Emmanuel “Manny” Thomas has been named general manager of the Hard Rock Live entertainment venue at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood. Hard Rock made the announcement in a news release Nov. 1.

Thomas oversees and manages the operations for the 7,000-seat venue. The $100 million Hard Rock Live opened in 2019 as part of a $1.5 billion property expansion that included the 450-foot Guitar Hotel. Hard Rock Live has hosted a slew of big name acts since, such as Guns N’ Roses, Elton John, Billy Joel, Chris Rock and Metallica.

Thomas was previously the vice president of event services at the Chase Center in San Francisco. The Chase Center opened in 2019 and is home to the NBA’s Golden State Warriors. He has more than 25 years of experience in the entertainment industry, much of it involving sports teams. The news release said Thomas got his start in 1996 as a ball boy for the NBA’s New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden, before working his way up to building operations, event services and director of event productions.

Thomas earned a degree in athletic administration from St. John’s University and a master’s degree in health and physical education with a concentration in sport management from East Stroudsburg University.

The Seminole Tribe is the parent entity of Hard Rock International. More is at hardrock.com.