Venue Detail
Columbus Blue Jackets
RSV Pro Facilities Report
March, 2014
Columbus Blue Jackets
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200 W. Nationwide Blvd Flr 3 Columbus, OH 43215 Phone: 614-246-4625 Fax: 614-246-4007 URL: www.bluejackets.com Owner: John H. McConnell and other investors League: National Hockey League, Eastern Conference, Metropolitan
Venue
Nationwide Arena, 200 W. Nationwide Blvd, Columbus, OH 43215 Owner: Franklin County Convention Facilities Authority Managed by: Ohio State University Built: 2000 Capacity: 18,137 Permanent concession stands: 19 Concessionaire: Sportservice Suite caterer: Well Bread Catering Soft drink:
Ticket Prices
Season tickets range from $599 to $6,750 Single tickets range from $15.00 to $225.00
Attendance
2011 average attendance: 13,350 2012 average attendance: 14,660 2013 average attendance: 14,564
Suites
Quantity: 52 Term: 5 to 10 years Price: $150,500 to $250,000 Seats: 12 to 18 Includes: Private entrance, tickets to Blue Jackets and all other events, two parking passes, concierge, use of suite for meetings and other events.
Club Seats
Quantity: 1,695 Price: $2,700 to $4,005 Includes: For club seat pricing, please see the PSL section.
Financing
The $150 million building was privately financed. Nationwide recouped its investment from sales of seat licenses and a handful of founders suites. The company also gets revenue from an adjacent parking garage the company already used for its employees. The arena simply gave the company a chance to earn money from a structure in the evenings as opposed to only during working hours.
The parking revenue and a nominal lease make up the bulk of the revenues Nationwide gets from the arena. The Blue Jackets get concessions and signage revenue and earnings from the additional suites and club seats.
Nationwide expects to earn a seven percent to eight percent return on its investment.
Seat licenses
Seat licenses were sold for the bulk of the seats in the arena. PSLs are good for as long as the team plays in the Nationwide Arena. The top of the line are the Ticketmaster.com lounge seats featuring in-seat wait service, a parking pass and a private lounge behind the seating area. The cost is $4,000 plus $5,438 for the first set of season tickets. Next are the glass seats that cost $3,000 plus $4,350 for the first year season tickets. These are located around the rink. The more traditional club seats on the club level are $2,000 and $3,000 plus season tickets. A private lounge, the Pizzoti Club, is also available along with a private elevator and in-seat wait service. In the lower and upper bowls, PSL prices range from $750 to $2,750 with season tickets ranging from $860 to $2,580.
The Franklin County Convention Facilities Authority closed on its acquisition of Nationwide Arena in a $42.5 million deal that will be financed with up to a third of the casino tax revenue due to Columbus and Franklin County.
With maintenance, operating and debt service costs, arena ownership is expected to cost the city and county more than $250 million through 2039.
The deal is expected to save the struggling Blue Jackets $9.5 million per year through a rent-free lease with the authority. Nationwide, the former majority owner of the arena, agreed to invest $52 million in the Blue Jackets to take a 30 percent ownership interest in the team. It also will pay the team $28.5 million over 10 years for Naming Rights to the arena.
The Blue Jackets have said since 2009 that they are losing money, in part because of an unfavorable lease deal with the arena’s former owners. Team officials had discussed the possibility of moving the team.
City and county officials have said that their decision to buy the arena wasn’t about hockey; it was about protecting the Arena District that sprang up around Nationwide Arena after it opened in 2000. What was an empty landscape dominated by a closed, decaying prison is now home to apartments, condominiums, restaurants and offices. Nearly 10,000 people work there.
The deal was announced in September 2011 and took nearly six months to complete.
The city and county payments for the mortgage, maintenance and operations begin on Jan. 1, 2012. They are each on the hook for a percentage of their casino tax revenue through 2039, starting with 25 percent in 2013 and topping out at 32 percent in 2022.
The team has agreed to remain in Columbus through 2039.
The Blue Jackets and venue made waves early with new ways of generating venue revenue. The first comes from 15 Founders Suites which cost $2.5 million as part of a one-time fee good for a 25-year lease. Each year the owner buys only tickets for the suites. Revenue from these suites goes to Nationwide Insurance for developing the arena. All other suite revenue goes to the Blue Jackets.
Sales of Founders Suites fell short of expectations. Of the 16 original suites, five are unsold and four have been converted into regular suites.
Buyers of the Founders Suites in the arena are: American Electric Power, Bank One, Cardinal Health, Columbus Dispatch, Huntington Bank, The Limited, John McConnell (owner of the Blue Jackets), Nationwide Insurance (2), Scotts, and Worthington Industries.
Developers have also included 26 loge boxes spanning the south side of the arena along the goal lines. The boxes provide castered chairs, mini-refrigerators, televisions and seating for four to six in an open area. Patrons also have access to a private club behind the loge area, plus in-seat wait service. Loge box prices range from $38,500 to $68,500 including tickets and first right of refusal to other arena events. There are 26 boxes leasing on a 5- to 10-year term.
The venue has a 560-space parking garage as part of an overall neighborhood commercial development plan also being undertaken by Nationwide Insurance.
The Blue Jackets get 16 percent to 48 percent of concession revenue. (Facilities, Financial, Ice Hockey, NHL, Professional Sports, Venue)