Concessions and other events could sweeten the pot
Today the City County Observer received a message asking us to consider what it would take to get Roberts Stadium into the kind of shape needed to make it a good home for the Evansville Icemen. The IceMen as has been widely reported draw between 1,000 and 1,500 fans to the Swonder Ice Arena and play about 38 games per year. It has also been widely reported that the IceMen are having serious difficulty in negotiating an agreement with the City of Evansville that will enable them to survive financially in the early growth years. So, would Roberts Stadium be an attractive alternative?
With respect to the price to play it seems as though the City of Evansville is really looking to find a way to collect about $11,000 per game when the agreement for the Evansville Aces and the fixed fee offer that they made to the IceMen. The cost to the IceMen to be the home team for the Arena will therefore gravitate to a number of about $418,000 per year. If the owner of the IceMen Ron Geary wishes to see his investment payoff in 10 years then on rental fees alone he would be justified in spending $4.2 Million to get Roberts into hockey ready condition.
The Icemen would have two other income streams. The first would be the concessions for IceMen games and the second would be renting Roberts Stadium out for other venues that are more appropriate for Roberts than they are for the new downtown Arena. At an income stream of $5 per person per game on hockey alone the IceMen could count on $665,000 per year coming in from concessions. Let’s assume that the profits from concessions will cover the cost to operate a refurbished Roberts Stadium. If one event per month were held at Roberts that did not compete with the Arena at a rate of $5,000 per event plus concessions then another $100,000 could be harvested from such events.
This may just work and it may be the best financial move possible for the IceMen. Of course in the spirit of fairness the City of Evansville that will save $1.5 Million in demolition fees could easily make a $1 Million investment in Roberts refurbishment and grant 10 year tax abatement as they have been doing for every downtown project of any kind.
Of course this is a preliminary idea and would need to undergo a rigorous due diligence study but since John Kish has been adamant that the new Arena will not be hurt by the IceMen’s departure we think that Mr. Geary may be well served to consider Roberts Stadium for $1 as an attractive alternative to dealing with the City of Evansville for the next 20 years. Maybe the Weinzapfel Administration will see this possible Win-Win situation through the eyes of an entrepreneur as opposed to the eyes of government.
It would likely be cost prohibitive to reconfigure Roberts floor to accomodate a regulation hockey surface of 200′ by 85′.
With regard to this idea, the Icemen at Roberts, has anyone taken into account the comparative costs of police personnel required for a downtown event and police personnel needed at a Roberts event?
Is it true there has been a recent estimate by city officials that 23 – 25 police officers will be needed in the downtown area for each Arena event? Is it true the estimate was accompanied by the anticipation that the cost of such deployment will be paid by the city?
What is the documented average deployment of police officers for Roberts Stadium events, and how much of that deployment was paid for by the city? If Roberts is turned over to the Icemen, a private entity, who would pay for the deployment of police officers? If the answer is “the Icemen organization,” then is it true that would represent a cost savings? To what degree?
This kind of thinking is exactly why the current administration was/is so dead set on having Roberts torn down……competition!
Boy would that steam the good ol’ boys.
I expect they would do everything in their power to keep this from happening.
actually if they give up some seating and raise the floor they could get the size and private security to direct traffic, ect would be cheaper than the EPD and free up officers to actually fight crime. The Roller Derby Ladies could compete there as they have different seasons and we could bring back pro wrestling, small concerts and if we had a bigger floor it could be used for an exposition hall, sounds like a money maker for someone.
I like the idea….
Until Mr. Davis is elected and takes offfice in January 2012, youll get little, if any, intellegent response from the Dead head crud that is “In control” of the City.
No more of the same, via Weinzapfel’s clone, Winnecke the RINO, wanted.
There is a He** of a lot More to this community than old downtown to the majority of the residents..
I think having the IceMen at Robert’s is a great idea.
Hate to be a killjoy for your plan, however:
http://www.evansvilleicemen.com/team/arena/
As this website points out, the floor cannot be reconfigured for hockey, nor does the stadium have the refrigeration technology to prepare a surface for ice hockey.
Sorry to rain on your parade. 🙂
technology can be added and the floor raised and reconfigured if it could be purchased cheaply enough. Hockey ready today, no, but it could be if the city keeps trying to outprice the Icemen on a stadium lease. The city is gonna be the only loser in this negotiation unless they get their act together
At what cost and who will pay for it? The Icemen organization? The taxpayers of Evansville? I would like to see how well that would be received.
Give some numbers for the cost of the floor and adding refrigeration. Then tell how that will be financed.
We have seen numbers that state that the cost to raise the floor to eliminate the water problem and get a surface area that is large enough for hockey would be about $1M. We also have the cost to rig the floor of the new Arena for hockey at about $2 Million. If a $5 Million budget were to be sensible from a business perspective then Mr. Geary would be well served to consider this option. If there really are some high dollar infrastructure problems he may be better off in the Arena. Of course the other issue is that if Mr. Geary can really promote Roberts and run it well he may create $20 Million or so in equity in the property. There is much to consider.
This is what you get for building a arena for Hockey not basketball. Nice move mayor (what a screw job). Go ahead and build the parking garage you intended to build from the beginning by the new arena, it will only cost us some more money, what you care. This group of would screw up a _ _ _ dream.
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