Chaifetz is Busy

[Pistol]

http://www.stltoday.com/entertainment/musi...17a4a78c22.html

Venues Today magazine is reporting that our very own Chaifetz Arena at St. Louis University is ranked as the busiest venue in the world in the 10,001-15,000 capacity range.

This is based on concert and event grosses from April 16-May 15, as reported by the trade publication.

During that period, Chaifetz hosted 14 ticketed events and sold 41,984 tickets for a total gross of $1,961,221.

Among those events were Cirque du Soleil's "Alegria," Tyler Perry's "Madea's Big Happy Family," and a Ben Folds concert.

In a statement, Global Spectrum's Jim Wynkoop, Chaifetz's general manager, said "We're thrilled to be at the top of this month's rankings in 'Venues Today.' The 14-event stretch we hosted is a true testament of Global Spectrum's goal of bringing a wide range of entertainment for the entire St. Louis region to the campus of Saint Louis University. The community has done an incredible job of supporting our events, and I'm fortunate to work with such an amazing group of professionals who worked tirelessly to produce a memorable experience for each of our 41,984 patrons."

[strozier]

http://www.stltoday.com/entertainment/musi...17a4a78c22.html

Venues Today magazine is reporting that our very own Chaifetz Arena at St. Louis University is ranked as the busiest venue in the world in the 10,001-15,000 capacity range.

This is based on concert and event grosses from April 16-May 15, as reported by the trade publication.

During that period, Chaifetz hosted 14 ticketed events and sold 41,984 tickets for a total gross of $1,961,221.

Among those events were Cirque du Soleil's "Alegria," Tyler Perry's "Madea's Big Happy Family," and a Ben Folds concert.

In a statement, Global Spectrum's Jim Wynkoop, Chaifetz's general manager, said "We're thrilled to be at the top of this month's rankings in 'Venues Today.' The 14-event stretch we hosted is a true testament of Global Spectrum's goal of bringing a wide range of entertainment for the entire St. Louis region to the campus of Saint Louis University. The community has done an incredible job of supporting our events, and I'm fortunate to work with such an amazing group of professionals who worked tirelessly to produce a memorable experience for each of our 41,984 patrons."

Venues Today...I usually get that along with Obscure Sports Quarterly...all kidding aside, that's great to see Chaifetz get some truly deserved recognition.

[bk18]

http://www.stltoday.com/entertainment/musi...17a4a78c22.html

Venues Today magazine is reporting that our very own Chaifetz Arena at St. Louis University is ranked as the busiest venue in the world in the 10,001-15,000 capacity range.

This is based on concert and event grosses from April 16-May 15, as reported by the trade publication.

During that period, Chaifetz hosted 14 ticketed events and sold 41,984 tickets for a total gross of $1,961,221.

Among those events were Cirque du Soleil's "Alegria," Tyler Perry's "Madea's Big Happy Family," and a Ben Folds concert.

In a statement, Global Spectrum's Jim Wynkoop, Chaifetz's general manager, said "We're thrilled to be at the top of this month's rankings in 'Venues Today.' The 14-event stretch we hosted is a true testament of Global Spectrum's goal of bringing a wide range of entertainment for the entire St. Louis region to the campus of Saint Louis University. The community has done an incredible job of supporting our events, and I'm fortunate to work with such an amazing group of professionals who worked tirelessly to produce a memorable experience for each of our 41,984 patrons."

This is great. Does anyone know how they are doing profit wise? And if they are making money where does the revenue go? Does it stay within the arena's finances? Does it flow directly to the endowment?

[willie]

This is great. Does anyone know how they are doing profit wise? And if they are making money where does the revenue go? Does it stay within the arena's finances? Does it flow directly to the endowment?

My guess is that the universities cut in this is pretty fixed. Global Spectrum probably guarantees x amount of dollars and maybe a small percentage of ticket sales and the rest they keep. I think the University has little to do with what goes on in the building.

[kshoe]

My guess is that the universities cut in this is pretty fixed. Global Spectrum probably guarantees x amount of dollars and maybe a small percentage of ticket sales and the rest they keep. I think the University has little to do with what goes on in the building.

Agreed. Its probbaly not a huge money-maker but it certainly helps offset at least some portion of the cost and its good to see that they've been able to use it consistently. Probably depends on what the shows are, but for the 14 events, they only averaged 3k per. Hard to say if that is good or bad, but it doesn't seem particularly high to me.

There's also an intangible benefit of having 14k people on campus that otherwise probably wouldn't have been down there. Who knows how many of those will have a favorable impression of SLU and consider sending their kids/grandkids to SLU in the future.

