RBC Center

[Subway Scoundrel]

have they said anywhere in print what exactly what they want to do at the Arena? Of course, as an NC State alumni and fan, I'd like them at the earliest opportunity to correct the botch job that left the upholstery on the arena chairs a very unState like burgandy.

[JeffC]

Actually, I think they did change the seats out from what they were becuase NCSU complained. I think it is very close to State if not "spot on". If anything, better than bright red.

Not sure anyone watching on TV is saying..."Man, those seasts don't match"

[ChiefJoJo]

Gail Force (Canes) want a lower lease payment ($3M to $2M) from the Centennial Authority. The Canes apparently have lost money every year except 2006 (Cup win). I hope this is just a bump in the road before a new deal is reached.

[Gard]

Gail Force (Canes) want a lower lease payment ($3M to $2M) from the Centennial Authority. The Canes apparently have lost money every year except 2006 (Cup win). I hope this is just a bump in the road before a new deal is reached.

[cthayes75]

I believe that if the Canes are truly the only partner in this deal that is loosing money, then they should be given the $1M reduction in rent. The Canes add a whole lot more than $1M a year to our economy, so we would still be gaining economy-wise. IMO, the other partners in this need to show some flexibility, which will show the owner of the Canes that we are willing to support them through their path to building a fan base to support the team. This will make them more apt to stay here and ride it out. If we lost the Canes, this would have a really bad effect in attracting other pro teams in the future, as it would show that we aren't willing to support them when need be.

[RALNATIVE]

Wouldn't it be easier for the Canes to just reduce their payroll by $1 million per year?

[Gard]

Wouldn't it be easier for the Canes to just reduce their payroll by $1 million per year?

[DanRNC]

It seems as if the RBC Center is another clusterf-ck run by the NC State good ol' boys who only cared about gouging the Hurricanes to support NCSU's lousy basketball team/program.

[Subway Scoundrel]

My point is that if the deal is one-sided and the Canes are getting a bad deal, the deal needs to be fixed to be fair to ALL parties. Cutting the Canes payroll doesn't fix that, it forces the team to be the one to make more concessions, not NCSU or the Centennial Authority. Equality is the moral of the story. NCSU and the Centennial Authority are government bodies and as far as I'm concerened, should not be out to make a profit on anything for any reason what-so-ever. Any surplus that the government bodies make should either be invested back into the property 100%, passed onto the renter as a rent reduction or a combination of the two.

[ncwebguy]

Reef Ivey went to State as an undergrad, got his law degree at UNC and made a lot of money when he sold the NutriSystem weight loss company. He donated a lot to State, which got him invovled with the arena project.

Where is the RBC's naming rights going? I know NC State plays a few less dates, but the rent differential is a bit steep. I thought Gale Force gets all the parking, concessions, etc. at *all* arena events, including State basketball, concerts, monster truck shows, etc. in exchange for managing the facility.

The RBC Center does not cost the state a dime for operations, maintenance, etc., unlike other facilities which run annual operating deficits.

I hope this is a ploy to get the Canes to sign an even longer lease for less rent per year, with an option to leave for another Raleigh/Triangle-area arena around 2017-2020 (to protect the city/county/state's investment).

[soccer1guy_99]

Obviously if you look at the amount of the leases it appears NC State has a much better deal than the Canes. However, the Canes play more than twice as many dates and as mentioned before operate the arena. I am not clear on the arrangement regarding parking and concessions at NC State events but other than that it seems the Canes get all of that revenue. It is still debatable if this deal is as good as State

[Subway Scoundrel]

The Canes came here because they were unhappy with the financial situation in Hartford, they now are complaining about the financial agreement they made just a decade ago. Some owners are never happy, hoping to milk money from the public organizations to make a private profit. The Canes came here knowing the situation, they negotiated freely with the city and now they are complaining and threatening to move. Sure the arena deal may be negotiated but you will get little sympathy from myself when you threaten to move and break a lease you recently signed.

[RALNATIVE]

I don't think they are complaining or threatening to move. You are correct, they signed a leased and they are not in any way trying to get out of the lease. But the CA has said, sign on for 5 more years, and the Canes have said, under what circumstances? That is just negotiation.

Again, the Canes have not threaten to move or break any lease. PERIOD !!!!!!!!!!!!!

[cthayes75]

I'm sorry, but the Canes are already getting a sweetheart deal. Me and the rest of the taxpayers have kicked in enough to subsidize them and the arena. At some point, enough is enough.

The fair market value of rent on the arena for 41 dates is highly likely much much more than the $3 million that they pay. Don't forget they get to keep concessions, parking, merchandise, etc. at their home games.

