Tuesday, April 26, 2016
YOUNGSTOWN
Sold-out concerts by Elton John and Carrie Underwood led the way during a near-record operating-surplus quarter to start the year at the Covelli Centre.
The facility’s operating surplus for January to March was $306,862, the second-best financial quarter in the history of the center, which opened in October 2005.
“We’re off to a fantastic start,” said Eric Ryan, the center’s executive director. “Any time you can start off that strong, it’s a good thing. To make more than $300,000 in a quarter is great.”
The center had budgeted a $304,861 operating surplus for the first quarter.
Underwood’s concert March 17 and John’s show March 22 were both sellouts of nearly 7,000 tickets, Ryan said.
The only quarter in the history of the center with a larger operating surplus was the first quarter of 2014. During those three months, the center’s operating surplus was $382,016, largely because of a sold-out John concert.
Overall, there were 29 events during the first three months of this year including a concert by Lil Wayne, a WWE wrestling show, a sold-out Monster Truck show and two weekends of state elementary and middle-school amateur wrestling tournaments.
There were 13 Youngs-town Phantoms hockey games.
“The numbers look great, but I know it’s the first quarter,” said Kyle Miasek, the city’s deputy finance director. “The second quarter is going to be soft.”
This year’s April-to-June quarter is bad, Ryan said, but not unexpected. At the beginning of the year, the center had anticipated losing $194,000 during the second quarter, which has been the center’s most inconsistent quarter to date. If that happens, it would be the second-worst April-to-June quarter in the center’s history.
“We’re expecting a considerable loss in the second quarter, but we won’t lose [the budgeted $194,000 amount] because we’ve been cutting expenses,” Ryan said. “We are event-driven, and we have very little control when we get shows and when tours are.”
It’s still going to be a poor quarter, he said, despite near sellouts by Lee Brice on Friday and Barry Manilow on Saturday.
The only events left for the second quarter are Men’s Rally in the Valley this Saturday, Woman’s Heart Day on May 12 and a Color Run on June 11.
The center’s worst second quarter was 2007 with a $205,215 operating loss.
The center is projecting a $26,000 operating deficit for the third quarter, but with KISS and Bryan Adams concerts scheduled for those three months it could be a better quarter than expected, Ryan said.
The center expects the final three months of the year to include a record $192,000 operating surplus. The best fourth quarter in the center’s history was last year with $127,337.
The projection for the rest of the year with the actual amount from the first quarter would result in an operating surplus of $278,862.
Also, the center expects about $75,000 in additional food-and-beverage profits as a result of having Ryan’s company, JAC Management Group, handle those services for the center rather than an outside firm that did such work until mid-2012.
That would be a total operating surplus of $353,862 for the year. Last year’s number was $372,954. The best year for the center was 2014 with a $485,234 operating surplus.
Meanwhile, the city made $57,280 during the first three months of this year from its 5.5 percent admission tax on tickets sold for events at the center, Miasek said.
The center’s admission tax payments to the city lag a month behind, so the $68,220 it collected for March won’t be paid until next week.
The city borrowed $11.9 million in 2005 to pay its portion to build the $45 million facility. It still owes $10,260,000.
The center is expected to finish 2016 for the fifth-straight year with more money from its operating surplus, the additional food-and-beverage profits and the admission tax than the nearly $500,000 the city will pay this year in principal and interest.