Wells Fargo Arena
Some people would be surprised to know that Des Moines has a new downtown coliseum. Wells Fargo Arena, opened in 2005, seats some 16,000 fans and sits adjacent to Des Moines’ old Municipal Auditorium, along with a small convention center that connects the two buildings.
Wells Fargo Arena, in the bowl where the fans sit, is very similar to Oklahoma City’s Ford Center. Not quite as large in terms of capacity, but just as nice. Now, the guts, the stuff you don’t see unless you’re involved in an event and have occasion to stroll the bowels of the building, you see that the Ford Center has much more space.
But still. It’s interesting that Des Moines, home to an AF2 arena team, an American Hockey League franchise (that is moving) and an NBA D-League team, built a new arena. Now Des Moines is hosting an NCAA women’s regional and wants more NCAA events.
Omaha hosted the NCAA men’s tournament this week at its new downtown arena. Tulsa is opening its new arena later this year. It’s obvious that even second-tier cities — cities that harbor no great major-league hopes — are committed to staying in the arena race.
Kansas City just opened the Sprint Center to rave reviews, San Antonio has the recently-constructed AT&T Center, Dallas has American Airlines Center and, well, you get the idea.
Oklahoma City opened the Ford Center in 2002 and now plans an upgrade and renovation starting very soon. Which is wise. Forget the Sonics or the NBA. Oklahoma City needs to keep its Ford Center near the top of the list of regional arenas, because the competition — among cities minor-league cities and major-league cities, with OKC square in the middle — is very fierce.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Comments
It would be interesting to see a good study of the macroeconomics of arenas. There are not an infinite number of entertainment acts, whether sporting events, concerts, etc., and there is not an infinite number of disposable dollars that the American public is willing to spend on such events.
So, are arenas all chasing the same events to generate the same money, or is there still growth left in the business? And does the money that consumers spend on events at big arenas mean that they spend less at other venues–theaters, nightclubs, etc.? In other words, is it a win-win proposition, or do arena events just take a slice of the economic pie at the expense of other forms of entertainment?
I have seen a study that concludes that pro sports teams do not bring significant economic benefits to the cities that support them. It is more a quality-of-life issue than one of pure economics. If a city wants big-time pro sports, that’s fine, but the citizens should not expect that an economic boom will accompany the team into town.
So you are away from your family on Easter!! I hate that for you!
This race to keep up reminds me of the old trick by clothing manufactures, that kept moving thier business every time someone wanted a raise of a nickle an hour. Finally they moved out of the Country, because they could not milk this Country for any more. The same thing willl happen to Sports teams, etc. Not in my lifetime, maybe in yours, but it will happen, unless, the taxpayer gets wise and sick of being held up by hotel and restaurant owners wanting the taxpayer to foot the bill for their profits.