Omaha Forums

Arenas and stadiums are community assets that enable us to attend events. But the excessive duplication of facilities in our area has been a huge waste of resources. Did Omaha need the CenturyLink Center? Absolutely. Everything else is probably up to some debate. TD Ameritrade Park made a lot of sense, considering the needs of the NCAA and the Zoo, though people still lament the loss of Rosenblatt.

I think every other facility in the metro area has been a boondoggle. I think everybody recognizes that the Mid-America Center was a huge waste of resources. Some of the more recently elected reps in Sarpy County now acknowledge that Werner Park is a money pit, though they've been very careful to keep the losses under cover. (People seem to be accepting the tax shift of hotel funds towards the ballpark by not asking what those funds were being used for before.) Ralston's red ink isn't a secret anymore. And I'm really concerned that UNO is going to find the same thing out with their new arena.

If a tornado were to demolish the MAC or Ralston arenas, I really question whether they'd be rebuilt.

I agree to a certain extent, but outside of the MAC, they all have regular tenants. I have seen the quote before from former CB mayor Tom Hanafan saying that everyone was applauding him and his staff for making the MAC come into fruition, but of course after the Centurylink Center was built, the MAC took a backseat and has never been able to gain the same momentum.

Werner Park is a beautiful facility that was desperately needed. AAA baseball doesn't need a venue to seat 15-20,000. Werner Park is intimate, yet large enough to support good crowds. I think the only major mistake with the stadium was the scoreboard needing to be replaced after only 4 seasons.

Could the metro have gotten by with 1-2 fewer arenas/stadiums....sure, but it is tough to have multi-purpose facilities and share time with other tenants/organizations. Just look at UNO hockey. They have to store their equipment at one place and practice and play at another. Having their own facility is going to be a boon for recruiting and the overall atmosphere of UNO and Aksarben Village.

The one thing I really love about the arenas in town is that they are all near other developments except for Werner Park, which will be in the near future. Take Chicago for example. DuPaul plays at Allstate Arena, which is way out in the suburbs off the expressway. Nothing but the arena and a bunch of parking lots. At least all the indoor arenas in the Omaha area have dining/residential/accommodations nearby.

DePaul is actually working on building their own arena right now in McCormick Place.

Garrett wrote:DePaul is actually working on building their own arena right now in McCormick Place.

Yeah, that one is looking fantastic.
Here is a rendering of it:

skinzfan23 wrote:Just look at UNO hockey. They have to store their equipment at one place and practice and play at another. Having their own facility is going to be a boon for recruiting and the overall atmosphere of UNO and Aksarben Village.

This was abundantly apparent when I was touring their arena today, and I think the Lancers have some of the same benefits at Ralston.

At the new UNO arena today, the Hockey team will have so many "Facilities". You always hear talk with big football and basketball programs about facilities. UNO's new Hockey Facilities will be no different. Locker Rooms, Meeting Rooms, Dressing Rooms, Sauna, Whirlpools, Video Editing Rooms, Coaches Offices, Players Lounge, Weight Room, and on and on. It Was amazing to see all the things they will have at this new arena that they don't have at the clink. Go look at the new Creighton Practice Facility Photos I took last summer and UNO will basically have all of that for the hockey team.

skinzfan23 wrote:AAA baseball doesn't need a venue to seat 15-20,000. Werner Park is intimate, yet large enough to support good crowds. I think the only major mistake with the stadium was the scoreboard needing to be replaced after only 4 seasons.

No, the Royals typically don't need 15,000 seats (except for fireworks nights), but that's not the point. Governments are paying for these facilities, and the entertainment benefits to our communities from all of these teams could still be obtained by more efficiently using facilities.

That, in term, would free up more resources in our community to meet other needs. Omaha doesn't need two baseball stadiums or three hockey arenas. One stadium and two arenas would be sufficient.

Unfortunately the all the non-university teams have the option to leave if they don't like what they get.

but outside of the MAC, they all have regular tenants

Why is it that MAC has absolutely no marquee or billboard or anything else announcing what events are going on or will be coming? I'm sure they would capture far more attendees if they would make the events more obvious. All you will ever see is something like a real-estate type sign stuck on the corner "Craft Show" or something like that.

