An examination of the Summary of Operations for the Ford Center obtained with a FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) request reveals that in 2022 the reported operating revenue was $11,117,548 with 2023 shaping up to be similar. After expenses, the 2022 results were reported to be a $238,200 profit which only amounts to 2.2% of revenue, an amount that would get most CEOs fired if their operation only delivered a 2.2% ROI. One glaring and misleading fact is that the interest on the Ford Center debt is not included in the operating expenses. How can one ignore such a major expense and have any credibility This interest amounts to many millions of dollars per year and seems strategically withheld from the expenses of the Ford Center. It seems like this practice is designed to deceive, and it does.
In further examination of the expenses, it is revealed that during the pandemic year, the Ford Center received $5,337,795 in grants from the federal government’s Shuttered Venue Operator’s Grant as many entertainment venues did. The puzzling thing about that year is that no utilities were reported meaning the building was locked down period. During a year that the Ford Center had zero utilities, the Evansville-Vanderburgh Building Authority was paid $1,545,750 under a maintenance agreement, the City of Evansville was paid $162,729 and VenueWorks was paid $125,000. One must wonder how $1,545,750 in maintenance was done without using any electricity. It must be repeated that interest on the debt is not a reported expense to the facility.
