Revenue from fans attending concerts at Gila River Arena is about $1M "short of projections," according to Peter Corbett of the ARIZONA REPUBLIC. IceArizona, the Coyotes ownership group, "projected two years ago it could book at least 23 shows annually with 15,000 fans per show, or 345,000 fans each year." But city of Glendale reports show that attendance at 14 non-hockey events over the past FY "never topped 14,000 per event; it totaled about 142,600," about 59% "below projections." Glendalei n July '13 awarded IceArizona a $225M arena-management contract "based in part on the concert projections and an average attendance to hockey games of 12,630." The Coyotes "averaged about 12,236 fans per game" during the '14-15 season, 3% "below projections." Arena revenue from concerts, Coyotes hockey and parking has come up over $2M "short the past two years, creating friction between Glendale and the team." IceArizona "doubled the number of concerts and events it hosted to 14" this past FY from the previous year, but that is "still far short of the 23 annual shows it promised the city." Glendale's arena-management agreement "limits the number of complimentary tickets the Coyotes can give away to an average of 1,000 per home game." But Glendale interim Assistant City Manager Tom Duensing said that there is "no limit on free tickets for concerts." Corbett notes the arena "competes for concerts with US Airways Center" (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 7/23).
MUSIC CITY: In Nashville, Nate Rau cited a Pollstar study as showing that Bridgestone Arena "ranked eighth in the world for concert ticket sales during the first half" of '15. The arena "ranked second in the country over the same six-month time span." The O2 in London "was the top-ranked arena for concert attendance," while American Airlines Center in Dallas "was No. 1 in the U.S." (Nashville TENNESSEAN, 7/21).