If the rent is reduced to $2 mil a year, guess who picks up that extra $1 mil? Yep, it's all the rest of us in Wake County. I wanted to subsidize the Canes, I'd buy a ticket.

The economics of hockey have changed dramatically since the Canes moved here with the strike and the fallout from that. Hockey is basically existing on ticket revenue and no television dollars. They can't survive with $40 million payrolls on ticket sales alone. Well, unless tickets costs $500 each.

But either way, the Canes' financial health is not our responsibility, it is theirs, and I don't want to subsidize it any more.

[soccer1guy_99]

I don't think they are complaining or threatening to move. You are correct, they signed a leased and they are not in any way trying to get out of the lease. But the CA has said, sign on for 5 more years, and the Canes have said, under what circumstances? That is just negotiation.

Again, the Canes have not threaten to move or break any lease. PERIOD !!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Subway Scoundrel]

I guess I took the General Manger

[bsutton1]

Found this story on the NCAA Tournament at the RBC Center. It mentions the lack of social activity around the arena.

http://www.newsobserver.com/sports/story/1009261.html

[dmccall]

Would you open a restaurant that gets a major traffic disturbance 150 nights a year?

Articles like this are just more drumbeats toward tearing down the RBC Center and building an arena downtown like Charlotte did. Charlotte spent $265 million to replace their arena. Doing that here would probably cost around $350 million to do now. The professional team there draws 14,400 for games. It doesn't look like the new arena and location are doing a single thing for adding revenue. The exceptions are a maximum of 2 basketball tournaments over what the old arena was able to draw (ie all the other events there would have still been hosted at the Charlotte Coliseum).

That's a high price to pay so that a few people from Indiana could have somewhere to eat...especially when, according to Koopman, "we are at war" and it is a "time to suck it up" and "sacrifice".

I spent all day there and was in no shape to go walking around looking for anything but a bed afterwards. Why didn't the Indiana people join us for the pig pickin' in the arena's restaurant? The place was virtually empty and was open to the public. It was the ultimate in convenience and the food was great.

[RiverwoodCLT]

Found this story on the NCAA Tournament at the RBC Center. It mentions the lack of social activity around the arena.

http://www.newsobserver.com/sports/story/1009261.html

[ChiefJoJo]

There's no way a new arena is going to be built anytime soon. It just doesn't make financial sense at all, when we just spent $150M+ on RBC in 1999. Was it a mistake in hindsight to built it at the fairgrounds area? Probably. Did that fact cost Raleigh the CIAA? Probably. Do I wish it were built downtown? Yep. Is it going to happen in the next 10-15 years? Nope.

[Gard]

I'd like to add as well to what JoJo said that its even less likely with the money being poured into the arena now to update and improve it right now. By the time the arena is old enough to justify replacing it, DTR could be a very hard place to find enough land to build a new arena if our current rate of growth keeps going the way it is.

[Captain Awesome]

I think it is also an issue of the City of Raleigh making attempts to save money (ie, too expensive to build the arena downtown) and having it cost money in the long-run in lost revenue and the eventual tear-down of the RBC and rebuilding it downtown, whenever that may be. This city will need to accumulate enough of these hard lessons so that when it comes time to undertake any similar projects, they'll remember past mistakes.

That said, in the near-term, they ought to consider some kind of transit connector from downtown to the RBC in an effort to draw these huge moneymaking events to the RBC. Possibly similar to the planned and abandoned connector between NCSU and Centennial.

[RALNATIVE]

That's a high price to pay so that a few people from Indiana could have somewhere to eat...especially when, according to Koopman, "we are at war" and it is a "time to suck it up" and "sacrifice".

I spent all day there and was in no shape to go walking around looking for anything but a bed afterwards. Why didn't the Indiana people join us for the pig pickin' in the arena's restaurant? The place was virtually empty and was open to the public. It was the ultimate in convenience and the food was great.

[ChiefJoJo]

That said, in the near-term, they ought to consider some kind of transit connector from downtown to the RBC in an effort to draw these huge moneymaking events to the RBC.

[JeffC]

City planning/zoning has to bear some of the blame for the dark deserted wasteland that surrounds the arena, don't they?? The entire area should have been declared a special overlay district, and developers forced to set aside space for street level retail in any office building built within 3/4 of a mile. Anyone know if there will be retail in that enormous develpment going in at Wade and 440 that is accessed from Edwards Mill?

I find it incredible that noone has snapped up the former Damon's location. A half-decent restaurant (which Damon's was most certainly NOT) should make money hand over fist as the only sit-down place within walking distance of the arena...