Bringing big acts to Binghamton has its challenges
Tickets to see Jerry Seinfeld at the Broome County Forum Theater sold out in under two hours.
The Broome County Forum Theatre and the Floyd L. Maines Veterans Memorial Arena are county-owned and rented out.
A Southern Tier casino could compete with existing venues for concerts and other acts.
Tickets to see comedian Jerry Seinfeld at the Broome County Forum Theatre on Dec. 5 and 6 sold out in under two hours.
This is the kind of response popular events at the Forum and the Floyd L. Maines Veterans Memorial Arena can have in the community, said Anthony Capozzi who manages both venues. Getting Seinfeld's camp and Broome County to make an agreement took about six months.
The arena and forum, both in Binghamton, are rental facilities owned by the county. Neither venue co-promotes its events and charges external promoters and production companies to use its space.
The arena, at 1 Stuart St., seats about 6,500 people for a concert, or about 7,200 if the floor is open for general admission. The forum at 236 Washington St. can seat 1,522 with a pit orchestra and has 1,553 seats without.
Capozzi said economics drive the decision-making process for promoters. Production companies have to determine how many tickets they must sell — and at what cost — to have a profitable show.
Country music acts like Alan Jackson and Darius Rucker, for instance, have performed well in the area, Capozzi said. The cost of renting the arena and forum depends on how long the event lasts and what type of event it is.
For the arena, Broome County charges between $4,000 and $7,000 for a ticketed concert, based upon the likely number of tickets sold. During the summer months, it costs about $3,000 to rent the venue for a day and $3,500 for the rest of the year.
If an event lasts several days, the price per day drops. A three-day event might cost $3,500 the first day, $3,000 the second and $2,500 the final day, Capozzi said.
The smaller forum costs less to rent. For Seinfeld's shows in December, the county will collect $1,500 the first day and $700 the second day to rent the forum. Additional costs, such as stage hands, security and ticket-takers, are charged separately.
Stu Green, president of Magic City Productions of Endicott, does business with the Binghamton venues and others in the area. He said the arena differs from other area venues, in cost and the way it does business.
The Times Union Center in Albany, for instance, is more expensive to rent. Green said he's had shows that cost $45,000 to rent the larger, 17,500-seat Albany arena, while the maximum is only $7,000 in Binghamton.
Rent for the Times-Union Center includes any additional costs, Green said. A major musical act may require thousands of dollars in stage hands, while a comedy act may only have $1,000 in additional costs at the Binghamton arena.
In 2013, Broome County brought in $241,855 in rent and fees from the arena. The county also collected an additional $61,845 in charges for services and event staff.
The smaller forum generated $61,333 in rent and fees for the county in 2013. The county collected an additional $18,534 in charges for services and event staff.
Ticket costs vary depending on the act, Capozzi said. When comedian Gabriel Iglesias came to the forum in November 2013, tickets were about $38. Tickets for country singer Darius Rucker at the arena were in the $45 to $50 range.
Tickets for Seinfeld's shows at the forum were $67.50 for seats in the back, $87.50 for general admission and $125 for front row.
Scoring Seinfeld is a plus for the area and the forum, Capozzi said. The last big-time comedian to come through Binghamton was Bill Cosby, who performed at the arena and forum in 2006.
Convincing Seinfeld's representative's they would be able to turn a profit in Binghamton was a main reason the forum was able to lock down the act.
"We were able to say that at these prices they could sell out two shows," Capozzi said.
Seinfeld's publicist, Tom Keaney, declined a request for comment for this report.
The age and capacity of the arena and forum can restrict the types of shows willing to come to the venues.
The forum was built in 1919 and regularly houses the Binghamton Philharmonic, Broadway Theater League and Tri-Cities Opera.
The arena was built in 1973 and was a state-of-the-art facility at the time, Capozzi said. The first concert played in the arena was Chicago, with Bruce Springsteen the opening act.
Elvis Presley played a concert in 1977, which Capozzi remembers attending. He said seats behind the stage were still used then, before the large screens and speakers of modern acts obscured the stage.
Now, arena staff has to work with production companies the day of the show to ensure attendees can see from all of the ticketed seats sold for the event, Capozzi said.
The area has seen more venues and competition in recent years. The Mohegan Sun Arena in Wilkes-Barre has a higher capacity — about 8,000 seats — and was built 16 years ago. The venue is in direct competition with the Binghamton arena for musical acts and other entertainment, Capozzi said.
Another challenge on the horizon for area venues is upstate casinos. Turning Stone Resort & Casino already competes with the Oncenter War Memorial in Syracuse and a casino in the Southern Tier would likely create similar competition, Green said.
Two of the proposed casinos, Tioga Downs in Nichols and Traditions Resort & Casino in Union, are less than 40 minutes from Binghamton.
Follow Steve Howe on Twitter @PSBSteveH