MECA Business News (CLCO/TDAPO)

News and releases from metro area businesses

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MadMartin8
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Re: MECA Business News (CLCO/TDAPO)

Post by MadMartin8 »

Linkin5 wrote:
Greg S wrote:Nice to see they are keeping CenturyLink up to date:

http://www.omaha.com/news/metro/meca-sa ... e4106.html

I know they are talking about it but I think it's crazy they still don't have free Wi-Fi available there. Especially considering who's name is on the building......


Greg
The name on the building makes me know exactly why they still don't have free Wi-Fi.

Exactly my thoughts :lol:


Any idea what those "upgrades" will be? Anything earth shattering, or just the usual "replace seats, blah blah". It's too bad they can't add in 1,000 more seats, or even 500.
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Greg S
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Re: MECA Business News (CLCO/TDAPO)

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The article mentioned some of the stuff they've done previously. New carpeting, a new scoreboard every ten years, etc.

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Brad
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Re: MECA Business News (CLCO/TDAPO)

Post by Brad »

Good News:

MECA doesn't have to share details on suites at CenturyLink or TD Ameritrade, AG's office says

http://www.omaha.com/news/metro/meca-do ... 01a34.html
Roseann Moring / World-Herald staff writer wrote:The Metropolitan Entertainment and Convention Authority doesn’t have to publicly share the prices of suites or the names of those who own or lease them, the Nebraska Attorney General’s Office says.
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skinzfan23
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Re: MECA Business News (CLCO/TDAPO)

Post by skinzfan23 »

Ferris wheel, food trucks, party bungalows coming to 10th Street for CWS, Swim Trials

Sounds like they are starting this year with only 3 bungalows for rent. There is also going to be a 100 ft ferris wheel to ride for around $5.
For the first time, MECA will open the doors of the CenturyLink Center during the series to people looking for a bathroom or air conditioning.
Officials had previously discussed a zip line along 10th Street, but that proved too expensive this year, Dixon said. He said MECA could revisit it in later years if the family activities prove popular.
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nebugeater
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Re: MECA Business News (CLCO/TDAPO)

Post by nebugeater »

ferris wheel @ a cost of $450,000 and $5 a ride means that you need 90,000 riders to break even.

Max 15 days for CWS and swim trials ( June 18 - July 3) Operate 12 hr a day per story.

180 hours of operations. Round up to 200, they may start a day or two early..... but there will be slow days and most likely rain days too.

90,000 riders in 200 Hr needs to average 450 riders per hour.

I understand it is as much about the atmosphere as it is this one items turning a profit but my question is how close can this be to break even?

Wonder out load if this is the same 100' Wheel that was in Austin for the SXSW music festival.


What am I missing
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nebugeater
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Re: MECA Business News (CLCO/TDAPO)

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For the record  NEBUGEATER does not equal BUGEATER    !!!!!!!
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GetUrban
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Re: MECA Business News (CLCO/TDAPO)

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Sorry to see they're going to follow through with these plans for 10th street, especially the bungalows. They say they aren't trying to create a carnival atmosphere, but it appears that's exactly what they'll do to the CWS and swim trials. What ever happened to people and families just watching the baseball games and swim trials? Are their attention spans really that short now to require that much additional "entertainment" beyond tailgating and patronizing local eateries/bars before and during the events?

$450k to rent a Ferris wheel? You've got to be kidding.
He said "They are some big, ugly red brick buildings"
...and then they were gone.
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Greg S
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Re: MECA Business News (CLCO/TDAPO)

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People just going to watch the games hasn't happened at the CWS in 20 years. By the late 90's that aspect was gone.

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Re: MECA Business News (CLCO/TDAPO)

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Greg S wrote:People just going to watch the games hasn't happened at the CWS in 20 years. By the late 90's that aspect was gone.

