Question

[northside lurker]

Until this last quarter, hasn't the Chevy Center been making a profit? (although far far less than projected)

The management company needs to analyze what has worked, and what has failed to determine what to continue bringing in.  There seem to have been more successes lately despite reporting a loss.

[Towntalk]

An interesting question was raised this morning regarding the various entertainment venues in Youngstown ... why some succeed in bringing in good audiences while others flop.

Some time ago at The Smoking Gun web site, a contract between a venue (not in Youngstown) and a performer was posted, and the demands made on the venue were typical of most traveling shows. The venue was required to provide the performers group meals, hotel expenses, snacks, and other "necessities" that amounted to a large sum of money over and above the booking fees.

The public for the most part know absolutely nothing about what goes into the booking of a show, whether at the Chevy Center, DeYor or Stambaugh Auditorium, but we do know that we are digging deep into our pockets to see a show, and for us that is the bottom line.

Lets face it, Youngstown has a problem that is beyond our control, and that is the amount of money that we have to spend on going to a show where tickets are $25 to $50 each and the price of food is just about the same price that is charged in the large venues in Pittsburgh or Cleveland.

It is for this reason that there are so few shows that are sell outs, and unfortunately we have no control over it.

How long can the Chevy Center for example survive with so many of the shows it brings in not making expenses much less a profit? Would anyone in this group invest in a business that is showing losses like we see with the Chevy Center? I doubt it.

And how can we expect people who are struggling just to get by attend all the shows that are brought in when it means shelling out about $100 per couple. How many average Mahoning Valley families have $1200 a year to spend on entertainment?

There are venues that are quite reasonable, and they deserve out full support, but what about those venues that empty our pockets?