nccanes
08-16-2003, 08:56 AM
Not bad I would say....
Canes closing in on selling suites
Kim Nilsen
RALEIGH - The Carolina Hurricanes franchise is working to trim the vacancy rate for RBC Center luxury suites from 10 percent to single digits before Oct. 9, the start of the regular home season.
With annual fees for most of the arena's 69 suites ranging from $100,000 to $170,000, the leases represent hefty contributors in the team's bid to turn a profit.
"It's actually pretty darn important," economist and sports consultant Patrick Rishe says of luxury suite sales to the top line of any major league team.
Because the National Hockey League draws skimpy broadcast revenue compared to its football and baseball siblings, it depends more on gate revenue, Rishe says. Private suite inhabitants, who are less price sensitive than most season ticket holders, are a significant part of the equation.
Gale Force Holdings, the corporation that owns the Hurricanes and operates the arena, pockets 85 percent of suite revenue. North Carolina State University, a tenant in the building, keeps the remaining 15 percent.
Gale Force expects to start the season with three to five suites for lease, says Matt West, the group's vice president of corporate sales and services. But the franchise is gunning for a sellout by spring, which would generate an estimated $5.9 million for the franchise using the more conservative lease rates. NCSU would land at least $1 million.
GlaxoSmithKline, John Deere and Raleigh-based Capitol Broadcasting Co. are among the returning suite holders. RBC Centura, the bank that last year agreed to pay $80 million for the arena naming rights, has a suite for entertaining clients.
Quintiles Transnational, a Durham-based clinical research company, is expected to sign on this season, says Jim Rutherford, general manager of the Hurricanes.
The team has roughly 15 candidates in the pipeline, West says. Landing half of those prospects would fill the private suites and could steer demand to hospitality suites that Gale Force rents at a daily rate.
The first major wave of renewals came after the 2001-2002 season, West says. The timing was opportune, with about a dozen deals expiring on the heels of the team's run to the Stanley Cup finals. Two tenants opted not to return.
Canes closing in on selling suites
Kim Nilsen
RALEIGH - The Carolina Hurricanes franchise is working to trim the vacancy rate for RBC Center luxury suites from 10 percent to single digits before Oct. 9, the start of the regular home season.
With annual fees for most of the arena's 69 suites ranging from $100,000 to $170,000, the leases represent hefty contributors in the team's bid to turn a profit.
"It's actually pretty darn important," economist and sports consultant Patrick Rishe says of luxury suite sales to the top line of any major league team.
Because the National Hockey League draws skimpy broadcast revenue compared to its football and baseball siblings, it depends more on gate revenue, Rishe says. Private suite inhabitants, who are less price sensitive than most season ticket holders, are a significant part of the equation.
Gale Force Holdings, the corporation that owns the Hurricanes and operates the arena, pockets 85 percent of suite revenue. North Carolina State University, a tenant in the building, keeps the remaining 15 percent.
Gale Force expects to start the season with three to five suites for lease, says Matt West, the group's vice president of corporate sales and services. But the franchise is gunning for a sellout by spring, which would generate an estimated $5.9 million for the franchise using the more conservative lease rates. NCSU would land at least $1 million.
GlaxoSmithKline, John Deere and Raleigh-based Capitol Broadcasting Co. are among the returning suite holders. RBC Centura, the bank that last year agreed to pay $80 million for the arena naming rights, has a suite for entertaining clients.
Quintiles Transnational, a Durham-based clinical research company, is expected to sign on this season, says Jim Rutherford, general manager of the Hurricanes.
The team has roughly 15 candidates in the pipeline, West says. Landing half of those prospects would fill the private suites and could steer demand to hospitality suites that Gale Force rents at a daily rate.
The first major wave of renewals came after the 2001-2002 season, West says. The timing was opportune, with about a dozen deals expiring on the heels of the team's run to the Stanley Cup finals. Two tenants opted not to return.