Ticket tax could be added to events held at Nationwide Arena

Next time you go to an event at Nationwide Arena, you may be paying a little extra for your tickets to cover costs of venue repairs. Maybe if you guys didn’t stomp so hard when the Blue Jackets score, we wouldn’t be in this mess!

The extra cost tacked onto tickets would be called a “user fee” or “ticket tax.” It would fall upon spectators if repairs costs exceeded what all three of the arena’s stakeholders contributed; $250,000 from Nationwide Realty Investors, Ohio State University, and the Columbus Blue Jackets. The actual amount of the user fee has not yet been determined as the need for/the cost of repairs has not yet been disclosed.

You see, Nationwide Arena is making enough profit to operate however, it’s not making enough to cover any repairs it may need in 2018. It’s also not making enough money to repay the original $42.5 million loan from Nationwide Insurance that was used to purchase the arena. Today, that loan + interest has grown to $58.4 million.

Nationwide Arena’s current revenue is $24.6 million and $4 million of that comes from casino tax revenue provided by Franklin County and the city of Columbus. Those public casino funds cover operation and capital expenses. That may seem like a lot but that amount is actually half of what was projected when the original deal was made.

Columbus Arena Management, which manages and operates the facility, is holding a meeting today to discuss the venue’s finances for next year.

Read all about the dollars and cents of the whole ordeal HERE.

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