Local Boy

Great suggestion, Dan. I did. They dodged the question and reminded me that the Cher show sold out.

I see it's a LiveNation tour. I wonder if The Alerus had to provide a promoter guarantee to bring the show. Does anybody know? Thanks in advance.

It will be interesting to see how the new management structure of the Alerus comes together. First up is the liquor licensing, I'm sure. Here's a good article that gets right to the point of the financial reporting.... http://plainsdaily.com/entry/alerus-center-averages-operating-losses-of-over-50000-for-past-decade/

Does anybody know more details? http://www.wday.com/event/article/id/48698/

The Alerus is a publicly owned facility. Discussing the cost/benefit and taxpayer's return on investment is not out of line. Alerus and City officials have lied to the public in the past regarding the secret subsidies. Bloggers and news group are doing a service to the community by discussing the center.

The Tim McGraw show was announced at least 4 months in advance.

Bummer. Apparently, the Tim McGraw show was a loser. It will be interesting to see how much money taxpayers lost on this event. Major concert events at The Alerus lose from $100K-$350K per event. I would guess this one is in this range. Also, if you all remember, the Alerus Commission and Alerus Management was not supposed to provide a promoter guarantee without City Council approval. There is no way the promoter brought this event without a guarantee. Hopefully someone will see that this information is shared with the public. Terry Bjerke, perhaps? Since The Herald shut down their reporters from blogging, it has become more difficult to get this information. I thought this show would do better because of the lower average ticket price. It probably would have been a better fit for The Ralph. I would guess The Alerus paid more to entice the promoters away from The Ralph.

Piccolo is amazing. http://www.piccolompls.com

For Grand Forks to flood from the the west, how high would the water level have to be? I'm talking a convergence of the overland flooding joining the Red River flooding. A 5 mile wide swatch of water that would blanket the town of Grand Forks. Does anybody know?

5) Did The Alerus Commission guarantee the event organizers a profitable event? Or, are these sweetheart deals only reserved for out of state entities that don't need the money? ;-)

Whoops...sorry for my intensity. I LOVE the header of this thread; "Alerus problems...how to fix them" I'd love to stay on topic. Anyone else? The supporters who rant and rave about the success and economic impact of a facility that presents one show a year and only grosses 1.3M of banquet/convention revenues, don't understand how bad things are at The Alerus. I've submitted ideas to change The Alerus for the better in another thread. I'll do it again when I have more time. Let's do it! The..."You're a small-minded naysayer who doesn't understand that The Civic lost 200K a year" is a ten year old argument and doesn't apply. Thanks

Anyone who supports The Alerus Center is doing so out of emotion and simply hasn't researched the facts. The arena side presents, on average, about one show per year. And, it's a highly non-successful show. Each arena concert with a major artist loses $100,000-$350,000. The convention side only grosses about $1.3M/year. These numbers a abysmal. So, fact is, as far as community-wide benefit, one concert is nothing in the grand scheme of things and the convention center's revenues are 75-90% sales that were realized in privately-owned facilities in the past. We now have 10 years of data to analyze. The facts are in and they're not pretty.

Bob, What on earth are you talking about? You referred to "all of the extra money coming into town due to the shows, conventions, games, etc.." This is totally false. The Alerus Center has three primary missions...arena events, multi-day regional convention/conference business, and Sioux football. The arena side is a total failure. In fact, the property currently has one date on the calendar. Yes, ONE. Also, before the center can book a major concert event, they have to go before the city council for approval. The Alerus loses from $100,000 to $300,000 PER SHOW when the highest grossing tours in America come to town. Also, it was disclosed last year that city council and Alerus commission members were aware of "secret subsidies" in the amount of abut $850,000 that were transferred to the property. Commission members, council members, and The Herald knew about these transfers but attempted to conceal the facts from the public. In fact, they even teased "profits" before the secret subsidies were disclosed. The convention side of the property is also a failure. Multi-day regional conventions have NEVER panned out, not in the nearly 10 year history of the complex. In fact, the convention side's gross sales are only about $1,000,000 per year. This is pathetic for a property such as The Alerus. Also, the bulk of these sales are simply dollars that were redirected from private properties to the publicly-owned Alerus. Sioux football is what it is. I have one question, why did UND sign a 10 year agreement with The Alerus? Sioux football is the only positive feature of The Alerus. Football is in the driver's seat; why a ten year agreement? So, no shows, no events, no banquets, no conventions. What is "all of the extra money coming into town due to the shows, conventions, games, etc.."? Can you explain? The Herald throws new narratives against the wall in hopes of something sticking. It's not working. Their current narrative is "They book the wrong acts". Oh, really? Again, the TOP GROSSING tours in America lose 100K-300K PER SHOW. The Herald also likes to write articles solely based on the property's financials. If the property hosted ZERO events in a year, and recognized the tax funds they receive as revenues, The Herald would publish a story about their financial success. What a minute! Isn't the primary goal of the development supposed to be bringing NEW dollars to town. Watch for the coming positive story about the Alerus' financial success in the future. It will happen. In my opinion, a big untold story is the revenue recognized from suite holders. Why on earth are these entities paying for the suites when there are so few events, 1-3 per year? My guess would be that these entities are sympathetic to Alerus Financial in some way and holding onto their suites in an attempt to paint the property in a more positive light. The Alerus story is simply a story of failed speculation. The sad story is the lengths that VenuWorks, The Alerus Commission, and The City Council have gone to to lie, cheat, and deceive taxpayers for the mismanagement and failure of the property.

I missed this point. Does anyone know why UND signed a 10 year lease with The Alerus Center? I'm just wondering.

I agree. Sioux football is the only positive aspect of The Alerus.