Venue Detail
Mississippi Riverkings
Revenues From Sports Venues Pro Facilities Report
January, 2010
Mississippi Riverkings
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PO Box 808 Southhaven, MS 38671 Phone: 662-342-1755 Fax: 662-342-1156 URL: www.riverkings.com Owner: Horn Chen League: Central Hockey League Northern Conference, Northeast Division
Venue
DeSoto County Civic Center, 4560 Venture Dr, Southhaven, MS 38671 Owner: DeSoto County Managed by: Owner Built: 2000 Capacity: 9,000 Permanent concession stands: 8 Concessionaire: Owner Suite caterer: Owner
Ticket prices
Season tickets range from $240 to $600 Single tickets range from $10.00 to $21.00 2007 average attendance: 3,545 2008 average attendance: 3,264 2009 average attendance: 2,992
Luxury Suites
Quantity: 12 Term: 1 to 7 years Price: $12,500 to $20,000 Seats: 10 to 16 Includes: Tickets.
Financing
The $30 million Venue was financed by $27.8 million in revenue bonds supported by a 2 percent hotel, motel and restaurant sales tax. The county can extend its bond sale up to $35 million and still stay within financing guidelines. Pct. public: 100
The DeSoto County Civic Center, the home of the CHL Memphis RiverKings and af2 Xplorers, ran about $4 million over budget. Part of the extra cost came in adding facilities to the arena to support the hockey team. The RiverKings signed a lease for the new arena and began play there in 2000.
The facility earned $2.8 million its first year with $3 million in expenses. While the county did not expect to make money its first year, it got a pleasant surprise in the second year.
Managers said the center may hit the break-even mark a year early. The arena has been helped along by strong performance by the Memphis RiverKings, which moved down the road to the new building.
The building benefitted in June 2002 from the Lennox Lewis-Mike Tyson fight in Memphis. The arena hosted a bout featuring Laila Ali, daughter of Muhammad Ali, the night before the Tyson match.
Center managers plan to market the building more aggressively and capitalize on the strong reputation it built among the acts that played the venue. They also hope to draw even more heavily on nearby Memphis.
All revenues in the new arena go to the building. (Facilities, Financial, Ice Hockey, Professional Sports, Venue)