43
Chevrolet Centre provides diversion from worries
It’s all about picking the right events, said the arena’s director.
YOUNGSTOWN — The Harlem Globetrotters. Motocross. Kelly Pavlik. Monster Trucks.
These events at the Chevrolet Centre proved to be winners, with the downtown arena posting sellouts on four Saturday nights in a 29-day span that began Jan. 31.
But why? With temperatures in the teens and the economy in an even deeper freeze, what got so many people to leave their houses and open their wallets?
Well, maybe the weather and the recession were the reasons, said Bridget Wolsonovich, director of marketing at the Chevrolet Centre.
“Like during the Great Depression, people want to escape for a couple of hours from the gloom and doom, if only for a couple of hours, if the price is right,” said Wolsonovich. Cabin fever might have also had something to do with it, she said.
Another sellout could be in the making this Saturday for the Cirque du Soleil Saltimbanco performance. Cirque is doing seven shows through Sunday in the half-house formation (3,000 capacity). Tickets are still available for all shows at the box office and Ticketmaster, but sales are strongest for the weekend shows, said Eric Ryan, executive director of the arena.
Ryan said the sellouts prove that “if we choose the right events, people in our area will support us. I’ve said for a long time that it’s a matter of quality, not quantity.”
Ryan attributes the success to three things: picking the right acts, affordability and grass-roots marketing.
“Three of the four shows were affordable,” he said. “I pushed for cheaper tickets for kids. Families don’t have that much money. The promoters realized that and agreed. It’s family affordable fun.”
The arena has also aimed its sales force directly at targeted audiences, offering discounts for group sales.
Ryan also noted that the sellouts were on Saturdays — a day when most people don’t have work or school.
Kelly Pavlik’s sold-out defense of his boxing title Feb. 21 surprised no one. Tickets were expensive for the once-in-a lifetime event, but because this is Pavlik’s hometown, they were gobbled up. The attendance of 7,300 was the largest in the arena’s four-plus years of existence.
But the other shows have been coming to Youngstown on an annual basis for many years, and usually do not pack the house. Reduced prices and the fact that they attract entire families were key factors. Both Monster Trucks and Motocross offered $5 tickets for kids under 12, which increased sales, said Wolsonovich.
“It makes a big difference when you are looking to take out a family of four,” she said.
Motocross (Feb. 6 and 7) and Monster Trucks (Feb. 27 and 28) both did two-night stints, with the Friday night shows coming up a little shy of a full house. But the arena had to turn people away on the Saturday nights. The box office sold about 1,000 walk-up tickets on each of those nights.
Both shows also did well in souvenir sales. “I don’t have exact numbers, but they were happy with what they walked away with,” said Wolsonovich.
The Globetrotters are a little different story. For some reason, the basketball wizards are enjoying a wave of renewed popularity throughout the country. They have strung together dozens of sellouts on their current tour, according to a news release from the Globetrotters, and had no trouble selling out their Jan. 31 Chevrolet Centre show.
Even the Jan. 17 mixed martial arts show (King of the Cage) exceeded expectations, said Wolsonovich. The arena expected 1,300 to 1,400, but wound up with about 1,850. “I was surprised at the number of kids at that show,” she said.