Venue Detail
Arkansas Twisters
Revenues From Sports Venues Pro Facilities Report
January, 2010
Arkansas Twisters
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425 W Broadway N Little Rock, AR 72114 Phone: 501-907-2330 Fax: 501-907-2327 URL: www.arkansastwisters.com Owner: Tim Berryman League: arenafootball2 National Conference, Midwest
Venue
Verizon Arena, 1 Alltel Arena Way, Little Rock, AR 72214 Owner: Pulaski County Managed by: SMG Facility Management Built: 1999 Capacity: 18,000 Permanent concession stands: 16 Soft drink: Coca Cola
Naming rights
Sold to: Alltel Price: $7, 000,000
Ticket prices
Season tickets range from $64 to $280 Single tickets range from $10.00 to $38.00 2007 average attendance: 5,329 2008 average attendance: 5,508 2009 average attendance: 3,677
Luxury Suites
Quantity: 28 Term: 8 to 20 years Price: $175,000 to $1, 000,000 Seats: 14 to 18
Financing
The $73 million Venue opened in 1999. State funds provided $20 million, a local sales tax added another $20 million, suite leases brought in $10 million and naming rights added $7 million. Interest earned on the contributed funds made up the rest of the cost. The Venue was fully paid for when it opened.
Suites were leased with the full cash price of the lease paid up front. Four suites were leased at $1 million for 20 years, four at $500,000 for 20 years, four at $350,000 for 10 years and 12 at $175,000 for eight years. Other suites are for team and government use. Tickets are extra. Pct. public: 100
Alltel Arena is the home of the RiverBlades of the ECHL, the Trojans of the University of Arkansas and the af2 Twisters.
When the arena opened in 1999, it had a difficult birth. Just hours before its first events, local politicians closed the doors when cracks were found in some beams supporting the second level. Testing found that metal rods inside the beams were placed incorrectly. Further testing found other problems in other structures.
While no problem threatened the building's integrity, supports were added to ensure safety. The opening finally occurred more than a week later.
The Twisters pay $3,500 per game rent or 12 percent of its gross ticket revenues. (Facilities, Financial, Professional Sports, Venue, Football)