Dunkin Donuts Center continues to struggle

[RhowdyRam02]

Not just taxpayers, a big reason why there was such a deficit in the pension fund is because the state used money that should have been going into the pension fund to help pay for the Convention Center when it was being built and then they never put the money back in.

[theblueram]

Not just taxpayers, a big reason why there was such a deficit in the pension fund is because the state used money that should have been going into the pension fund to help pay for the Convention Center when it was being built and then they never put the money back in.

What's a pension????

[ATPTourFan]

Exactly.

[OBRAM]

Tim Welsh said on TV, 'unless the dunk is fixed over, I may leave as head coach, we have the worst facilities in the Big East'. He said that, not in exact words. The Dunk (city owned) was always a PC project. I just would like to see how what PC pays compares to other places in the country. PC picked the decor, they have their banners hanging down, murals, and a dedicated Locker Room. Also, the construction phase was to cost $60 million, after they spent that they went back to the General Assembly and said we need $25 million more because steel prices went up. What projects has a cost overruns of 40%, I never heard of such a thing?. Also, there was not much steel used, it was an existing building except for the connector and sky boxes. GA Approved it, saying, 'what else can we do, stop the project 1/2 way thru the construction phase?'. This project was as bad as Studio 38, and will ultimately cost a lot more than Studio 38, yet Projo never wants to write a story about it, and try sending a letter to the editor, they will never print it.

[RF1]

Contrast the DDC renovation cost overruns to the Ryan Center. When the Ryan Center was getting close to the budget cost, they scaled down its height so the project would come in at budget. The DDC had a blank check with money no object. They went far over the renovations costs and the GA simply gave them more money.

Watch the WJAR report. The RICC Authority is run like no other. The travel expenses are outrageous. How can Hartford's facility run with no travel? Why are there five banquet servers (waiters) making over 80k per year?

The RICC had a 1.5 million dollar operating loss last year which RI taxpayers are on the hook. In addition taxpayers pay 25 million dollars a year in bond repayments.

The RICC Authority and its three venues just soak up state funds with little scrutiny from legislators or the public. It needs far more oversight as it clearly has shown it can't manage itself in a financially responsible manner.

[The Dude]

Public libraries don't support themselves. Neither do VA hospitals or public transportation operations. Should they be shuttered? That isn't the right way to assess a facility that serves a public purpose.

My use of the word "any" was a poor choice of words. I don't feel that entertainment venues, such as the Dunk, that charge admission "should" run in debt year after year. I don't feel that just because it happens at other venues it should be deemed an acceptable way to run things. That's my opinion. Hope that clarifies.

[The Dude]

Contrast the DDC renovation cost overruns to the Ryan Center. When the Ryan Center was getting close to the budget cost, they scaled down its height so the project would come in at budget. The DDC had a blank check with money no object. They went far over the renovations costs and the GA simply gave them more money.

Watch the WJAR report. The RICC Authority is run like no other. The travel expenses are outrageous. How can Hartford's facility run with no travel? Why are there five banquet servers (waiters) making over 80k per year?

The RICC had a 1.5 million dollar operating loss last year which RI taxpayers are on the hook. In addition taxpayers pay 25 million dollars a year in bond repayments.

The RICC Authority and its three venues just soak up state funds with little scrutiny from legislators or the public. It needs far more oversight as it clearly has shown it can't manage itself in a financially responsible manner.

Agreed.

[RF1]

I would love for a local media outlet to provide information on what the two main DDC tenants (P-Bruins and PC) pay. How does the current rent compare to what they paid pre renovations? If it isn't appreciably more for an upgraded arena, something is wrong. Both tenants pushed for the upgrades, particularly PC. They should pay more. RI taxpayers should not have to subsidize these private entities.

[RF1]

NBC 10 I-Team: Lawmaker report finds serious flaws at RI Convention Center Authority
http://www.turnto10.com/story/29168563/ ... -authority

[RF1]

The continuing fleecing of RI Taxpayers by the RICC - Brought to you by David Duffy and Dave Gavitt

[RhowdyRam02]

That's right, didn't Jim Taricani retire? I stopped watching Channel 10 years ago in favor of 12, but there's no way this story ever would have seen the light of day on 10 with his conflict of interest. He was just doing his job asking everyone the tough questions, just so long as everyone didn't include his wife and her shady friends on the convention center board.

