'I wish them well': Fishers, Noblesville gamble on arenas in crowded local concert market
Fishers and Noblesville recently scored big by landing minor league sports franchises but experts warn the most difficult work is yet to come.
If the city-owned venues are to be money-makers rather than boondoggles, the events they book when the teams aren’t playing hold the key, experts said.
“The minor league teams account for a small percentage of usage and historically, they are hard to be self-sustainable unless they are isolated from large markets,” said Walter Franco, principal at Victus Advisors, a Utah-based strategic planner for sports and entertainment venues.
The cities are well aware of the importance of filling the rest of the calendar. Fishers plans to attract concerts and other events on 125 dates the Indy Fuel hockey team is not playing, and Noblesville is shooting for 300 dates when the Mad Ants basketball squad is idle.
'Last one in loses'
But some experts expressed doubt that the cities could find enough top acts to draw crowds large enough to keep the arenas in the black. One hurdle is that Central Indiana already has several stadiums, amphitheaters, concerts halls and arenas.
“What worries me is there is a race in the northern suburbs where the last one in loses,” said Mark Rosentraub, director of the Center for Sports Venues & Real Estate Development at the University of Michigan. “We may be getting to a tipping point, you cannot keep increasing supply.”
He said an economic feasibility study would have been helpful, but Fishers and Noblesville said they didn’t conduct one.
Instead, the suburbs will rely on venue management firms to operate the arenas and book the entertainment.
Franco said even in the best of circumstances, many mid-sized arenas struggle.
“A break-even scenario is now most often the best case for new arenas,” he said. ”More often the norm is continued subsidies by the municipality.”
Competition in the regional market
Fishers will build its $170 million arena near 116th Street and I-69 in an expanded Fishers District food and retail development. The 7,200-seat center will host 36 Indy Fuel home games each year. Noblesville inked terms with the Indiana Pacers to bring the Fort Wayne Mad Ants G-League basketball team to a 3,500-seat, $40 million arena along its Innovation Mile on 141st Street near Olio Road.
Both cities are borrowing millions of dollars to build the stadiums, to be paid off over a couple of decades. In addition, Fishers imposed a city-wide 1% food and beverage tax to pay down the debt.
The cities will recoup the construction costs through rent payments by the teams, parking and concession revenue, a ticket surcharge, naming rights sale and corporate suite payments.
But the collections outside of the Fuel and Mad Ants games could vary based on the acts they sign, which will largely be dictated by the competition from other venues, even those close to home.
Noblesville has the 23,000-seat Ruoff Music Center; Fishers books bands at the Nickel Plate Amphitheater; and nearby Carmel boasts the Center of the Performing Arts.
In Indianapolis, the Gainbridge Fieldhouse, the TCU Amphitheater at White River State Park and Farmers Coliseum at the Indiana State Fairgrounds draw many top acts.
Roger Noll, a Stanford University professor emeritus in economics, said in most mid-sized markets like Indianapolis, a professional sports stadium and college arenas are usually enough to meet the demand for big-draw entertainment.
“The problem is that in a city the size of Indianapolis that is not a major tourist center demand is not sufficient to support several such facilities,” said Noll, who specializes in the economy of sports. “If a private entity is unwilling to build such a venue without a big subsidy, that is a good signal that a publicly-financed additional arena will be a loser financially.”
Noblesville Mayor Chris Jensen said the suburb’s arena is intended to be a community amenity more than a profit-driven big-name entertainment venture.
“It’s an event center for the residents, the community,” he said. Most of the economic benefit won't be from ticket sales but from other spending by people who attend the events, Jensen said. Trade shows, conferences and high school events will fill a huge chunk of the open dates, he said.
Rather than conduct a feasibility study, the city relied on the Hamilton County tourism office to assess the “ancillary” benefits, he said. The city already has a working relationship with Live Nation, thanks to Ruoff, and feels confident it can book entertainment that fills the arena.
Variety of entertainment, uses, planned
In Fishers, Leonard Bonacci, regional director of stadiums for ASM Global, which the city hired as its arena manager, said blockbuster concerts are just a fraction of the acts the firm and city will seek.
“There is no shortage of content out there,” he said. Only five to 10 events a year will be concerts: the rest will be divided into family entrainment, sports and community events, he said.
“The nice part about this (arena size) is it fits in nicely,” with others in the area, Bonacci said. “We want it to be a venue for all people so we will build a portfolio of event types.”
Other bookings could include ice capades, pro wrestling, Cirque du Soleil, graduations, high basketball and corporate gatherings, as well as keynote speakers affiliated with conventions in Indianapolis.
