Luxury tents for rent at Finley Stadium
photo by Gail Perry
Finley Stadium Executive Director Chris Thomas reviewed the unofficial profit and loss report for the facility from July 2016–June 2017 at the meeting of the Stadium Board Tuesday afternoon.
In keeping the Finley Stadium campus on the leading edge of entertainment venues in Chattanooga, Mr. Thomas told the board on Tuesday morning, that in the last several months, a lot has been spent on repairs and maintenance for the facility.
The First Tennessee Pavilion has been painted and actively cleaned. Investments have been made in the infrastructure, which is 20 years old, in areas such as the HVAC system and plumbing. Items will be replaced as needed. Some skybox improvements have been made and Mr. Thomas said that several box owners are expected to be looking for enhancements such as windows that open.
A new addition this year are Luxury Tents available during football games. They have been erected by UTC. For this first year, the tents will be rented on a single game basis for $1,500 per game, which includes parking. Each tent will seat 12 people and others will be allowed in by invitation. The tents are equipped with fiber optics and private Wi-Fi with passwords that will be changed each game. There are also 32-inch TVs. Catering from the stadium can be purchased. The response has been good to the tents, but not yet fully used, said Mr. Thomas.
The pavilion is fully booked from March through June for the coming year, said Mr. Thomas. The stadium itself has open dates available.
Contributions and public support as opposed to events show that there is considerable backing from the community, said the executive director. Income has also been provided by licensing, naming rights, and support agreements. These non-event gifts added up to $334,914 in fiscal year 2016.
Parking is growing and becoming a predictable steam of income and is expected to continue to increase. The stadium is participating in Parkmobile, a pay-by-phone parking service, and has arrangements with surrounding properties for use of the lots. A new apartment complex is being built near the stadium that has a parking agreement for multi years for 80 parking permits. Including event, permit, and facility parking, the stadium earned $180,149.
Food and beverage service also contributes to the total facility rental income for Finley Stadium. The diverse use of the facilities at the Pavilion by the Chattanooga Kitchen, which is rented out to small catering businesses, provides additional income. A new highlight has been off-site catering. Finley Stadium was the official caterer for two recent Ironman competitions, feeding 5,000 athletes and 20,000 spectators. The stadium staff, with help from some partners, was able to handle it because they are accustomed to large events, said Chairman of the Board Gordon Davenport. There is risk as well as opportunities doing your own food and beverage service, he said, but these two events alone booked $60,000 in revenue. This year, there is a variety of artisan food partners selling during game events and they are also using the stadium as a home base and paying rent. Total food and beverage income totaled $813,470.
Mr. Thomas said that his goal is trying to utilize all of the assets that the stadium campus has to offer.
The unofficial profit and loss report from July 2016-June 2017, shows net operating income of $181,372. After depreciation, there was a loss of around a half million. “Congratulations to Gordon Davenport for doing an outstanding job, said Board Member Ryan Crimmins.
“It’s a great report, said Mr. Davenport, “I’m thrilled.”