IS IT TRUE MARCH 28, 2017

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IS IT TRUE that after a single year of playing in the Evansville market that the Thunderbolts hockey team is already having a slight change in ownership?…that Mike Hall, a local businessman with a love for hockey who lent his name to the effort and currently serves as President of the Thunderbolts is selling his minority interest (10%) in the team to VW Sports, L.L.C., that was formed to be the managing and holding company for the Thunderbolts?…Mr. Hall and VW Sports supposedly pooled some funds to acquire the Southern Professional Hockey League affiliation in early 2016 keeping semi-professional hockey in the mix at Ford Center?…as this is a private company this is not a material event that must be disclosed so we will never know whether Mr. Hall made a profit, broke even, or loss his investment in the Thunderbolts?…given the poor attendance and the recent news regarding the cost associated with a hockey team the one thing we strongly suspect is that Mr. Hall would have had less risk and a hefty profit if he had put whatever money he put into the Thunderbolts into Apple stock?..that Venuworks that manages the Ford Center for the Evansville Redevelopment Commission is the majority owner (10%) and thus the total controller of VW Sports LLC?
IS IT TRUE there is more than meets the eye when it comes to the finances associated with the desperate actions of our Mayor to keep a semi-professional hockey team in the hockey rink by the Ohio River known as the Ford Center?…it is not widely known that the franchise fee of $225,000 that was required for the Thunderbolts to join the Southern Professional Hockey League?  …its been alleged that a large sum of this fee were paid or loaned on behalf of VW Sports LLC with taxpayer dollars? …the kind souls who came forward to invest or give away many thousands of taxpayers dollars to keep the dream of hockey alive are none other than the Evansville Redevelopment Commission?  … Evansville Redevelopment Commission are most famous for dropping $603,000 on the parking lot at the McCurdy Hotel just to give it away to a political crony of a former Mayor?  …they also purchased the vacant and dilapidated CVS building and parking lot located in the seedy part of North Main street for around $595,000?  …we should not forget about the failed $200,000 Earthcare project pushed and funded by ERC?  ..one thing for sure is that the ERC loves to give your hard earned tax dollars away on questionable projects?

IS IT TRUE that there are those in this world who are obsessed with financial performance to the point that they do projections on a regular basis about the financial performance of public and private entities?…one such person that we shall refer to as Mole #7 has been looking at the financial performance for the Ford Center as it relates to the Thunderbolts hockey team and said “it may not be a pretty sight”? …in previous years the Evansville Icemen absorbed an average loss of roughly $600,000 per season (5 seasons) which included paying $11,000 per home (36 home games) game in rent to the Ford Center management?  …those rent checks have been reduced to $1,000 per home game for the Thunderbolts which is going to be a major financial blow of many hundred of thousand of dollars to the Ford Center annual budget?  …because of the poor home game attendance it is guesstimated by Mole #7 that the Thunderbolts concession (food and beverage) income at the Ford Center could be reduced around $400,000 to $500,000 over the previous year (Evansville IceMen last year at Ford Center)? …of course poor ticket sales isn’t helping the bottom line? …Mole #7 is also projecting that this year the Ford Center hockey income may be on the verge of losing between $1 million to $1 1/2 million dollars because of the Thunderbolts bad economics performance? …this projection doesn’t include the money that the Ford Center management pays to Vanderburgh-Evansville Building Authority for services rendered for hockey games?

IS IT TRUE only the music acts seem to bring in sufficient crowds to make the cash register ring at Ford Center?…hockey sure as heck isn’t working, the UE girls are leaving because of costs, circuses are reducing overall show date offerings, the local mega Church will not be holding future Easter services at the Ford Center and the UE men’s basketball team is not exactly filling the house either?…Country music stars and classic rock and roll are the only thing that seems to attract enough people to be worth unlocking the doors?…the real tragedy is that the losses of the Thunderbolts, the Aces, and the other things are being hidden by any successes in the music world?…to this day, the biggest crowds for sports, music, or even circuses happened in Roberts Stadium?

IS IT TRUE is this is the same Ford Center that was advertised by the best consultants that money can buy to be self sufficient in the third year? …we wonder just what could have been done better with $127 million borrowed dollars?

FOOTNOTES: Todays “READERS POLL” question is: Do you feel comfortable with the fact that the owners of VenueWorks now has 100% controlling interest of the Thunderbolt Hockey team?