ASM operates more than 350 entertainment, sports and exhibition facilities around the world and has “a strong booking background,” with connections to major promoters like Live Nation, he said.
Some of the possible musical acts for an arena the size of the Fishers' could be John Mellencamp, Goo Goo Dolls, Chicago, Styx, Alabama and Brad Paisley. Plus he said, “comedy is crushing.” Comedian Jim Gaffigan, he said, could expect to draw 2,000 to 4,000. Chris Rock draws up to 10,000.
Room for all
Dan Kemer vice president of programming at the Performing Arts Center, said Hamilton County can support the additional venues, partly because it is well-positioned geographically to land quality acts.
“From my perspective, more venues make it more attractive when routing tours,” said Kremer, who served as president of Line Nation Indiana. “It is a vastly different experience at each venue. And from a routing perspective, it’s an easy stop from east to west.”
The arenas could accommodate any of the acts that play the outdoor sites, like the Fishers amphitheater and Ruoff, while also booking indoor acts in winter, he said. The much smaller and specialized theaters at the Arts Centers — The Palladium, Tarkington, and the Studio — won’t compete for the same performers.
“You’ve got have smart venue managers and promoters so they are not stepping on each other,“ Kemer said.
But Smith cautioned that the event market is volatile.
“The amount of events they can host is not going up,” Smith said. “Especially with the classic rock bands dying off.”
Lesson from Fort Wayne
Fort Wayne, the current home of the Mad Ants, approached a possible new home for the team more cautiously and eventually decided against it.
The team plays in the 13,000-seat Allen County War Memorial Coliseum but drew an average of about 2,485 fans per game there last year. About six years ago, the Pacers sought a smaller arena, so the city considered building an 8,000-seat center next the Allen County Convention Center downtown.
Fort Wayne hired Victus Advisors to do an economic feasibility study. The consultants examined several other arenas — some failing — of comparable size around the country, talked to their operators and city officials, questioned music promoters, and consulted with agencies that track the entertainment market.
Victus projected the $105 million Fort Wayne arena would generate $90 million in economic activity over 10 years and the city decided against building it.
Among the findings was that it would only attract about 10 acts a year because bands would prefer to keep playing at the Coliseum.
Randy Brown, the coliseum’s former general manager, said the city wanted the study to gauge the economic costs and benefits before “committing to years of debt service” by taking out loans to pay for the stadium.
“It’s just something you want to do because of the competition and to avoid a situation where everyone loses,” said Smith, the manager for 31 years.
He said with the Mad Ants leaving the Coliseum could benefit the city because the weekend dates will open up for concerts, which would draw more spectators than the games did.
He said Noblesville “will be challenged to be profitable” because of competition. “But I wish them well.”
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Entertainment venues in Indianapolis and Hamilton County
Gainbridge Fieldhouse, 125 S Pennsylvania St., Indianapolis
Capacity: 18,000 | Opened: 1999 | Owner: City of Indianapolis, Capital Improvement Board.
Indiana Farmers Coliseum, Indiana State Fairgrounds, Indianapolis
Capacity 6,800 | Opened: 1939
TCU Amphitheater at White River State Park, 801 W. Washington St., Indianapolis
Capacity: 7,500 | Opened: 2021 | Owner: State of Indiana and Live Nation Entertainment.
Murat Theatre at Old National Centre, 502 N. New Jersey St., Indianapolis
Capacity: 2,500 | Opened: 1909 | Owner: Live Nation Entertainment
Ruoff Music Center, 12880 E 146th St, Noblesville
Capacity: 24,790 | Opened: 1989 | Owner: Live Nation Entertainment.
Nickel Plate District Amphitheater, 6 Municipal Drive, Fishers
Capacity: 6,000 | Opened: 2018 | Owner: City of Fishers
Center for the Performing Arts, 1 Carter Green, Carmel
Opened: 2011 | Owner: City of Carmel
Palladium at CPA. Capacity, 1,600.
Tarkington at CPA. Capacity: 500.
Studio Theater at CPA. Capacity: 250.
Planned venues
Indy Eleven Stadium, 402 Kentucky Ave., Indianapolis
Capacity: 20,000 | Owner: Indy Eleven and Keystone Group
Indy Eleven Park event center
Capacity: 5,000 | Owner: Indy Eleven and Keystone Group
Fishers Event Center, 11100 Stockdale Drive, Fishers
Capacity, 7,500 | Owner: City of Fishers
Noblesville Event Center, 16233 Boden Road, Finch Creek Park, Noblesville
Capacity, 3,500 | Owner: City of Noblesville
Correction: This article was updated July 31 to correct the average number of fans attending Mad Ants games at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Fishers, Noblesville gamble on success crowded local concert market
