Congratulations, it’s a great report, and an outstanding year,” Stadium Board member Ryan Crimmons told Executive Director Paul Smith after hearing the financial review of the Stadium Corporation for fiscal 2015. The stadium earned $70,000 shy of $1 million for the last year. It would have come closer had the accounting for CFC and U.S. Soccer during July and August been ready to include.
Mr.
Smith told the board that the five staff members worked hard to earn that money, crediting new events that were held at the facility, bringing catering and parking in-house, and by changing the way the stadium corporation does business. Next year, he said, "We are going to do what we do even better." The goal for next year is to attract music to the venue. There was a profit of $43,000 with an additional $25,000 from skybox rentals remaining after a portion of the surplus was put back to use for capital improvements of the facility. Mr. Smith is having an audit done to assure that things are being done the right way, he said.
UTC Athletic Director David Blackburn told the board that he had heard nothing but compliments about the stadium being clean and well maintained. He said there have been no long lines upon entering or at concession stands, and that the field is “unbelievable.” He also praised the refurbished goal posts painted in fluorescent green, which is the color used by the NFL. He said that UTC is appreciative of it, and that “We just have to play better,” to attract larger crowds. “Paul is to be commended,” he added.
Regarding the relationship that has been established with the CFC, Mr. Smith said the season went extremely well. Board member and co-founder of CFC Tim Kelly replied that the club “couldn’t be happier.” And, he said, the Women’s U.S. Soccer association was pleased with the event held at the stadium, excepting the weather, which “puts our name in the hat for another event. The match sold out in two hours.” He said the organization hopes to bring more exhibition games to Chattanooga. The number of spectators at the championship game was extremely high - drawing over 18,000, which is the most attendance ever at an amateur soccer game in the U.S. including college games, he said.
Mr. Smith also reported that a risk assessment review had been done to make sure the stadium is sufficiently insured. The evaluation produced a list of concerns that were reviewed by the Smith Lanier Insurance Agency. All recommendations have been acted on, he said, and policies were either changed or dropped according to the report. Insurance will be reviewed yearly.
Venue Manager Brian Wright was given all the credit for $38,000 in savings, managing the maintenance of the facility. He has created a culture of saving, said Mr. Smith. Another new initiative that he has instigated is providing bins around the stadium for single stream recycling. Recycling is the right thing to do, said Mr. Smith. It will reduce the expense of disposing of solid waste and it will help save the planet at the same time, he stated.
Chairman of the Board Bryan Patten’s update on the Friends of Finley's two-year fundraising campaign was positive. The goal is to raise $1 million. The drive is planned to begin at the end of September. He said $250,000 has already been pledged from both the city of Chattanooga, which will provide half this year and half next, and Hamilton County. There also has been an anonymous gift of $200,000 that was designated for updating electrical systems so the stadium will be able to host concerts, and for a cover to protect the field. The campaign is left to raise $150,000, which Mr. Patten said he is optimistic they will reach.
Mr. Patten also asked the board to consider getting a conflict of interest policy which he would like to vote on at the next meeting in November. Another item he would like to explore is adding large video boards at each end of the field. “The little video board we have is a joke,” he said. Suggestions included putting a superstructure on top of the existing scoreboards to hold the new equipment or reconfiguring the existing board and replacing some of the advertising spaces with video equipment. Another idea is that a video board could also double as the scoreboard. The board members agreed to pursue the idea.