Verizon Arena On Track for Biggest Revenue Year Ever

Former Wings frontman Paul McCartney performs April 30 at Verizon Arena in North Little Rock.

From the outside looking in, 2016 is producing a bumper crop of crowd-drawing entertainment at North Little Rock’s Verizon Arena. A banner-year-in-the-making forecast holds up to review by the ultimate arena insider.

“It’s been big,” said Michael Marion, general manager of the 18,000-seat events center.

How big?

“I feel really comfortable saying this will be a record-setting year,” said Marion, who has overseen the venue since it opened in October 1999.

The measuring stick for the potential record is registered in dollars flowing into arena coffers.

Six months into 2016, operations at Verizon Arena have produced revenue of about $4.6 million. That’s a dollar total on track to surpass the facility’s high-water mark of $7.2 million set last year.

The big three categories for sales accounted for 73 percent of revenue during 2015: food and beverages (nearly $2.4 million), rental income ($1.9 million) and box office fees ($1 million).

“When I was an agent in LA booking shows, this market got skipped because Barton [Coliseum] was small and old,” Marion said of the venerable Little Rock arena. “I knew it was a good market with pent-up demand. I’m not surprised by how it has played out.”

So far this year, 277,375 people have passed through the doors to watch concerts, view shows and attend meetings. The head count halfway through the year is a telling testimony to the drawing power of the 2016 bill of attractions.

Paul McCartney topped this year’s chart when his “One on One” tour rolled into town April 30 and unleashed a three-hour set of tunes and stories spanning more than a half-century. The first-time Arkansas concert by the legendary musician, composer and recording artist was greeted by an electric gathering of 15,624.

Contributing to the box office sizzle was the blockbuster “Frozen,” which delivered a hot-ticket storyline for eight shows of Disney on Ice.

Total attendance during its May 4-8 run: 41,642.

A rescheduled Feb. 9 triple-bill rock concert headlined by Def Leppard played to an enthusiastic audience of 10,752 on May 11.

“On that leg of the tour, we were the strongest date,” Marion said. “The people of Arkansas like to go to shows, and they turn out. We always tell people we’re in a business where we don’t control our inventory.

“For a market this size, we’ve done really well attracting shows. We’ve established ourselves as that good, solid play.”

The announced lineup for the second half of 2016 promises to push the revenue tally into new territory.

The list includes Dolly Parton on Aug. 13, Journey-Doobie Brothers-Dave Mason on Aug. 17, Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus Xtreme on Sept. 2-4, Dixie Chicks on Sept. 9, Five Finger Death Punch and Shinedown on Oct. 18 and Tool on Oct. 28.

Though not officially listed, the Trans-Siberian Orchestra is expected for a return engagement during the Christmas holiday season.

“I feel pretty confident we will have them,” Marion said. “They’ve played here something like 11 years in a row.”

The same expectation goes for a Razorback basketball game.

While 2016 is poised to establish a new fiscal record, the arena’s 2006 attendance record of 661,326 stands unassailable for now.

That number was boosted by variables that aren’t in play these days. Verizon is no longer home to developmental teams of the National Basketball Association or Arena Football League. The Arkansas RimRockers contributed 73,741, and the Arkansas Twisters added 44,369 more to the census of arena visitors 10 years ago.

Discounting those games still leaves an impressive 543,216 total for 2006. Topping even this reduced figure will require more than a few strong turnouts this year.

The 2006 numbers also were juiced by two March sporting events. The Arkansas high school basketball tournament drew 53,022, which followed on the heels of the SEC Women’s Basketball Tournament and its four-day total of 52,005.

Despite achieving a pinnacle for attendance in 2006, the revenue total for the year reached only $6.4 million. The dollar count at Verizon Arena broke that threshold each of the last three years and in 2009.

“It’s the product of general price increases,” Marion said of the revenue climb. “The facility fee has gone up, concession prices have gone up, and ticket fees have gone up.”

A 50-cent increase in the facility fee per ticket is funding an upgrade in the arena’s security package. The surcharge hike is paying for magnetometers. Walk-through metal detectors were unveiled at the Harlem Globetrotters show on Jan. 8.

The rented equipment allowed the arena staff to gain experience until an order of 29 magnetometers was delivered in February. The first big-show test came on March 11 with country star Luke Bryan’s “Kill the Lights” tour, which brought in 13,731.

“We’ve made ourselves a hard target,” Marion said of the arena’s now-standard security gear.

Adding metal detectors to safeguard arena events came to the forefront with terrorist attacks Nov. 13 at a concert at the Bataclan music hall in Paris and at a Dec. 2 employee meeting at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, California.

Magnetometer screening became mandated for all NBA and National Hockey League venues as part of ramped-up security policies for their 2015-16 seasons.

Sporting events are much fewer and farther between at Verizon Arena, and as such, upgrading the nearly 17-year-old scoreboard doesn’t trump improving a fundamental amenity.

“That’s on our wish list,” Marion said of a new scoreboard. “What’s more important — scoreboard or seats? Seats win.

“We replaced the first eight rows of seats and reupholstered the rest of the lower bowl seats. We basically have all-new seating in the lower bowl.”

‘A Welcoming Place’

The $83 million arena has operated as a self-sufficient business since it was built with a mix of public and private money. A $7 million piece of the funding formula came from Little Rock’s Alltel Corp., which acquired naming rights for its investment.

Verizon Wireless inherited that deal, which expires in 2019, with the purchase of Alltel. In the wake of corporate consolidation, Alltel Arena became Verizon Arena in June 2009.

The future naming rights represent a sizable addition to the arena’s bank account, but Marion isn’t sure what the new number will be.

“We haven’t put a finger on that number yet,” Marion said. “My expectation is we’ll call around next year to arenas that have recently had a name change and see what’s out there. Of course, we’ll visit with Verizon to talk with them.”

Meanwhile, the focus remains on the day-to-day task of keeping the arena fresh and maintaining its reputation as a gracious host and status as an inviting tour stop.

“We take care of the people who are coming in the back door and the patrons, too,” Marion said. “It’s a welcoming place on both ends of the stage.

“I always tell people: We’re not making widgets here. We’re making a good time.”

Crowd Funding at Verizon Arena

^*Excludes depreciation.

Top 2016 Events at Verizon Arena

Top 2006 Events at Alltel Arena^*

^*Renamed Verizon Arena in June 2009.