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14 COMMENTS

  1. Good reporting. The Thunderbolts were an artificial contrivance sold to the public with an instant myth concocted around Hall’s purported ‘love for the game’. Born of desperation. Like many such ruses, when the government money stops, the puck drops no more.

    • EVV administration was bound and determined to show Ron Gary that hockey was going to be played at the Ford Center whether it was the Icemen or some other hockey effort. Needless to say, Thunderbolts hockey is not putting many people in seats. The question is how much longer does EVV play fantasy hockey. On the basketball crazed tri-state area, would a NBA D League expansion team been more appropriate than hockey? IF so, then, u would not have had to constantly do ice to basketball floorr conversion and save thousands of dollars.

  2. Exactly the outcome us Nay-sayers who fought against this folly predicted. That money could have went much further inverted in sidewalks and streets lights.

    I say “Murphy for Mayor.”

  3. We get free tickets offered at work for each game. I still won’t go, two hours of time that I will never recoup.

  4. Was Venue Works contract about to expire prior to them “keeping hockey in Evansville”? I thought I heard somewhere that the contract was about up and this may have been a ploy to keep the contract by keeping hockey in Evansville (by actually owning a team). If that is true, my Hall was either a pawn in the scheme or willing participant with a 1 year exit strategy already in place….

    • Even worse. The County is kicking SMG out of the Old National Events Plaza and replacing them with the inept crew from Venuworks. Who is writing campaign checks at Venuworks? They are terrible!

      Remember all the great acts that came to Roberts and the promise of “those acts will be even better at the Ford Center”. 72 visits from Luke Bryan, 52 shows from Miranda Lambert, and a dozen shows of whatever 80s rockers they can get out of rehab. Great bookings, Venuworks.

  5. Two comments:

    1) The contract which gives VenuWorks and Hall the hockey team also includes a provision that in the event of default by Venuworks the hockey team transfers to the City of Evansville. Seems that makes the contract a public document, ripe for perusal of Hall’s value of the 10 % share; and

    2) The Ford Center was said to be “cash flow positive on day one” by Arena project manager John Kish. He missed that by just a tad –now in its sixth year, the Ford Center has never come close to having an operating positive cash flow, and the construction bond payment of $ 8 MIllion annually crushes the City.

    • Oh come on. On day one Bob Seeger sold the place out. Kish was right when he said on day one the place made money. On day two and every day since then that hasn’t been the case.

  7. A little perspective on these events you claim are decreasing because of the Ford Center.

    1. Circuses are failing everywhere, just ask Barnum. Changing views on animal rights and the fact they are just less appealing to today’s audiences are the primary factors, not the FC.
    2. Attendance at UE games is directly tied to nearly two decades of bad teams. The community is simply sick of Martyball…mediocre results and an outdated motion offense. Bring in a winning coach and start battling for conference championships and NCAA appearances, and the crowds will increase. That slide was in place long before they left Roberts.
    3. UE womens games should have never been there in the first place. It is simply impractical and foolish to rent that kind of place for a 100 person gate.
    4. After several years of rapid growth, mega-churches are starting to fall out of favor, and many are seeing a decline in membership. Smaller and more specialized churches are the new flavor, very similar to what happens in retail and banking. Big boxes and mega-banks are losing appeal to craft like merchants and banks. Crossroads has a huge auditorium that can handle the crowds they expect.

    There is simply no point in dragging up old Roberts versus Ford Center arguments. Roberts is a field, and we have the Ford Center. That ship has sailed. As a taxpayer, I want the Ford Center to be successful, and we should do everything in our power to insure it is. Hoping and supporting the failure of this arena, so a few people can say I told you so, is extremely foolish.

    • how long should the taxpayers continue to flush their money down the Evansville broken sewer system……….before we cut the loss……….Bake you have made the case everything the polititicians told us has now changed and most is out the window………………..I will give you and the polititicans one suggestion………….high level arena pro football would without a doubt with a decent contract for the owner make money……………………………Eville Loves Football……

  8. “FOOTNOTES: Todays “READERS POLL” question is: Do you feel comfortable with the fact that the owners of VenueWorks now has 100% controlling interest of the Thunderbolt Hockey team?”

    There should be a 4th answer to the Readers Poll: COULDN’T CARE LESS.
    The first and last Evansville Thunderbolts game that I went to was the WORST hockey I’ve EVER witnessed. They couldn’t win if Jesus Christ was their goalie and God himself rigged the game!
    THANKS ALOT WINNECKE!

    The best thing to do with the FRAUD Center is to turn it into a County Jail to handle the inmate overflow.

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