[RF1]

24.9 million in taxpayer funds went to cover debt and operating expenses of the RICC in 2014. That number is expected to grow to 25.4 million in 2015. The total taxpayer contribution will reach $750 million before just the debt for the facilities is paid off. The RICC lost $179,000 on a single one night event this past March 10th at the DDC. The authority took a huge hit hosting the Neil Diamond concert as ticket sales were far below the break even point to cover the $750,000 booking fee.

Per the report, lawmakers have taken the appointed board of directors to task for being largely absent on the job. "They should be providing oversight, establishing performance goals and monitoring achievement of those goals. They must monitor expenses and costs to insure a competitive price structure. It is no longer acceptable for the Authority and its three facilities to run deficits and expect taxpayers to foot the entire bill for their debt," wrote lawmakers.

[RF1]

I didn't realize that Neil Diamond was such an albatross for concert venues. Given what happened in Stockton, CA in 2006, one would have thought the RICC might have had doubts about booking him. Apparently they didn't do any homework.

The inaugural concert on January 15, 2006 at the new Stockton Arena featured Neil Diamond and experienced a $574,295 loss. It got the Stockton City Manager fired just days later. I guess other areas hold their officials accountable. The RICC has no such fears.

Can you imagine a new PawSox stadium in downtown Providence given what we all know happens around here? Imagine how much that will cost RI taxpayers.

[hrstrat57]

Sawx will book Neil Diamond in there new downtown home too for sure......

Yikes sweet caroline echos all over the east side....

[SGreenwell]

I didn't realize that Neil Diamond was such an albatross for concert venues. Given what happened in Stockton, CA in 2006, one would have thought the RICC might have had doubts about booking him. Apparently they didn't do any homework.

The inaugural concert on January 15, 2006 at the new Stockton Arena featured Neil Diamond and experienced a $574,295 loss. It got the Stockton City Manager fired just days later. I guess other areas hold their officials accountable. The RICC has no such fears.

Can you imagine a new PawSox stadium in downtown Providence given what we all know happens around here? Imagine how much that will cost RI taxpayers.

The whole process of booking acts and celebrities for various things is pretty murky, whether we're talking about Neil Diamond at the Dunk or various celebrities as commencement speakers. Meaning, it can be hard to prove that there is a good return on investment, and kind of like a sports team, having a good arena is probably more of a status symbol of being a "real" city as opposed to something you can make a ton of money on. The Smoking Gun has an entire section on its website devoted to some of the outlandish contract demands some stars have: http://www.thesmokinggun.com/backstage - Although, the practice was started by Van Halen and other bands for more practical reasons: http://www.snopes.com/music/artists/vanhalen.asp

[eli#10]

What kind of rent do the Friars pay? How about increasing it to reduce the losses. They have no where else to go!

[RF1]

What kind of rent do the Friars pay? How about increasing it to reduce the losses. They have no where else to go!

I have not seen their base rent definitively listed. It was supposedly about 30k back when URI played there. That was more than a decade ago before the venue was renovated. It was also prior to PC selling seat licenses and keeping 100% of the income for the building it rents. Duffy and Gavitt took care of PC and screwed RI taxpayers.

[rodfromcranston]

Neil Diamond is literally booked all over the world this year.
Not bad for a 74 year old.
He's always sold out venues, so I'm not getting this
"albatross" thing. If he was, nobody would be booking him.
Maybe DCC's marketing is questionable?

[RF1]

Neil Diamond is literally booked all over the world this year.
Not bad for a 74 year old.
He's always sold out venues, so I'm not getting this
"albatross" thing. If he was, nobody would be booking him.
Maybe DCC's marketing is questionable?

I think it relates to his booking fee being very high which doesn't make economic sense for some venue sizes and market demographics.