Greg

Bingo.
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GetUrban
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Re: MECA Business News (CLCO/TDAPO)

Post by GetUrban »

Same thing happened to Omaha Royals (Storm Chasers) baseball too. Maybe they should just move the CWS to Werner park too...for the families to play nearby, doing other things besides watch baseball. J/K...I hope that doesn't happen.
He said "They are some big, ugly red brick buildings"
...and then they were gone.
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Re: MECA Business News (CLCO/TDAPO)

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Big Ten commish, Husker A.D. to make league tournament announcement Tuesday at TD Ameritrade Park
Jon Nyatawa - World-Herald staff writer wrote:Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany and Nebraska athletic director Shawn Eichorst will be at TD Ameritrade Park on Tuesday to announce the league's future plans for its annual baseball tournament.
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Re: MECA Business News (CLCO/TDAPO)

Post by skinzfan23 »

Are they going to announce that the tournament is staying for at least 5 years.
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Re: MECA Business News (CLCO/TDAPO)

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MECA's new leader renews promise to pull back the curtain on agency's operations
Roseann Moring / World-Herald staff writer wrote:As Union Pacific executive Diane Duren takes the helm of the Metropolitan Entertainment and Convention Authority, she wants to continue the organization’s push for transparency. Under the previous MECA board chairman, Dana Bradford, the organization has worked to make more of its information available to the City of Omaha.

MECA officials have long grappled with what information the nonprofit should release about the two publicly funded facilities it manages. Critics, including Mayor Jean Stothert, have argued that the organization needs to share more information so taxpayers can be confident that it’s managing the public facilities well.
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Re: MECA Business News (CLCO/TDAPO)

Post by skinzfan23 »

From the World Herald:
Parking at the garage attached to the CenturyLink Center will be cheaper than last year during the College World Series. Parking in that garage will cost $12 this year, down from $15 last year, according to the Metropolitan Entertainment and Convention Authority, which operates the CenturyLink Center and TD Ameritrade Park.

MECA’s Lot A, which is on Riverfront Drive east of Eighth Street. Parking is $10, and the lot is often underutilized.
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Re: MECA Business News (CLCO/TDAPO)

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Re: MECA Business News (CLCO/TDAPO)

Post by BRoss »

Nice shots Brad!
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Brad
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Re: MECA Business News (CLCO/TDAPO)

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HR Paperstacks wrote:Nice shots Brad!
Thanks!
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Re: MECA Business News (CLCO/TDAPO)

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MECA ended 2016 fiscal year with $4.7 million in profit

http://www.omaha.com/news/metro/meca-en ... fa607.html
By Roseann Moring / World-Herald staff writer wrote:The entity that oversees the CenturyLink Center and TD Ameritrade Park ended last year with $4.7 million in profit, an increase over the previous year that the entity attributes in part to the U.S. Swim Trials.
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skinzfan23
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Re: MECA Business News (CLCO/TDAPO)

Post by skinzfan23 »

MECA profits

2011: $2.94 million

2012: $2.78 million

2013: $3.62 million

2014: $3.27 million

2015: $3.15 million

2016: $4.7 million
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Greg S
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Re: MECA Business News (CLCO/TDAPO)

Post by Greg S »

It's nice to see so that they have money to spend on up keep. It does lead to some false impressions around town that CLC is profitable where other arenas are losing money. Because of MECA's independence and releasing these numbers, people don't realize that Omaha taxpayers are now paying for CLC out of the general fund.

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Re: MECA Business News (CLCO/TDAPO)

Post by iamjacobm »

More than MECA, but this has really been a banner weekend for CLC, area hotels and downtown businesses. With a major national volleyball event that brought people from all over the nation to the state wrestling meet to CU basketball the facility was insanely busy all weekend. If anyone was out downtown enjoying the amazing weather you could see the throngs of people that were filling the sidewalks. Great great weekend for the Big O.
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skinzfan23
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Re: MECA Business News (CLCO/TDAPO)

Post by skinzfan23 »

iamjacobm wrote:More than MECA, but this has really been a banner weekend for CLC, area hotels and downtown businesses. With a major national volleyball event that brought people from all over the nation to the state wrestling meet to CU basketball the facility was insanely busy all weekend. If anyone was out downtown enjoying the amazing weather you could see the throngs of people that were filling the sidewalks. Great great weekend for the Big O.
I second that...I went for a walk and lunch downtown on Friday and it was busy everywhere. The weather surely helped as well. Great to see downtown buzzing.

Not sure how many the volleyball tournament draws, but I think the wrestling tournament drew around 45,000. In addition, Creighton basketball had over 17,500. According to the website for the volleyball tournament, there were 424 teams participating in 2016. (which is capacity, they even had courts at The Mark and Nebraska Elite Sports and Fitness Complex) Assuming that each team has around 10 players and each player brings an avg of 2 people with them, there was probably somewhere near 13,000 in town for the tournament.

