There has been a great deal of furor since Paul Giblin of the Arizona Republic came out on May 5, 2013 with a number that Glendale would have to pay to run the arena of $5.1 to $5.5M per year. See this link: http://www.azcentral.com/community/glendale/articles/20130502phoenix-coyotes-jobing-arena-costs.html .

jobing.com arena

Jobing.com arena

On August 8, 2012 (9 months ago), Lisa Halverstadt, a former reporter with the Arizona Republic stated, “If the team stays, the city estimates it will cost about $12.2 million a year, or $54 per resident, when costs and revenue are factored. That’s in addition to the roughly $13 million a year to retire the debt on the arena in about 20 years. But the city says it would face even steeper financial challenges without the Coyotes. If the team leaves, Glendale will still be on the hook for the arena debt. But the city also projects it will then need to come up with millions of dollars a year to pay an arena manager and other expenses if there is no anchor tenant for the arena. The city estimates that would cost $15.8 million, or $70 per resident. With that in mind, Glendale projects it would save about $3.5 million annually by keeping the team.” Here is the link: http://www.azcentral.com/community/glendale/articles/20120801glendale-few-options-jobing-arena.html .

Even the vaunted Arizona Republic is not consistent in the numbers it offers to its readers. Nine months ago $12M a year to operate the arena was a good number. Now, apparently $5M is the number you should believe.

Below are the numbers from 2006 and 2007 when Jerry Moyes owned the team. Annual revenues were $6.4M to $7.1M. Total expenses were $13.4M to $12.9M. Net loss was $6.9M to $5.7M.

The auditor’s report shows the following :

…………………………………………………………..2006                                   2007

Revenues……………………………………………. $7,142,000                    $6,499,000

Expenses:

Event…………………………………………………. $5,616,000                    $4,413,000

General and Administrative……………………. $ 7,303,000                    $ 9,052,000

Total expenses……………………………………… $12,919,000                  $13,465,000

Net Loss……………………………………………..  ($5,777,000)                ($6,966,000)

These numbers from 6 years ago track with the current NHL numbers of revenues of approximately $6M; expenses of approximately $12M; and loss of approximately $6M.

numberFor months  I have consistently used these very same numbers obtained under a Freedom of Information request from the city. Moyes’ numbers come from an auditor’s report and the NHL numbers were submitted monthly to the city. There is no doubt in my mind that it takes approximately $12M to operate Jobing.com arena annually with revenues of approximately $6M and debt of $6M. The numbers don’t lie.

 

 

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