Profits
from events spread throughout campus
By
Joe Licavoli
On-line Forty-Niner
College
campuses in Southern California have become
a prime spot to host events with the Summer
Pro League and the Warped Tour at Cal State
Long Beach, but where does the money from
these events go?
The
Summer Pro League is a two-week event at
CSULB, which gives the opportunity for current
NBA players and first and second-year draft
picks to play in a competitive environment,
said Mark Edrington, general manager of
The Pyramid.
The
Summer Pro League returned to CSULB for
the 2003 summer with games at The Pyramid.
The
league pays a rental fee less then the standard
$3,500 fee charged for someone to rent out
The Pyramid because the it is a long-term
tenant and uses the building for two weeks.
The fee is charged just for The Pyramid
to open the doors and turn on the lights,
Edrington said.
"The
Summer Pro League is charged significantly
less because they are here for a long time
and use a lot of dates each summer,"
Edrington said.
The
money from the rental fee for the Summer
Pro League and all rentals goes into an
operating account in the athletic department
and it ultimately goes toward paying the
debt on the building, Edrington said.
"We
pay a debt service that we've paid since
The Pyramid was built," Edrington added.
"Basically we had to take a lease out
on the seats and we pay an annual debt on
that, which is around a quarter of a million
a year."
The
revenue generated from The Pyramid is something
that directly and indirectly helps the students
and clubs at CSULB.
"All
the revenue that we get goes to paying the
overhead and paying the overall debt of
The Pyramid," Edrington said. "One
benefit is that the student body gets free
admission to all of our athletic events.
Also the Associated Students get up to five
free dates in The Pyramid annually."
This
means a recognized student organization
can go to a committee at Associated Students
Inc. and ask for a fee waiver to take one
of those dates so the rent is free. However,
whatever other fees associated with putting
on the event the organization must pay for,
Edrington said.
Edrington
explained that the goal of The Pyramid is
to be the best sports facility in Southern
California for its size, so the Summer Pro
League was a logical fit. The Pyramid has
done some concerts but not too many because
it is not designed for it.
"We
have a hard wood floor, so it's hard to
drive forklifts. [Also] we don't really
have a ceiling, so it's hard to fly lights
and sound, " Edrington said. "When
people have come in and done it they have
to do floor supported and sometimes its
cost prohibitive and the promoters sometimes
can't justify the expenses of doing it that
way."
"We
knew that and realized that we would try
to do concerts but we realized we were a
better fit for more sport types of events,
[so] we aggressively went after the Summer
Pro League."
There
are also festivals that choose the college
atmosphere for its event spot. This summer,
the punk rock extravaganza, the Warped Tour,
stopped at CSULB.
The
man behind the Warped Tour coming to CSULB
was A.S.I. Vice President Guido Piotti.
Piotti was able to bring the tour to CSULB
because he was a concert promoter and knows
Paul Tollet, a concert promoter for a company
called Goldenvoice, who handles the Los
Angeles Warped Tour dates, Piotti said.
"I
said why don't you come to Long Beach and
I brought him down, he loved the venue,
he loved The Pyramid, he loved the field,"
Piotti said. "He actually went to this
school and his father graduated from here.
[Also] he loves Long Beach, it's one of
his best areas as far as markets are concerned.
He does the
Warped Tour so he decided to bring it."
The
Warped Tour paid a rental fee of $20,000
to have the event on campus. The $20,000
fee was just to rent the facility, but it
was much lower than other venues around
Long Beach. The $20,000 was split with $10,000
going to A.S.I., which is planning to give
more then half of the money to the Board
of Control, so student organizations will
have easy access to the funds. The other
$10,000 was divided equally with $5,000
going to The Pyramid and the kinesiology
and physical education department getting
$5,000 because the event was on the athletic
field, Piotti said.
There
was also revenue made on the parking, so
some money from the parking will go into
the A.S.I. account, added Piotti.
Along
with the fee to have the event and the parking,
50 cents of each ticket sold will be divided
up equally between the seven colleges for
scholarships, he said.
There
were a few slight problems with the tour
this year, most noticeable was the food
and drink vendors.
"The
food was a problem this year and the reason
why is because the tour had bounced around
a couple dates," Piotti said. "So,
we could never give the 49er Shops a definitive
date, the reason why I say the 49er Shops
is because they have a contract with the
school where they are exclusive when it
comes to doing food and beverage and they
can waive those rights if they want, but
if they want nobody else can do food besides
them. Unless there's a request for food
that they can't cater to."
"So
the event date was bouncing around, and
when we approached them saying this is the
date, according to them, (which it may very
well had been a valid reason) they did not
have enough time to get the appropriate
amount of workers."
Piotti
said that this is something that will definitely
be fixed the next time there is an event.
A
positive aspect for CSULB students about
the concert was that students received a
discount on tickets. The tickets for the
event were $27 to the public but for students
the price was $20. The discount for students
was not very publicized because there was
not a secure date for the tour to stop at
CSULB, Piotti said.
Fifteen
thousand people attended the Warped Tour
date at CSULB, making the show sell out.
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