Altogether, there was probably 90,000 - 100,000 people at the CLink during the past 4-5 days.
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Re: MECA Business News (CLCO/TDAPO)

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http://news.centurylink.com/news/centur ... nter-omaha
OMAHA, Neb. – CenturyLink, Inc. (NYSE: CTL) and the Metropolitan Entertainment & Convention Authority (MECA) today announced CenturyLink has successfully deployed new communications and technology infrastructure within the CenturyLink Center Omaha arena, making free public Wi-Fi available to event attendees.

CenturyLink installed an integrated IP network in the CenturyLink Center that includes 279 Wi-Fi access points providing internet connectivity to the entire arena, up to 18,300 attendees. In the future, attendees will be able to use the center’s Wi-Fi on their devices to gain special access to venue parking information, arena maps and a list of vendors selling food and other items.
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Brad
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Re: MECA Business News (CLCO/TDAPO)

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Not sure what the whole story with this is, but the network has been been active all basketball season. However it seems like every couple months another article comes out about it.

Whatever the case is, its screaming fast. They did away with our Media WIFI for the 2016-2017 basketball season and the media used the public WIFI. I was able to upload high res jpg files in no time flat! It was great!
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Re: MECA Business News (CLCO/TDAPO)

Post by skinzfan23 »

I agree, being a Creighton season ticket holder, it was nice to be able to see live stats using the wifi.
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Greg S
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Re: MECA Business News (CLCO/TDAPO)

Post by Greg S »

I always thought it was weird that the building was sponsored by CenturyLink and yet there was no free Wifi like at PBA, Baxter and Memorial Stadium Glad they got that corrected.

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Re: MECA Business News (CLCO/TDAPO)

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Is there increased security for the Berkshire meeting this weekend? Tons of concrete barriers lining the majority of 10th St in front of the facility.

Not the most attractive thing ever.
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Re: MECA Business News (CLCO/TDAPO)

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iamjacobm wrote:Is there increased security for the Berkshire meeting this weekend? Tons of concrete barriers lining the majority of 10th St in front of the facility.

Not the most attractive thing ever.


No, not at all, it looked downright terrible. Since MECA hosts so many huge events, you would think they would invest in a more permanent solution. Large decorative flower pots or even nice looking bollards.

I also think if someone had a few bucks and wanted to start a new business, I bet there is a market for some sort of portable/decorative solution that could be wheeled in for events like this, farmers markets, art fairs, etc. May be large flower boxes with fork lift slots on the bottom or large eye hooks in middle, and they could be quickly hauled in and out.
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Re: MECA Business News (CLCO/TDAPO)

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Brad wrote:
iamjacobm wrote:Is there increased security for the Berkshire meeting this weekend? Tons of concrete barriers lining the majority of 10th St in front of the facility.

Not the most attractive thing ever.


No, not at all, it looked downright terrible. Since MECA hosts so many huge events, you would think they would invest in a more permanent solution. Large decorative flower pots or even nice looking bollards.

I also think if someone had a few bucks and wanted to start a new business, I bet there is a market for some sort of portable/decorative solution that could be wheeled in for events like this, farmers markets, art fairs, etc. May be large flower boxes with fork lift slots on the bottom or large eye hooks in middle, and they could be quickly hauled in and out.
The barriers back out for the CWS.

If this is going to be a thing for large events going forward it probably is time to invest in something more pleasing to the eye. Like you said can be used for a number of things including blocking off streets rather than the construction signs.

In the meantime the city is letting citizens paint the current barriers tonight.
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Re: MECA Business News (CLCO/TDAPO)

Post by nebugeater »

iamjacobm wrote:
Brad wrote:
iamjacobm wrote:Is there increased security for the Berkshire meeting this weekend? Tons of concrete barriers lining the majority of 10th St in front of the facility.

Not the most attractive thing ever.


No, not at all, it looked downright terrible. Since MECA hosts so many huge events, you would think they would invest in a more permanent solution. Large decorative flower pots or even nice looking bollards.

