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There are some things here in Evansville you just can't make up. If you thought you had seen it all with David Dunn and the ECVB refusing to build the ball fields next to Bosse Field only to sponsor the GLVC Tournament there this year, you still haven't seen it all until you hear this next story.
Since the beginning of the battle to save Roberts Stadium, city hall has given us two binding constraints...
1. Roberts Stadium must make financial sense
2. Roberts Stadium cannot compete with the Ford Center
The thing I find most disturbing about this is that we have watched politician after politician act like a mid-sized and older Roberts Stadium would compete with the Ford Center. If they realized how absurd the sports management community views our political leaders making statements like this, they would cease immediately.
Nonetheless, those have been the two rules we have had to work with since day 1. What strikes me as ironic, as well as flat out hypocritical, is that our city is already allowing both rules #1 and #2 to be broken by other facilities. In fact, we already have a facility breaking both of these rules, and it's located NEXT DOOR TO THE FORD CENTER.
What could this facility possibly be? It's our 13 year old Centre....
That's right, the Centre has lost over $7 million since it opened in 2003...
http://www.14news.com/story/15928906/the-centre-has-lost-7m-since-it-opened-in-99
And it has displayed this past week that it can compete with the Ford Center for events like the Home Show as both venues hosted this event simultaneously. So, should our city tear down the Centre? Is the Centre indeed competing with the Ford Center? Should we prevent the Centre from hosting events that can go in the Ford Center?
The answer to those three questions is no, absolutely not. You see, our city understands perfectly how to coordinate the Center and the Ford Center, yet they are baffled at letting Roberts Stadium do the same thing with the Ford Center for sporting events. The main question that needs to be asked is why?
(From the 14news.com article above)
"Meanwhile, the Ford Center is providing help for The Centre. Managers say they are already taking calls from parties wanting to book events using both buildings.
GM Stearns says, "We think in the long run with the two being this close together it going to be a benefit to both of us.""
I find it to be nothing short of mind boggling that our city leaders don't understand this concept with Roberts Stadium. After all, this isn't rocket science. What are some examples of this type of coordination?
1. We can flex the GLVC Tournament to Roberts Stadium where the economy of scale makes sense while freeing up that weekend for the Icemen at the Ford Center. This allows both events and both venues to maximize their facility, thus maximizing revenue.
2. We can flex all of the events at the Ford Center that require the curtains to come down over the upper level to Roberts Stadium. Why would we want to do this? 2 reasons: 1. Any event that doesn't need an upper level is going to want a mid-sized arena where they can afford the rent. Roberts Stadium fits this bill. 2. In talking with Venuworks who runs the Ford Center, they could easily fill these dates with premier concerts and events that would use the upper level. Like the GLVC Tournament, this would maximize revenues for both events.
3. We can flex the Home Show to Roberts Stadium so that the Icemen get another Saturday home game. Just like the GLVC Tournament, the economy of scale for the Home Show is much more aligned with Roberts Stadium than the combination of the Centre and the Ford Center. This would free up the Centre to go after bigger events (although we can't do this until our hotel is built) and it would give the Icemen another weekend home game which is worth an extra thousand or two people in the stands. Once more, coordinating all of our facilities maximizes our revenue.
4. We can coordinate the Ford Center's schedule with Roberts Stadium's schedule. Just like we did this past week with the Home Show, we can coordinate events between Roberts Stadium and the Ford Center. How can we do this? By offering shuttle rides from Roberts to the Ford Center (eliminates all complaints about parking), by making sure similar sporting events don't take place the same night (NBDL and Aces basketball), and by hosting college basketball tournaments using both facilities.
5. We can coordinate promotions and marketing between the two arenas. The more people we bring to town for an event at Roberts Stadium, the more people we have that will buy tickets to events at the Ford Center while they are in town. By cross-marketing and co-branding the two facilities, we will be increasing attendance at both facilities. For example, a fan who comes to watch the GLVC Tournament at Roberts Stadium would receive a discounted ticket offer to an Icemen game that weekend. The key to success for growing your city is to provide multiple entertainment events and a wide variety of events that are interconnected using all of your available venues.
Although both the Centre and the Ford Center have been the victim of our local naysayers, I don't think there's any question that both facilities have done a good job improving our city. The Centre has brought in over 175,000 people, which is almost 60,000 more than our cities population and it was done without a hotel, while the Ford Center has already proven that it is going to be a profitable venue that will bring in hundred of thousands of guests as well.
I feel very confident that SMG, led by Regional Vice President Sandie Aaron and Venuworks, led by Ford Center Director Scott Schoenike can successfully bring Roberts Stadium into the coordination patterns of our local venues. Both have proven they know how to run these type of facilities and both would do an excellent job with Roberts Stadium. The only question is will the city allow it?
Our city leaders understand that the Centre and the Ford Center don't compete because both are financially viable facilities serving different niche groups. It's about time they realized this with Roberts Stadium and the Ford Center!
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