Brad wrote:Unfortunately the all the non-university teams have the option to leave if they don't like what they get.

Technically true, but with Warren Buffet and Walter Scott owning half of the Omaha Royals at that time, they weren't leaving Omaha. Doubtful that the Lancers were going to leave this market either.

Omababe wrote:

but outside of the MAC, they all have regular tenants

Why is it that MAC has absolutely no marquee or billboard or anything else announcing what events are going on or will be coming? I'm sure they would capture far more attendees if they would make the events more obvious. All you will ever see is something like a real-estate type sign stuck on the corner "Craft Show" or something like that.

They do have this sign, although Horseshoe's sign overshadows it.

Mid America Center by scottstronck, on Flickr

They might have a sing, but does it still work?

Brad wrote:They might have a sing, but does it still work?

You will have to wait until something is actually scheduled there to see if it is on the board if the sign work.

Yes, a sign will fix it. ;)



Hey, wheres all the parking for that DePaul facility!? Are they crazy?
(yes I know its in the middle of Chicago - just playing)



Unfortunately, I have to agree with the two baseball facilities. At least given the unwillingness of either party to really negotiate in good faith. I wish UNO would have been ahead of the game and maybe headed off the thing in Ralston.

HskrFanMike wrote:

Brad wrote:Unfortunately the all the non-university teams have the option to leave if they don't like what they get.

Technically true, but with Warren Buffet and Walter Scott owning half of the Omaha Royals at that time, they weren't leaving Omaha. Doubtful that the Lancers were going to leave this market either.

Actually this is not true. If you go back and read quotes from WB about buying the Royals with Walter Scott and initially Union Pacific, they did not buy the team to keep AAA baseball in Omaha. They believed that if the Royals left, the city would be at risk of losing the CWS. The CWS had not blown up like it did and were concerned that without the Royals it would be hard to justify the stadium upkeep and upgrades for the CWS. He has been very clear about this multiple times and revisited it when they finally sold their stake.

Greg

Correct in that AAA baseball does not work in 15-20k parks, let alone one that seats 24k and can be expanded much larger. Even the Dodgers (formerly Red Hawks) in OKC decided to downsize their stadium from 13k to 9k.

Greg

Sounds like the hard core hip hop event at Ralston is out of control. Have the helicopter there now and someone is in route with a pepper ball gun...

Brad wrote:They might have a sing, but does it still work?

I guess I rarely go that way. I usually come down from the north and swing east.

Brad wrote:Sounds like the hard core hip hop event at Ralston is out of control. Have the helicopter there now and someone is in route with a pepper ball gun...

Shocking I tell you. Shocking. Cannot believe a Hip Hop/Rap concert got out of control. Gasp.

MadMartin8 wrote:

Brad wrote:Sounds like the hard core hip hop event at Ralston is out of control. Have the helicopter there now and someone is in route with a pepper ball gun...

Shocking I tell you. Shocking. Cannot believe a Hip Hop/Rap concert got out of control. Gasp.

In the end, sounds like nothing happened.
http://www.omaha.com/news/metro/authori ... 81478.html

And then again... Everyone had a video camera:

IDK how legit the info is, but I was told that basically every time Lil Boosie came to Omaha in the past it got crazy. Just assuming, but I wouldn't be surprised if Ralston Arena was about the only venue to take him.

What's going on at the Arena tonight, I'm getting gas next door and it is packed...?

Would they do Horsemans spillover parking?

iamjacobm wrote:Would they do Horsemans spillover parking?

On Friday Horesman's two "official" spillover parking lots were Builders Supply and Seymour Park.

Coyote wrote:What's going on at the Arena tonight, I'm getting gas next door and it is packed...?

Any graduations there?

MadMartin8 wrote:

Coyote wrote:What's going on at the Arena tonight, I'm getting gas next door and it is packed...?

Any graduations there?

There was a LA Vista / Papillion graduation at 1:00 and open ice at 3:30, but they were cars lined up to park there ...

Crazy that the Mayor of Ralston went to the Mayor of Omaha and asked her to close Motto. So glad she turned him down.

