Nederlander Concerts Acquires Vina Robles Amphitheatre in Paso Robles

Promoter and venue operator Nederlander Concerts has doubled down on a crown jewel in its venue portfolio by acquiring the 3,300-capacity Vina Robles Amphitheater in Paso Robles, California, which the company has exclusively booked since 2014.

The venue, located in central California wine country north of San Luis Obispo, opened in 2013 with a focus on hospitality and set within idyllic setting, intimate 3,300-capacity including 1,000 lawn, and close views for all in attendance.

Some of the venue’s largest-grossing shows as reported to Pollstar include Rod Stewart, Neil Young, Robert Plant, Ringo Starr, Dolly Parton and Dirty Heads/Sublime With Rome, while hosting a variety of music genres as well as comedians.

“This is a huge step to acquire Vina Robles Amphitheatre and take on that sense of responsibility,” says Nederlander Concerts CEO Alex Hodges. While the venue regularly hosts around 30 concerts per season, Hodges says the company expects to increase that number significantly in the coming seasons.

“Now, with ownership, we will concentrate on Vina Robles in a completely new and fresh way, and invite other promoters to bring shows. We’ll continue to make it attractive and open,” says Hodges, who notes the venue has co-promoted and done rental deals with other promoters over the years. “It’s a pretty rich history of 300-plus artists that have been there. If you ever played at Vina Robles, I think you’ll like it, so we say come on back.”

Upcoming shows this season include Ringo Starr & His All Starr Band, Jim Gaffigan, Charley Crockett, Los Lonely Boys, Death Cab for Cutie, Tucker Wetmore, Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, Tori Amos and more into the middle of October.   Additional shows are still being confirmed for 2026 but not yet announced.

Financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed, but the purchase includes Vina Robles Amphitheatre, as well as an onsite Hospitality Center and Collins Vineyard.

In 2024, the Vina Robles wine brand was acquired by CMB Family of Wines. The Vina Robles Amphitheatre and Hospitality Center are separate from the wine brand and are now owned and operated by Nederlander. Austin Hope wine is offered on property including at the Hospitality Center, a 14,200-square foot Mission style space with tasting room and vaulted ceilings, which is available for activations and private events up to 300 capacity, also available on concert nights.

The acquisition builds on the work of the late Vina Robles founder Hans Nef and retired managing partner Hans-R. Michel, who are credited with shaping Vina Robles into a true destination in the larger wine country landscape.

“Hans Nef and Hans-R. Michel had a vision for what this amphitheatre could become, and we look forward to growing that vision,” said Rena Wasserman, SVP of Nederlander Concerts. “We’re excited to discover what resonates most with the venue and to grow in step with the community. The Nederlander team is incredibly energized to take ownership of such an exceptional venue.”

The continued booking and operation of Vina Robles Amphitheater builds on the company’s California track record, which includes popular venues like the San Jose Civic in San Jose, Grove of Anaheim in Orange County and Greek Theatre in Los Angeles.

“A purchase like this definitely gives us some lifeblood in an industry where it’s really hard to be an independent promoter, and it’s harder every year,” says Eric Milhouse, Nederlander Concerts VP of booking & event programming. He says the venue’s unique setting makes it a must-play for artists and destination for fans as well as industry, with the Nederlander team often angling for the chance to cover the next show there.  “To have some autonomy and some control, especially with a place like Vina, is special, because artists really want to play there. As a talent buyer, the easy part of the job sometimes is when you get the incoming calls.”

The venue has received accolades including being a Pollstar Award nominee for Best Small Outdoor Venue, IEBA Amphitheater of the year, and was named Best Live Music Venue for a 10th time by the local New Times SLO .

Paso Robles is largely known as a growing but rustic, quiet wine country town, about 30 minutes from beachside destinations like Morro Bay and Cayucos and located in San Luis Obispo County, population under 300,000.  The largest nearby city is San Luis Obispo, home to a popular California Polytechnic State University (often referred to as “Cal Poly”) and with a population still only around 50,000.

This means Vina Robles itself is the only comparable venue in the nearby vicinity, but also not a huge metropolitan hub, with the 12-day California Mid-State Fair often being the biggest competitor in terms of major talent, this year staging concerts by Chris Stapleton, Lainey Wilson, Eric Church, Megadeth and Ice Cube, among others. There’s also a temporary outdoor venue in nearby Avila Beach that hosts occasional concerts.

“One of the things that I like about working for Nederlander is it’s family owned, which allows us to be fiercely independent and kind of like Switzerland,” says Milhouse, who says there’s also routing opportunities between Nederlander-booked venues in both Northern and Southern California, including the Greek Theater, which is a similar capacity. “We get to work with everybody, and so it kind of opens the door to allow us to just get creative and be flexible and have this kind of spirit of like, ‘Yeah, let’s make it work,’ instead of, ‘Oh, I can’t work with them because they’re our competitor.’”

_Originally reported by [Pollstar](https://news.pollstar.com/2026/05/21/exclusive-nederlander-concerts-acquires-vina-robles-amphitheatre-in-central-california-wine-country/)._