Comparing Performance Of Our Entertainment Venues During The COVID-19 Pandemic Isn’t Reasonable
by City-County Observer Staff
The COVID19 pandemic nearly destroyed the entertainment industry by virtue of the fact that to some degree all states, cities, and counties in the United States had some form of restrictions on attendance at entertainment venues large and small. These restrictions ranged from outright closure in coastal cities and states to social distancing in more conservative regions. A good example to show just how damaging the restrictions were to entertainment venues can be made by first eliminating the revenue stream at the box office and followed up by making cost-cutting near impossible through targeted assistance programs with employment requirements. 2020 and 2021 are thus far the worst businesses conditions for entertainment and sporting venues in a century. It is a wonder that any have survived.
To make comparisons right now to anytime during the pandemic will yield a magnificent number that has absolutely no relevance to the business itself. Making comparisons to 2019 that was before the pandemic may be instructive and aspirational, but the damages done are so massive that comparisons are little more than an academic exercise in futility.
We have been told that a few uninformed individuals have questioned the abysmal performance of Evansville-Vanderburgh County entertainment and sporting venues during the pandemic. Of course, the words were true as such words are all across the nation, but the condescension expressed seemly has absolutely no positive intent or advice.
The reality is that the people of Evansville and Vanderburgh County are once again beginning to enjoy high-quality (two thumbs up) entertainment like the “Off-Broadway” play Anastasia that was at the Old National Events Plaza last week. Concerts, hockey, colleges basketball, and other entertainment-related events are returning to the Ford Center and the Victory Theatre as well. We are told that the Deaconess Sports Park is also planning several “Youth Sports” tournaments beginning this coming spring.  We are pleased to hear that the Evansville Sports Corp. is also making plans to continue improving its Intercollegiate sporting event offerings for the 2022 season. It will take many years to make up for the pandemic-related losses in our local entertainment sector, but at least things are moving in the right direction.
The Evansville Convention and Visitors Bureau, which recently changed its name to “Visit Evansville.” Â “Visit Evansville” has long been an entity that felt the need to hire an outsider to lead it because they believed that it would make Evansville a big player in the national tourism industry.
For more than a decade “Visit Evansville” has had a nationally recruited CEO tasked with bringing resort-seeking tourists and national conventions to town. The reality is that this decision wasn’t the correct one and the results confirm that Evansville is and will most likely remain a regional destination that draws visitors mostly from the “Drive Market.” Â
This brings us to the point that a newly appointed CEO of “Visit Evansville” really needs to be from this region because he or she will have the knowledge of how the “Drive Market” thinks and travels. Â As there is now an opening for yet another “Visit Evansville” CEO, it’s time that the current Board considers taking a chance on a talented home-grown CEO to lead this most important revenue-producing organization. Â Bottom line, we have tried outsiders for decades and the results have not been as we dreamed. What do we have to lose by hiring someone who knows all aspects of Evansville-Vanderburgh County for this important position?
