Underwood concert boosts Chevy Centre’s bottom line

By David Skolnick

The arena’s summer schedule is light.

YOUNGSTOWN — When the books close on the Chevrolet Centre’s April-to-June financial quarter, the facility will show a modest profit or loss, according to city officials, who say they’re pleased even with the latter option.

When the center lost $205,215 between April and June last year, and $107,671 during the same time period in 2006, city officials say a marginal profit or loss is a victory for the center that’s struggled financially since it opened in October 2005.

“For the quarter, we didn’t do bad,” said Kyle Miasek, the city’s deputy finance director.

The financial numbers for the April-to-June quarter won’t be finalized until probably later this month.

What significantly helped the bottom line of the quarter that ended Monday was the June 11 sold-out concert by Carrie Underwood. The city-owned center made a profit of about $50,000 on that concert.

“It was obviously a successful event,” said Eric Ryan, the center’s executive director. “You make a substantial profit with a sellout.”

Success of the Underwood concert in Youngstown will hopefully open the door for future big shows at the center, Ryan said. That concert was promoted by AEG Live, a Los Angeles company that promotes other major acts.

“You convince [the promoter] you’re a viable market that can attract an audience,” Ryan said. “When we get them to come one time and make it a success, they’re a lot more willing to come back. If you prove you’re a market that people come to, then you get repeat business.”

The center is working with AEG to make Youngstown a stop on a country music tour later this year, he said.

Underwood was the most profitable of the three concerts at the center during the last quarter. The other two were George Clinton on May 9 and Lil Wayne the next day.

“A good concert is the most profitable” event for the center, Ryan said.

When International Coliseums Co., a subsidiary of the Phoenix-based Global Entertainment Corp., booked the center — ICC’s strained two-year relationship with the city ended in October 2007 — there were six concerts between April and June 2007. It was the most unsuccessful financial quarter in the center’s brief history.

At the time, city officials pointed to concerts by Ludacris and the Doobie Brothers with Peter Frampton as big money-losers for the center.

“It’s definitely better to be dark than have a promoter lose money,” Ryan said.

Indoor facilities in the area don’t do well in the summer months because of the variety of outdoor activities and events available, Ryan and Miasek said.

With that in mind, the Chevrolet Centre’s summer schedule is light, Ryan said.

A World Wrestling Entertainment show on July 25 and a four-day outdoor rib burn-off Aug. 14-17 featuring a concert by Kansas are the only “major” events on the center’s calendar for the rest of the summer.

Tickets for the wrestling card went on sale Saturday and close to half of the 6,000 tickets are sold, Ryan said.

Tickets for the burn-off go on sale today.

As for the fall and winter, Ryan says the center “has a ton of feelers out there” and is about to finalize some shows. The facility will announce a number of events in the coming weeks, he said.

Hockey remains an uncertainty at the center.

The Youngstown SteelHounds played its 32 home games at the center for the past three seasons, but lost its affiliation with the Central Hockey League, also a Global Entertainment subsidiary, last month over a financial dispute.

That led the city to ask a federal court to allow it to remove Blue Line Hockey LLC, the team’s parent company, from the center.

Even with the strained relationship between the company and the city, Mayor Jay Williams has asked Herb Washington, Blue Line’s head, to meet sometime next week to discuss the possibility of hockey at the center for the upcoming season.

Washington said he’s very interested in speaking to the mayor and said “there is a possibility of hockey this fall,” but “all the stars have to line up.”

An agreement is needed very quickly because of scheduling, Washington and Williams said.

If there’s no hockey this season, Ryan said the center could fill at least 20 of the 32 open dates.

No hockey would “save us a ton of money,” he said. There would be no need to spend money to keep the ice frozen continuously from December to March, Ryan said. Also, the center lost money on some SteelHounds games, he said.

The center would need ice for Disney on Ice shows, slated to return in January, he said. Also, the center is “trying to reach out” to the National Hockey League’s Pittsburgh Penguins and/or Columbus Blue Jackets for an exhibition game, Ryan said.

skolnick@vindy.com