an eclectic calendar of concerts spanning global touring artists, emerging talent, and Austin's celebrated local music community. Designed for world-class performances, United Heritage Hall will feature state-of-the-art sound and lighting, exceptional sightlines, premium hospitality offerings, luxury suites, VIP seating, and thoughtfully designed artist spaces, delivering an intimate, fan-first environment designed to immerse audiences from the moment they arrive.
United Heritage Hall will open in 2027. Additional details, including inaugural performances, ticket information, and venue programming, will be announced at a later date. Sign up here to receive more information as it becomes available: www.UnitedHeritageHall.com.
About AEG Presents
Combining the power of the live event with a focus on true artist development, AEG Presents is a world leader in the music and entertainment industries. Operating across five continents, the company has an unparalleled commitment to artistry, creativity, and community. Its tentpole festivals and multi-day music events — which include the iconic Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival and the legendary New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival alongside British Summer Time at Hyde Park, Stagecoach, Electric Forest, Rock En Seine and All Points East — continue to set the bar for the live music experience. AEG Presents promotes global tours for artists such as ATEEZ, Justin Bieber, Zach Bryan, Sabrina Carpenter, Kenny Chesney, Luke Combs, Celine Dion, ENHYPEN, Elton John, Carin León, Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones, Ed Sheeran, Taylor Swift, and Tyler, The Creator, in addition to — through its network of clubs, theatres, arenas, stadiums and renowned partner brands such as The Bowery Presents, Cárdenas Marketing Network, Concerts West, Frontier Touring, Goldenvoice, Marshall Arts, MCT Agentur, Messina Touring Group, Outback Presents, PromoWest Productions, and Zero Mile Presents — creating and developing an unmatched infrastructure for artist development and audience reach. More information can be found at www.aegpresents.com
About United Heritage Credit Union
United Heritage Credit Union is a full-service, member-owned financial institution founded in Austin in 1957. Today, United Heritage serves more than 84,000 members, manages more than $1.7 billion in assets, and operates 11 branch locations across Central and East Texas, supported by convenient digital banking services. For nearly 70 years, United Heritage has helped Texans build stronger financial futures by making banking more personal. Through competitive financial solutions, innovative technology, and thoughtful service grounded in genuine human connection, United Heritage works to create meaningful experiences for its members and the communities it serves. In 2027, the credit union will celebrate its 70th anniversary and continue its vision to be its members’ primary financial institution. For more information, visit uhcu.org. Federally insured by NCUA.
AEG PRESENTS TO OPEN UNITED HERITAGE HALL IN AUSTIN, TX IN 2027
Public Media Co. celebrated its 25th anniversary Tuesday night with a $10 million donation from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation to support its transformation into a major grantmaker — a role that would have been unthinkable two years ago.
As recently as 2024, the nonprofit consultant that works to strengthen public radio stations reported $3.42 million in revenue, according to tax filings. Public Media CEO Tim Isgitt said he was proud of his “small, but mighty team” and the impact that they had on the sector.
Then came the federal funding cuts.
One day in June 2025, Isgitt told a roomful of funders that federal cuts to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting could create a “doom loop” with catastrophic effects on the entire public radio sector, requiring them all to act immediately.
The next day, the House of Representatives voted to rescind all of CPB’s funding, about $1.1 billion that stations were already promised. Within weeks, the Senate followed suit.
“It felt just like a wave that washed over us all of a sudden,” Isgitt told The Associated Press.
Isgitt and Public Media were quickly pressed into service. His idea to help was suddenly in demand.
“PMC had never been a grantmaking organization before, but everybody was saying, ‘You’ve got to do this,’” he said. “So we sort of turned ourselves inside out, hired some staff and became a grantmaking organization.”
By August 2025, Public Media had organized a fundraising bonanza. It created the Public Media Bridge Fund to raise and quickly donate $100 million to stabilize public radio stations that depended on CPB funding for more than 30% of their annual budgets and were in danger of closing after the federal cuts.
The fund launched with $27 million, including an initial $10 million donation from the Knight Foundation and support from Pivotal and the Ford, MacArthur, Robert Wood Johnson and Schmidt Family foundations. By December, it had distributed all $27 million to stabilize endangered stations. Stations with support from other sources, including the Bureau of Indian Affairs for tribal stations and the state of New Mexico for stations there, did not receive funding.
“That was a good thing,” Isgitt said, “because we committed every dime that we had.”
The Public Media Bridge Fund has raised about $87 million and stabilized 186 public radio stations that serve about 30 million people in the United States. The Knight Foundation’s additional $10 million donation, announced Tuesday, is part of PMC’s new $38 million fundraising effort to help stations become more financially sustainable without federal funding.
Knight Foundation President and CEO Maribel Perez Wadsworth said she was impressed with how quickly and effectively Public Media deployed funds last year.
“Now, it is really turning all of its attention to sustainability and the things that are critical to sustainability,” said Perez Wadsworth, adding that PMC’s focus on fostering collaboration between local news organizations can “drive the kind of business model change that will hopefully support sustainability in the long run.”
The bridge fund will still support stations with unstable budgets; the fund is now also looking at projects with broader impact, Isgitt said.
“Our attention now is more on the nationwide system and how it can sort of re-engineer itself to work more efficiently,” he said.
Judy Diaz, general manager of Delmarva Public Radio, said its stations relied on CPB for about 33% of their funding. The public radio network is a collaboration of three Maryland nonprofit stations owned by Salisbury University and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore.
Cost-cutting and increased donations allowed Delmarva Public Radio to use part of its Public Media Bridge Fund grant to modernize equipment and purchase new marketing database software. It also established a content-sharing agreement with Baltimore Public Media.
The changes tripled the number of donors and listeners in the station’s marketing database and increased membership revenue by 20% over last year's already unusually strong donations as supporters responded to the federal cuts, Diaz said.
“I can now see a clear path for the foreseeable future,” she added. “We didn’t have that before.”
Ashley Alvarado, president and CEO of Texas Public Radio, said Public Media and its bridge fund are helping her organization navigate a combination with the nonprofit newsroom San Antonio Report. The two nonprofits decided in July to join forces, believing they would be stronger financially together.
“What we found is that the strengths and weaknesses of each organization would really benefit from that combination,” Alvarado said.
It’s the kind of transformation Public Media hopes to bring to all its stations: improving financial stability while better serving communities. “Media and technologies are evolving quickly,” Isgitt said. “If these community organizations want to remain relevant, they have to evolve too.”
Knight’s Perez Wadsworth said the Public Media Bridge Fund was intended as a stopgap to keep public stations operating while they developed financial plans without federal support. However, she also knows philanthropy cannot replace large federal grants for long.
She hopes Congress will see the importance of public radio stations — for emergency broadcasts, for providing news and community information, and for fostering connection and civic participation.
“It is my belief, maybe because I’m a hard-wired optimist, that after stepping back from the brink and seeing the absolute need and critical nature of these stations, we will see some level of funding again, even at the federal level,” Perez Wadsworth said. "I think we will see a path to a thoughtful recalibration of what funding these stations looks like.”
Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.
Public Media Company CEO Tim Isgitt stands for a portrait on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Public Media Company CEO Tim Isgitt stands for a portrait on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Public Media Company CEO Tim Isgitt sits for a portrait on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Public Media Company CEO Tim Isgitt sits for a portrait on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Public Media Company CEO Tim Isgitt sits for a portrait on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
