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$11K profit buoys Covelli
Photo
A sign displayed at the Covelli Centre in Youngstown
The city’s operating profit for the arena is $253,423 for the first six months of the year.
YOUNGSTOWN — For the first time since it opened more than four years ago, the city-owned Covelli Centre turned a profit during its April-to-June quarter.
The profit for the past three months is $11,087. It was only two years ago that the facility, then known as the Chevrolet Centre, had a $205,215 loss for those three months.
“We’re extremely happy, especially considering how far the center has come since 2007,” said Eric Ryan, who took over managing the facility in October 2007 from Global Entertainment Corp. of Arizona.
Covelli Centre officials had figured they’d have a $14,906 deficit for this past April, May and June.
The facility’s revenue for the quarter was lower than anticipated, but enough cuts were made to more than offset that shortfall, Ryan said.
The center had budgeted $508,518 in operating revenue for the three-month period, but only made $410,524.
As it became apparent that revenue was declining, the center made cuts, said Ryan, its executive director.
That included laying off a secretary and the head of security as well as reducing the number of part-time workers and having its building engineer taking a temporary leave of absence through the summer, Ryan said.
That reduced its salary and benefits cost by $40,000 compared to its budget.
The center also cut its utilities bills by about $18,000, compared to its budgeted amount, by simply turning off the air conditioning unit and reducing the use of other utilities during times when no events were scheduled, Ryan said.
The center’s budgeted expense was $523,424. Because of the cuts, the actual expense was $399,437.
As of June 30, the center had a $253,423 operating profit. Center officials had budgeted a profit of $91,853 for the first six months of the year.
The center will lose money in this current quarter, July to September, and should turn a profit during the final three months of the year, Ryan said. That would result in an annual operating profit for the center, he said.
The center is expected to lose about $162,000 in the current quarter, July to September, Ryan said.
That’s not unusual as most indoor entertainment and sports facilities lose money during those months.
“The summer is the toughest time of the year,” Ryan said.
The center’s calendar for those three months is light with only six events during that time.
“We were content to sit idle for seven weeks” from about early July to the end of August, Ryan said.
But the center couldn’t say no to an Aug. 20 concert with Journey and Heart, Ryan said.
There are only a few dozen tickets left for that concert, with the center’s capacity for the show at 6,000, he said.
The other big show in this quarter is the World Extreme Cagefighting event on Sept. 2.
Capacity for the WEC show, to be broadcast live on the Versus cable TV network, is 6,500 to 7,000.
WEC “anticipates a packed house,” said Reed Harris, its general manager.
The center is expected to make an operating profit of about $50,000 during the final three months of the year, Ryan said.
Among the big events for the final quarter of the year are two concerts by Trans-Siberian Orchestra (the dates aren’t yet announced), six Disney on Ice shows Dec. 17-20, and an Oct. 8 show by comedian Jeff Dunham.
Five concerts are booked with three of them called “big shows” by Ryan, who declined to announce the acts Monday.
If the center’s projections for the last six months of the year are accurate, it would end 2009 with a $141,423 profit.
The center, which opened in October 2005, has never finished a year with a profit.
Also, the city pays about $700,000 a year in interest on the $11.9 million it borrowed to pay its portion of the $45 million facility.
The city has yet to pay anything toward reducing that $11.9 million debt.
skolnick@vindy.com
April to June finances
This year is the first time the Covelli Centre (formerly the Chevrolet Centre) made a profit during its April-to-June quarter.
2006: $107,671 loss
2007: $205,215 loss
2008: $10,669 loss
2009: $11,087 profit
Sources: Covelli Centre and Vindicator files