[ramfan85]

They don't need Neil Diamond to be successful. I hear that Bobby Sherman is still touring.

[bigappleram]

I didn't realize that Neil Diamond was such an albatross for concert venues. Given what happened in Stockton, CA in 2006, one would have thought the RICC might have had doubts about booking him. Apparently they didn't do any homework.

The inaugural concert on January 15, 2006 at the new Stockton Arena featured Neil Diamond and experienced a $574,295 loss. It got the Stockton City Manager fired just days later. I guess other areas hold their officials accountable. The RICC has no such fears.

Can you imagine a new PawSox stadium in downtown Providence given what we all know happens around here? Imagine how much that will cost RI taxpayers.

The whole process of booking acts and celebrities for various things is pretty murky, whether we're talking about Neil Diamond at the Dunk or various celebrities as commencement speakers. Meaning, it can be hard to prove that there is a good return on investment, and kind of like a sports team, having a good arena is probably more of a status symbol of being a "real" city as opposed to something you can make a ton of money on. The Smoking Gun has an entire section on its website devoted to some of the outlandish contract demands some stars have: http://www.thesmokinggun.com/backstage - Although, the practice was started by Van Halen and other bands for more practical reasons: http://www.snopes.com/music/artists/vanhalen.asp

Booking music acts is not necessarily a murky business, commencement speakers is a whole different ball game. Outside of Vegas casinos, who use music acts as a loss leader, booking concerts is big business and can be very lucrative. Its basic dollars and cents and managing a P&L, obviously you dont book acts whose guaranteed fees would exceed the total gross ticket proceeds. Parking, concessions, etc go on top of that to earn money for the promoter and venue. Losing that much on a Neil Diamond booking means either the decision makers are morons, or he was booked at a loss for some different reason. And yes artist production riders can get crazy with the requests.

[Taylor Swift]

I feel like the DDC is not a destination for big name acts. They can go to The Garden, Xfinity Center, and most definitely Mohegan Sun. I would like to see the Ryan Center get bigger acts, but I feel it's been a lot of EDM shows/foam parties the past few years.

I wonder how much money the DDC loses for the PBruins? I would wonder what the average attendance is for their games? They can't attract more than ~5,000 per game?

Such a shame, but of course we're always stuck with the bill.

[bigappleram]

Yes Mohegan's arena definitely put a big dent in the Book-ability of the PCC and Ryan Center. Acts certainly want to play the region, but they will go with the biggest payday and usually Casinos can over pay on the act knowing they will make up for it with people gambling. Basically RC and PCC can't compete in that marketplace, leaving them with second fiddle choices. The EDM movement at RC is just a reflection of the times, that's what the kids like.

[Taylor Swift]

Yes Mohegan's arena definitely put a big dent in the Book-ability of the PCC and Ryan Center. Acts certainly want to play the region, but they will go with the biggest payday and usually Casinos can over pay on the act knowing they will make up for it with people gambling. Basically RC and PCC can't compete in that marketplace, leaving them with second fiddle choices. The EDM movement at RC is just a reflection of the times, that's what the kids like.

Yup! And huge downside for the RC is the two closest hotels are the Hampton Inn and Holiday Inn. This is exactly why I think it's a great idea to build a hotel in Kingston.

[SGreenwell]

I feel like the DDC is not a destination for big name acts. They can go to The Garden, Xfinity Center, and most definitely Mohegan Sun. I would like to see the Ryan Center get bigger acts, but I feel it's been a lot of EDM shows/foam parties the past few years.

At least when we were doing stories on it for the Cigar around 2006ish, yeah, the Ryan Center is a tough venue to book acts for. Something like Kayne West or Dave Matthews or Dylan will sell out, but their price is so high that you lose money. A small band that you could theoretically break even or make money on will usually struggle to sell the building out.

[RF1]

I wonder how much money the DDC loses for the PBruins? I would wonder what the average attendance is for their games? They can't attract more than ~5,000 per game?

The Providence Bruins drew a total of 318,786 to 38 regular season games for an average of 8,389 in 2014-15. They got 9,726 for 2 additional playoff games (avg 4,863).