Greg

Greg S wrote:Crazy that the Mayor of Ralston went to the Mayor of Omaha and asked her to close Motto. So glad she turned him down.

Greg

I think that that was a hypothetical scenario that they were considering. And yeah, Omaha would be a bit foolish to willingly annex Ralston.

Maybe with Warrant and Great White playing on the 11th, they are taking a step towards booking 70's and 80's gigs. There are still Christian acts on the schedule though.

They really should not limit what types of acts they are booking. Christian, hair bands, 70's, 80's whatever. Just need to book acts that can more than break even.

Greg

Greg S wrote:They really should not limit what types of acts they are booking. Christian, hair bands, 70's, 80's whatever. Just need to book acts that can more than break even.

Greg

Well as long as the Christian events are getting people there, you have to factor in operating costs for these venues.

Linkin5 wrote:

Greg S wrote:They really should not limit what types of acts they are booking. Christian, hair bands, 70's, 80's whatever. Just need to book acts that can more than break even.

Greg

Well as long as the Christian events are getting people there, you have to factor in operating costs for these venues.

As Brad stated above, the Christian acts barely break even because they don't sell alcohol.

You just factor in concession revenue (or loss of it due to alcohol) into the rent you charge for an event. I don't think Ralston can just turn away from any category right now. They just need to make sure it's a money maker.

Greg

Hansen: Ralston Arena's spiral into financial turmoil is a familiar refrain for economists

Matthew Hansen: World-Herald columnist wrote:No. 2: Arenas are an amenity. But we persist in pretending they are a cash machine, too.
Think about a park, said University of Nebraska-Lincoln economist Eric Thompson. We build a park when we think we need a nice place to hold community events. We build a park when we think we want to do something to improve a neighborhood’s quality of life. We do not build a park because we believe it will turn a six-figure profit in its first year. Arenas and stadiums are, economically speaking, pretty much the same as parks, Thompson said.

jessep28 wrote:

Linkin5 wrote:

Greg S wrote:They really should not limit what types of acts they are booking. Christian, hair bands, 70's, 80's whatever. Just need to book acts that can more than break even.

Greg

Well as long as the Christian events are getting people there, you have to factor in operating costs for these venues.

As Brad stated above, the Christian acts barely break even because they don't sell alcohol.

They also make us look bad to out of staters passing through.

Professor Woland wrote:

jessep28 wrote:

Linkin5 wrote:

Greg S wrote:They really should not limit what types of acts they are booking. Christian, hair bands, 70's, 80's whatever. Just need to book acts that can more than break even.

Greg

Well as long as the Christian events are getting people there, you have to factor in operating costs for these venues.

As Brad stated above, the Christian acts barely break even because they don't sell alcohol.

They also make us look bad to out of staters passing through.

I wouldn't nail the Christian events at Ralston for making a state look bad, I would leave that distinction to Westboro in Topeka.

Professor Woland wrote:

jessep28 wrote:

Linkin5 wrote:

Greg S wrote:They really should not limit what types of acts they are booking. Christian, hair bands, 70's, 80's whatever. Just need to book acts that can more than break even.

Greg

Well as long as the Christian events are getting people there, you have to factor in operating costs for these venues.

As Brad stated above, the Christian acts barely break even because they don't sell alcohol.

They also make us look bad to out of staters passing through.

No.

They need to tap into more of the types of acts that would otherwise go to Sokol...those needing a somewhat larger venue.

Are there high school age or younger hockey leagues? Maybe they could create one, if it doesn't already exist.

GetUrban wrote:They need to tap into more of the types of acts that would otherwise go to Sokol...those needing a somewhat larger venue.

Are there high school age or younger hockey leagues? Maybe they could create one, if it doesn't already exist.

High school plays at Motto McClean or Tranquility.

About the only way that thing is going to turn a profit is if they turn it into an all nude strip club that sells booze. No city government is going to do that, for very good reason. As someone mentioned before, an NBA D league team would really help, but I have no idea what chance that has. I would add that this fiasco should serve as a warning to streetcar enthusiasts. It might be the case that a streetcar line would be a net benefit to the city, but claims that it will spur economic development should be carefully examined.