Honda Center sets new production benchmark with D23 evening showcases

Background and context

Table of Contents

Fan conventions continue to evolve into large-scale productions that increasingly resemble arena concerts and televised award shows. One recent example is the series of evening showcase events staged at the Honda Center in Anaheim during D23, Disney’s biennial fan gathering.

According to the venue, the D23 evening programs resulted in the largest production footprint in the Honda Center’s history, underscoring how convention-related programming is pushing arenas and technical crews to new limits.

The Honda Center, best known as a sports arena and concert venue, has steadily increased its role in hosting complex, multimedia-heavy productions tied to major brands and fandoms. The D23 showcases highlight how these events now demand the same level of infrastructure and planning as top-tier touring shows.

Key announcement

The Honda Center reported that the recent D23 evening showcase events collectively represented the most extensive production deployment the venue has handled to date. This assessment covers staging, lighting, audio, video, rigging, and backstage support.

While specific technical specifications were not disclosed, the venue characterized the production as larger in scope than previous arena-scale concerts and special events held in the building. The D23 shows required a multi-day load-in, extensive rigging in the arena bowl, and significant use of floor space for staging and audience seating.

The evening programs were designed to support high-impact presentations, special appearances, and multimedia reveals typical of major fan conventions. This involved integrating large-format LED displays, immersive sound coverage, and theatrical lighting into a format that could accommodate both live attendees and content capture for broader distribution.

Further details on the venue and its event capabilities are available via the Honda Center’s official website.

Industry impact

The milestone at the Honda Center reflects broader trends in event and venue use. Conventions and fan expos are increasingly booking arena-sized spaces not just for exhibit halls, but also for headline programming that requires full concert-style production.

Arenas are being asked to support multi-day hybrid formats combining sessions, performances, and large presentations.
Production teams must design setups that can transition quickly between program segments while maintaining broadcast-level quality.
Technical infrastructure in venues—power distribution, rigging capacity, data connectivity, and backstage logistics—is becoming a key differentiator for winning this type of business.

For production companies, the scale achieved at D23 illustrates how fan-focused events are now operating at the same technical level as major tours, requiring experienced crews in lighting, audio, video, and show control.

Why this matters

For event planners, production managers, and venue operators, the Honda Center’s D23 record is a sign of where large fan and brand events are heading. Expectations for content reveals, live performances, and immersive experiences are driving higher technical requirements and more complex builds.

Venues seeking this type of business may need to invest in upgraded rigging, in-house infrastructure, and flexible loading and storage options.
Organizers should plan for longer load-in and rehearsal windows, more detailed coordination with venue operations, and robust contingency planning.
AV and staging providers can expect continued demand for large-format displays, distributed audio systems, and show designs that can serve both in-venue audiences and captured media.

As fan conventions and brand showcases compete for attention, the ability to deliver arena-scale, technically sophisticated presentations is becoming a core part of the event technology landscape. The D23 showcases at the Honda Center illustrate how far these productions have progressed—and the level of infrastructure that may soon be considered standard for high-profile convention programming.