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#1 spanky123

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Posted 29 November 2013 - 02:31 PM

Didn't see a thread for this.

 

http://www.timescolo...ollars-1.714328

 

This is nuts. I had no idea that taxpayers were subsidizing $30 a ticket to keep the Playhouse open. How much are we paying for the Royal?

 

These venues need to be able to fund themselves. We either need to consolidate venues or let economic theory play out. I am all for a thriving arts community but the people of Victoria are clearly not interested in supporting this type of entertainment on the scale needed to have it viable here.



#2 VicHockeyFan

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Posted 29 November 2013 - 02:43 PM

$30 a ticket is pretty crazy for sure.


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#3 Greg

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Posted 29 November 2013 - 02:54 PM

$30 a ticket is pretty crazy for sure.

I doubt the numbers are right. That works out to 480 tickets per week. At a theatre that has 772 seats and is in use multiple times per week.  ($750k is still a big subsidy though.)



#4 sebberry

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Posted 29 November 2013 - 03:28 PM

I don't want a free ticket, just deduct the subsidy for that ticket from my taxes :)


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#5 Mike K.

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Posted 29 November 2013 - 03:52 PM

Holy smokes that's nuts. $30 is some 40% of the average ticket for a performance at the MP.


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#6 jklymak

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Posted 29 November 2013 - 07:48 PM

Fair enough, but let's stop subsidizing sports teams while we are at it.
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#7 tedward

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Posted 02 December 2013 - 09:23 AM

Fair enough, but let's stop subsidizing sports teams while we are at it.

 

As a fan of a local team I am curious what you would like to see stopped?


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#8 VicHockeyFan

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Posted 02 December 2013 - 09:28 AM

Fair enough, but let's stop subsidizing sports teams while we are at it.

 

Me too.  Every performance or game at the Save On Centre nets the City ticket surcharge money.

 

I don't know what rents are charged at RAP, but it's a pretty bare-bones facility.


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#9 Mike K.

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Posted 02 December 2013 - 09:38 AM

And your average WHL ticket doesn't run anywhere near $80-$90.

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#10 jklymak

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Posted 02 December 2013 - 10:46 AM

OK, so you guys are saying SoFC and RAP aren't subsidized?  What is their subsidy, and what justifies it? 

 

I'm not saying get rid of anything. But if someone comes on here and says "These venues need to be able to fund themselves." then I hope they apply it to all forms of professional entertainment, not just "arts".  


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#11 Nparker

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Posted 02 December 2013 - 11:03 AM

...if someone comes on here and says "These venues need to be able to fund themselves." then I hope they apply it to all forms of professional entertainment, not just "arts".  

Cough...If a $500 million roof on BC Place Stadium isn't a subsidy I don't know what is. :mad:



#12 VicHockeyFan

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Posted 02 December 2013 - 11:10 AM

OK, so you guys are saying SoFC and RAP aren't subsidized?  What is their subsidy, and what justifies it? 

 

It's hard to know with RAP, unless we can see how much money is spent on it.  SoFC was built with our money and I presume also gets a permanent property tax holiday.


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#13 jonny

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Posted 02 December 2013 - 11:29 AM

It’s hard to decipher the financials on the arena, but I seriously doubt the arena breaks even.

 

It's empty 300ish days a year, and RG Properties only pays the City of Victoria $200k/year to operate the place (plus a $2M up-front payment at the beginning of the 10 year term). The City’s annual report doesn’t shed much light on the arena, but the place cost $30M to build, so amortization alone is going to be much higher than the $200k payment (it doesn’t have a 150 year life).

 

It's quite surprising how low the annual payment to the City is. That's probably not even two Royals home games worth of revenue. I would think it would be at least 20% of facility revenues, with terms that entice RGP to maximize the number of events.



#14 spanky123

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Posted 02 December 2013 - 11:33 AM

It’s hard to decipher the financials on the arena, but I seriously doubt the arena breaks even.

 

It's empty 300ish days a year, and RG Properties only pays the City of Victoria $200k/year to operate the place (plus a $2M up-front payment at the beginning of the 10 year term). The City’s annual report doesn’t shed much light on the arena, but the place cost $30M to build, so amortization alone is going to be much higher than the $200k payment (it doesn’t have a 150 year life).

 

It's quite surprising how low the annual payment to the City is. That's probably not even two Royals home games worth of revenue. I would think it would be at least 20% of facility revenues, with terms that entice RGP to maximize the number of events.

The City gets a fee for every ticket sold and also a percentage of the concession.

 

If someone could point to a report that said RAP or SOFMC were being subsidized by the taxpayer then I would say that those facilities should carry themselves as well.



#15 jonny

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Posted 02 December 2013 - 11:43 AM

The City gets a fee for every ticket sold and also a percentage of the concession.

 

If someone could point to a report that said RAP or SOFMC were being subsidized by the taxpayer then I would say that those facilities should carry themselves as well.

 

That makes more sense.

 

Let me flip your question - could you point to a report that says SOFMC breaks even or does it cost taxpayers more to service the debt and depreciation required to build SOFMC than the city gets in revenue?



#16 Greg

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Posted 02 December 2013 - 12:27 PM

http://www.tristinhopper.com/arena.htm

 

This claims the arena (in 2010) costs the city a million a year.



#17 jonny

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Posted 02 December 2013 - 12:44 PM

http://www.tristinhopper.com/arena.htm

 

This claims the arena (in 2010) costs the city a million a year.

 

I saw this too, but unfortunately the figures are not cited.



#18 Mike K.

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Posted 02 December 2013 - 01:48 PM

But we're talking $30 a ticket for a performance at the Mac. That's nearly triple the cost of a ticket to see the baseball team play and twice the cost of a WHL game.

 

What I want to know is how much of an $80 rock concert ticket at the SoFMC is subsidized.

 

And for what it's worth the stupidity of placing the CRD HQ where it is and forever revealing the nasty facade of the Mac's north face should win some sort of an award. Way to beautify the area...


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#19 Nparker

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Posted 02 December 2013 - 01:59 PM

And for what it's worth the stupidity of placing the CRD HQ where it is and forever revealing the nasty facade of the Mac's north face should win some sort of an award. Way to beautify the area...

Some brickwork or creative painting, perhaps even a mural could make that north facade look not too bad. Unfortunately, the same can't be said for the horrible 1960s addition to City Hall.



#20 Mike K.

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Posted 02 December 2013 - 02:04 PM

I've often envisioned lettings artists have their way with that wall. But alas this is Victoria and officialdom would have a cow before opening this up to some creativity.


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