[Clock_Tower]

By comparison, there is a very ugly, money-pit, non-user friendly venue (similar size) 20 miles West -- St. Charles Family Arena -- which would love to have the success that Chaveitz is having. Good for SLU!!

[cheeseman]

This is great. Does anyone know how they are doing profit wise? And if they are making money where does the revenue go? Does it stay within the arena's finances? Does it flow directly to the endowment?

All revenue from rental goes to pay off the bonds as it was explained to me.

[cheeseman]

My guess is that the universities cut in this is pretty fixed. Global Spectrum probably guarantees x amount of dollars and maybe a small percentage of ticket sales and the rest they keep. I think the University has little to do with what goes on in the building.

Unless somebody can claim otherwise, it was my understanding that the SLU simply hired a firm to manage the building and that the company gets paid by a portion of the profits but SLU also gets a fair cut of the revenue - in fact I was told that to pay the bonds off there was a target number of events/revenue that had been factored in to the budgeting process. In other words, the more revenue raised the faster the bonds are paid off.

[bk18]

Unless somebody can claim otherwise, it was my understanding that the SLU simply hired a firm to manage the building and that the company gets paid by a portion of the profits but SLU also gets a fair cut of the revenue - in fact I was told that to pay the bonds off there was a target number of events/revenue that had been factored in to the budgeting process. In other words, the more revenue raised the faster the bonds are paid off.

Smart business plan.

I agree with the assumption that SLU probably takes all the revenue and uses it to pay off the mortgage and the management company only gets a contracted cut like just to cover salaries and a little on top for every ticket sold. But regardless, this is pretty impressive.

If they can just fix the food and maybe down the road they could improve the acoustics of the building for concerts, this could be a top of the line venue. I think some big arenas have some sort of insulation or foam installed on the walls and roof so that there is no echo. Ben Folds made mention of the great venue but subpar acoustics. I didn't notice it too much, so I don't think its too urgent at the moment. Maybe in 5 years.

[Hawk]

Smart business plan.

I agree with the assumption that SLU probably takes all the revenue and uses it to pay off the mortgage and the management company only gets a contracted cut like just to cover salaries and a little on top for every ticket sold. But regardless, this is pretty impressive.

If they can just fix the food and maybe down the road they could improve the acoustics of the building for concerts, this could be a top of the line venue. I think some big arenas have some sort of insulation or foam installed on the walls and roof so that there is no echo. Ben Folds made mention of the great venue but subpar acoustics. I didn't notice it too much, so I don't think its too urgent at the moment. Maybe in 5 years.

You don't want to damp it too much or basketball loudness will take a hit.

[TheA_Bomb]

We're #1...we're #1!

[thetorch]

The problem wasn't acoustics at Ben Folds, it was concertgoers who were not interested in the show. Hard to hear 1 guy on a piano over several thousand people talking.

[cheeseman]

Smart business plan.

I agree with the assumption that SLU probably takes all the revenue and uses it to pay off the mortgage and the management company only gets a contracted cut like just to cover salaries and a little on top for every ticket sold. But regardless, this is pretty impressive.

If they can just fix the food and maybe down the road they could improve the acoustics of the building for concerts, this could be a top of the line venue. I think some big arenas have some sort of insulation or foam installed on the walls and roof so that there is no echo. Ben Folds made mention of the great venue but subpar acoustics. I didn't notice it too much, so I don't think its too urgent at the moment. Maybe in 5 years.

Not having been there for a concert I have been told that the acoustics for a concert are actually quite good but as I said I have never been there for such an event.

[slu72]

Not having been there for a concert I have been told that the acoustics for a concert are actually quite good but as I said I have never been there for such an event.

Would have figured cirque would have pulled in a big crowd. Saw them twice and they do some pretty amazing stuff. If you get a chance see it... it ain't only for old retired guys like myself. Ben Folds is big here in Charleston, think he's from NC which is why, but he only plays small venues... like a music hall. One would figure the Chai could seat around 14-15 k for a concert. They should look into gettting some big name groups for a rehearsal tour show. Charleston arena did that a couple of years ago w/ Elton John. SRO. Charleston wasn't listed on his official tour, so it was like a dress rehearsal before a live audience before the official tour began. Tim McGraw did it here recently and again SRO. Not being a country fan, I didn't go but friends had no complaints. I've heard a lot of big time tour acts do this to iron out any kinks and to get audience feedback. Stars like EJ and McGraw would fill up the Chai.

A friend of mine works at the Arena here and says the performers don't charge their usual big rates as it's really just a tune up for the real deal.