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Council hears Lone Star Conference financial report
By Conner Hammett, chammett@starlocalnews.com
More than a month has passed since the Lone Star Conference made its Allen debut, and the city has tallied up the numbers to find out exactly how well the event did during its first year at the Allen Event Center.
At Tuesday night's city council workshop, Assistant Parks and Recreation Director Lori Smeby gave council members a rundown of the conference's financial results and the overall economic impact of the event on the city.
While ticket sales exceeded the Lone Star Conference's ticket guarantee by almost 1,000, the event as a whole did not turn a profit for the city, falling short by $41,974.
During the conference weekend, The Village at Allen and The Village at Fairview saw a 15 percent increase in traffic. Allen Premium Outlets saw a nine percent increase in traffic, and Watters Creek saw a 21 percent increase in traffic.
Requests for anecdotal reports of sales over the weekend from area retailers resulted in varied observations, Smeby said.
"We had everything from, 'It was the best weekend we've had in forever,' to, 'I saw no saw difference in sales,' and everything in between," she said.
All hotels reported significant increases in occupancy during the event, with several being booked solid to accommodate out-of-town players, fans and officials. A total of 1,085 room nights were booked over the weekend, resulting in an estimated $108,044 in combined revenue.
Expenses the city was obligated to cover for the event included a $35,000 hosting fee, which was paid for by the convention and visitors bureau, nearly $9,000 in lodging subsidies for players and officials, $16,486 in mileage reimbursement for team members and $8,600 in team per diems.
In all, the city's expenses came to $216,084, including one-time expenses such as warehouse rentals and the purchase and installation of basketball goals, shot clocks, and technical infrastructure for a floor-level press row.
The city was able to reduce some costs thanks to help from its community partners, who donated enough money to reduce the city's share of the $8,000 hospitality budget to $1,200, Smeby said. Bob Tomes Ford in McKinney saved the city $3,000 by donating use of their vehicles for team members during their stay in Allen.
"I can't undervalue at all what the community impact ... was on this event," she said. "It was significant."
From the revenue side, the city earned $49,353 in ticket sales, $14,462 in facility fees and $26,350 in sponsorships which, however helpful, fell short of initial expectations. The budget anticipated $5,000 in advertising sales in the event program, though no sales were ultimately realized.
Adding $36,119 from a Texas Trust Fund grant, reimbursements from Lone Star program sales and concessions, the event realized $216,084 in revenue. The economic impact to the state is estimated at $557,677.
In terms of beating the shortfall next year, staff members have already discussed the possibility of negotiating a higher ticket guarantee or reducing the city's contractual obligations, Smeby said.
"As staff, we've already started talking about, 'What can we do, what can we come to the table with the conference and maybe negotiate to close that gap?'" she said.
City Manager Peter Vargas said all feedback the city has collected about the event from the participants and fans has been positive so far.
"Not having done this before and just observing it being done in a different location, we wanted to make sure that we had the resources allocated to do a good job," he said. "So I think that was a good learning experience for us, [learning] what is required to pull off a successful event of that concept?"
Smeby said seeing the positive response to the city's amenities from out-of-town visitors and hearing several express a desire to return to the town outside of basketball season made the week worth it for her.
"Nobody really knew what to expect, it was such a big change from Bartlesville and they said the buzz is still going around their campuses about what they experienced here in Allen," she said. "So the coaches, in their minds, have no doubt that more fans will come next year just because that buzz has been created."
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