San Diego City Council Looks To Increase Number Of Offseason Events At Petco Park

After two years of "disappointing revenue from offseason events at Petco Park, a San Diego City Council committee opted to move forward with a plan aimed at increasing the activity at the downtown ballpark," according to Jen Lebron Kuhney of the SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE. The committee "voted unanimously to work with the Padres to have more offseason activity at the park," including concerts and amateur sporting events. Meanwhile, an "evolving proposal emerged that would give the Padres a greater share of the offseason revenues the ball club now shares with the city." The current arrangement calls for the city to receive 70% of the revenue while the Padres collect 30 percent. Padres General Counsel and Senior VP/Business Administration Erik Greupner said that that split is “a disincentive for hosting events.” The proposed new deal would seek to give 70% of "offseason event revenues to the Padres to help cover some of their overhead costs." But regardless of the income, the city would be “guaranteed at least $300,000 a year.” The full City Council will discuss how the new deal will work in the coming months. After "consistently growing revenue each year, revenues plummeted from a peak" of $2M in '09 to $336,000 in '10. Though revenue bounced back to just over $1M in '11, city officials said that they “would like to see more events generate more money” (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 2/1).

NO SNOW IN TORONTO: In Toronto, Joseph Hall writes "don't expect to see anything" like the Indians' Snow Days winter festival in Toronto. Rogers Centre is "booked through much of the winter with lucrative indoor events like Disney on Ice." And BMO Field “is not equipped to run in the winter.” MLSE Dir of Corporate Communications Rajani Kamath said that "water for washrooms and concession stands could not be turned on for fear the pipes would freeze." Indians Communications Coordinator Danielle Cherry said Snow Days, which ended Jan. 16 at Progressive Field, “was an overall success and the team was happy with ticket sales.” But Indians President Mark Shapiro has said that the event “lost money both years” it has been held and that the team “wasn’t certain whether they would bring back a third edition” (TORONTO STAR, 2/1).