YOUNGSTOWN Global officials answer questions from council

Global promoted a center executive to run the facility.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
CITY HALL REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Officials with the company managing the Chevrolet Centre said its primary focus is to book as many successful events for the facility as possible.
But it is a process that takes time, they say.
Local and corporate officials from Global Entertainment Corp., the Arizona-based company managing the center, spoke Wednesday to city council about the facility.
Some council members are concerned about the number of events scheduled for the city-owned facility. Mayor Jay Williams said less than a week ago that the next 60 days "are critical," and Global has to show progress during that time frame.
Global officials said they've booked two concerts for the center: rock singer John Mellencamp and gospel performer Kirk Franklin.
"We have 12 to 15 offer sheets out there" for events at the center, said Tom Sadler, president of Global's facility management division. "Some may work out and some may not."
Global expects to show improvement by the end of March with regard to its sale of luxury suites, club seats and sponsorship rights at the center, said Craig Johnson, the company's chief financial officer.
The center made a $257,853 profit in December, $5,819 more than Global's estimate for the month.
Promotion
Global announced Wednesday that it was promoting Matt Hufnagel from the center's director of sales and marketing to its general manager. This is the first time Hufnagel will be in charge of an arena.
Hufnagel, 30, held his previous position since August 2005.
Hufnagel, who lives in Boardman, was director of sales and marketing for an arena in Elmira, N.Y., and served as general manager of minor league hockey and baseball teams in that city. He also has a master of business administration with a concentration in marketing from American University in Washington, D.C.
Councilman Rufus Hudson, D-2nd, questioned why Global gave away three luxury suites, two VIP suites, 115 club seats and 350 general admission seats to the Jan. 21 doubleheader hockey games played by the Mahoning Valley Phantoms and the Youngstown SteelHounds.
Hudson said the free tickets plus the extra expense of the Phantoms game cost the city about $20,000 in lost revenue. Sadler said it's impossible to put a dollar figure on the event because not all of the tickets would have been sold. Also, he said, it was a good way to promote hockey.
Arena football
Hudson also asked repeated questions of Sadler about negotiations with a local group to bring an AF2 (Arena Football League 2) to the center.
A local group is negotiating with center officials to locate a team there.
Hudson said the AF2 group wants free rent, proceeds from 400 parking spaces on center property, all advertising, merchandise and luxury suite revenue, $100,000 for marketing, and for the city to purchase a football field.
"Who wouldn't want a deal like that?" Hudson said.
Reached Wednesday at his home, Michael Slyk of Warren, a member of the investment group, said the proposal was purposely "ridiculous" because center officials weren't showing much interest in negotiating.
The proposal got the attention of center officials who are now more interested in serious negotiations, Slyk said.
Global had originally sought $6,000 in rent per game from the group as well as a staffing fee, a portion of gross ticket sales and all concession revenue.
skolnick@vindy.com