I also think if someone had a few bucks and wanted to start a new business, I bet there is a market for some sort of portable/decorative solution that could be wheeled in for events like this, farmers markets, art fairs, etc. May be large flower boxes with fork lift slots on the bottom or large eye hooks in middle, and they could be quickly hauled in and out.
The barriers back out for the CWS.

If this is going to be a thing for large events going forward it probably is time to invest in something more pleasing to the eye. Like you said can be used for a number of things including blocking off streets rather than the construction signs.

In the meantime the city is letting citizens paint the current barriers tonight.
That could get interesting without some guidlines
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Brad
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Re: MECA Business News (CLCO/TDAPO)

Post by Brad »

I was surprised to see they were painted since the Nebraska Department of Roads loaned them to MECA. Seems strange to think these would end up back out on the highway painted in these bright colors...

An attractive permanent solution needs to get on the drawing board soon.
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Re: MECA Business News (CLCO/TDAPO)

Post by skinzfan23 »

I am all for the increased security, but I was wondering....are other major venues in other cities doing this? I doubt they do this outside MLB stadiums. Can't they just add to the number of poles that are installed in the cement, or do a thing similar to Target with the giant red balls. Maybe that is the solution, add pieces of art that could prevent a car from driving through.
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Re: MECA Business News (CLCO/TDAPO)

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skinzfan23 wrote:I am all for the increased security, but I was wondering....are other major venues in other cities doing this? I doubt they do this outside MLB stadiums. Can't they just add to the number of poles that are installed in the cement, or do a thing similar to Target with the giant red balls. Maybe that is the solution, add pieces of art that could prevent a car from driving through.
I am betting this is a stop gap solution that is a reaction to some of the recent happenings.
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Re: MECA Business News (CLCO/TDAPO)

Post by Greg S »

nebugeater wrote:
skinzfan23 wrote:I am all for the increased security, but I was wondering....are other major venues in other cities doing this? I doubt they do this outside MLB stadiums. Can't they just add to the number of poles that are installed in the cement, or do a thing similar to Target with the giant red balls. Maybe that is the solution, add pieces of art that could prevent a car from driving through.
I am betting this is a stop gap solution that is a reaction to some of the recent happenings.

Kauffman Stadium has these rectangular stones all around it. The blend in well but also serve as a barrier to what we've seen in events recently.
They did a nice job of using ones that fit in with the outside of the stadium.

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Re: MECA Business News (CLCO/TDAPO)

Post by Trips »

I like the giant cement baseballs at Haymarket Park in Lincoln. When you have people taking pictures with your barricade you did a good job designing it. They could even paint the balls with the colors and logo of the past champions.
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Re: MECA Business News (CLCO/TDAPO)

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Trips wrote:I like the giant cement baseballs at Haymarket Park in Lincoln. When you have people taking pictures with your barricade you did a good job designing it. They could even paint the balls with the colors and logo of the past champions.
I like your thinking :thumb:
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Re: MECA Business News (CLCO/TDAPO)

Post by GetUrban »

Coyote wrote:
Trips wrote:I like the giant cement baseballs at Haymarket Park in Lincoln. When you have people taking pictures with your barricade you did a good job designing it. They could even paint the balls with the colors and logo of the past champions.
I like your thinking :thumb:
It takes balls to do that! :yes:
He said "They are some big, ugly red brick buildings"
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Re: MECA Business News (CLCO/TDAPO)

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Re: MECA Business News (CLCO/TDAPO)

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CenturyLink Center could get new name; MECA hopes new naming rights contract will bring in over $10 million

http://www.omaha.com/news/metro/century ... fd044.html
Christopher Burbach / World-Herald staff writer wrote:The Metropolitan Entertainment and Convention Authority board voted Wednesday morning to hire a consultant to work on a new naming rights contract, possibly with a new sponsor, for the downtown arena and convention center.
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Re: MECA Business News (CLCO/TDAPO)

Post by skinzfan23 »

I think the best news in that story is this:
Arena visitors also soon will walk through metal detectors to get to concerts and games.

MECA voted today to spend $250,000 to buy 50 walk-through metal detectors in an effort to further improve security and the efficiency of getting people through it. Currently, security personnel check people with metal detector wands.

The detectors should be in place in time for the NCAA men's basketball regionals at the arena in March.
This should help speed up the process of entering the arena. I know that for some Creighton games, it has taken 15 min or more to go through the lines.
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