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Verizon Arena: Breaking Down the Numbers

2 min read

The biggest source of revenue for the arena comes not from rent revenue, ticket sales or ad space. It comes from concessions.

(Click here for a PDF showing the arena’s earnings between 2008 and 2010.)

In 2008 the arena sold $2 million worth of food and beverage, comprising about a third of its total revenue. In 2009 that number was $2.1 million and in 2010 it had decreased to $1.8 million.

The next biggest revenue source is facility rent, but that fell to $1.5 million in 2010 from $1.9 million in the two previous years. Box office fees come next, then the rest is divided among facility fees, ad revenue, merchandising commissions and luxury suite rentals.

In 2008, only 21 of the arena’s 30 luxury suites were rented. That’s increased to 24 since, and General Manager Michael Marion said some are rented on a show-by-show basis. He said the arena still has about 500 customers signed onto its Save Your Seat program, a five-year contract giving participants reserved seats and first shots at event tickets. That program originally started with almost 1,000 participants, plummeting as the arena lost its sports tenants – the University of Arkansas at Little Rock’s Trojans basketball team, the RiverBlades hockey franchise, the RimRockers basketball team and the Arkansas Diamonds football team – between 2003 and 2010.

Marion said the arena hasn’t spent much time looking for new tenants.

"That’s not a major goal," Marion said. "No, we don’t always have to have a tenant, but we do have to have a successful tenant. We were not making a lot of money on any of our tenants, so losing them was not a big deal. But if we did get approached by an arena football team or a hockey team, we would certainly look at it. We’re not going to say no. But we don’t want to have a group in here just to break even."

The arena has used some of its revenue for structural improvements. In early 2011 the arena built a $450,000 marquee, and throughout the year also improved the VIP entrance on Washington Street and constructed a new fence around the loading dock.

Marion said upcoming improvements should include new flooring at all three entrances and upgrading and rearranging some of the dressing rooms.

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