The United Spirit Arena hosted its 104th entertainment event during its 15 years of operation with the sold-out Luke Bryan concert in January, an economic and logistical achievement some thought would never happen for the arena.
“Pricewaterhouse did a survey before the arena was ever built and they were saying we would never attract more shows to Lubbock just because we built an arena,” said Kent Meredith, interim assistant vice president for auxiliary services.
“That’s proven to be a little bit untrue because we have gotten some shows that we probably would not have been able to bring to Lubbock without the arena.”
The United Spirit Arena has held sold out shows from performers like Cher, George Strait, Elton John, KISS, Aerosmith and Taylor Swift.
Cindy Harper, associate director for marketing and booking, said Select-a-Seat, a Lubbock-based ticket retailer, estimates 31 percent of all ticket sales at the arena come from out-of-town customers.
Harper said the economic impact of concert and special events also indirectly affects local businesses.
The Lubbock Chamber of Commerce and the Convention & Visitor’s Bureau estimate that every out-of-town patron spends about $123.10 on hotel and motel accommodations, food, beverages and shopping.
Meredith said the arena charges a flat rental rate of $30,000, which will go to cover expenses like utilities and wages for everyone working the event.
With a concert like Luke Bryan’s, Meredith said the arena can expect to make a profit of anywhere from $2,000 to $12,000 in merchandise sales, at least $10,000 in rent, and anywhere from $2,500 to $20,000 from concession-stand sales. Thus the arena stands to profit from around $14,500 to $42,000 per show.
Despite expecting to profit greatly from large concerts and special events, Meredith said commencement and Texas Tech athletic team events are always first priority over booking an external event.
Due to availability, Meredith said the arena can usually only host about six to 10 concerts and special events a year.
In spite of hosting six to 10 events, a survey by Pollstar magazine ranked the arena 175 out of the top 200 worldwide ticket sales for arena venues, grossing close to $65,000. Meredith said this number comes from the promoters, so some shows are probably not included in this survey if they did not report them to Pollstar.
Looking to the future, Meredith said an untapped revenue source may be to charge for parking near the arena for concerts and special events.
Regardless of how much profit the arena brings in, Meredith said the biggest way they give back to the university is through employing Tech students.
“We try to use primarily students, so it gives them the opportunity to make some money, but also at working with people and customer service,” Meredith said.
Though Lubbock’s market size is comparably smaller than the bigger Texas cities, Meredith said he is optimistic that the arena will continue to attract big venues, economically affecting not only Tech, but the surrounding community in ways unexpected.
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