No one on staff at Austin City Limits Live is calling it a case of David vs. Goliath(s), but we will. In concert industry bible Pollstar’s annual awards announced Friday, Austin’s new gem of a concert hall beat a host of larger, big-budget facilities for the honor of Best New Major Concert Venue.

As the only theater nominated against arenas and outdoor amphitheaters in Pittsburgh, Orlando, Louisville, Raleigh, N.C. and Tuscaloosa, Ala., ACL Live was a bit of an odd case compared to its competitors, but voters and industry professionals gave it the nod because of the intimate experience given to fans and first-class facilities available to performers.

"Only a handful of new venues make a ripple on the national scene each year,” Pollstar’s Editor in Chief, Gary Bongiovanni, said of the 2,750-capacity, $40 million theater. “There were only six nominations that made the ballot this year and they include large arenas and outdoor amphitheaters. For a more intimate venue like Austin City Limits Live at the Moody Theater to receive this honor is a remarkable accomplishment."

Since opening last spring, ACL Live has hosted major touring acts such as Janet Jackson and Santana who sell out far larger venues but book the new venue because of its fast-spreading reputation in the live music industry as a premium venue for fans and artists. Country superstar Keith Urban plays there on Friday.

“The rest of the world is getting to find out what Austin already knows, that because of the fun experience, the site lines and the sound and lighting capability, it’s not just another place to go and see a concert,” said Colleen Fischer, director of booking for ACL Live. “We felt very confident once the nominations came out last year and felt like we were going to win, because even though we were a theater in with those bigger buildings, we’ve been getting recognized as a special place by our peers since we opened.”

Also helping ACL Live’s case, Fischer said, is its status as the new home base for the revered live music television series from which it takes its name. The show’s recently completed season featured performances by Coldplay, Arcade Fire, Wilco, Black Joe Lewis, Lykke Li, Joanna Newsom and more, and Radiohead is set to tape an episode at the venue in March.

Austinite Louis Messina of the Nashville-based Messina Group also took home the Bill Graham Award for promoter of the year.

Friday’s awards ceremony wasn’t as celebratory for Austin-based concert promotions powerhouse C3 Presents, which came home empty handed in three categories. For Major Music Festival of the Year, the Austin City Limits Festival lost to the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival, and C3’s Lollapalooza Chile lost the International Music Festival of the Year award to England’s Glastonbury Festival. The company’s Huston Powell also lost the award for Talent Buyer of the Year.