The Lakeview Amphitheater has completed its inaugural season, and the draw of our new music venue surpassed expectations. At a recent Planning and Economic Development meeting, representatives from Visit Syracuse and SMG Management provided an update on the financial impact of the first season and some things that we can look forward to as we start booking for next year.
At the end of 2014, the legislature had a tough decision to make based on preliminary numbers. The original projections estimated that the Lakeview Amphitheater would host 18 shows and ticket sales would be just under $142,000. In 2016, we hosted 22 shows and ticket sales exceeded $200,000!
Visit Syracuse, our region’s tourism promoter, provided some interesting data on the concertgoers — where they were from and how much they would spend. Initial estimates projected 89 percent of spectators would be “local/regional” — in other words, no more than an hour from Syracuse. The actual numbers suggest that only 59 percent of attendees were local/regional patrons, which is great news! More than 40 percent of concertgoers came to Onondaga County from more than an hour away, and brought their entertainment dollars with them. With that distance comes potential room nights at local hotels, dinners at local restaurants, and time to visit other attractions in the area.
Room nights, or hotel room stays as they are called in hospitality jargon, were positively affected by the Lakeview Amphitheater as well. Original projections estimated that 10 percent of domestic spectators and 1 percent of Canadian spectators would spend at least one night in Syracuse. Actual figures show that 26 percent of domestic and 15 percent of Canadian concert attendees spent the night! This generated additional sales tax revenues to operate county government and room occupancy taxes, which are used to fund other arts and cultural opportunities in Onondaga County like Symphoria, JazzFest and the Everson Museum.
The total spending and direct tax impact were substantially higher than the estimates. Total spending was estimated at just under $25 million for the season; however, spectators spent more than $50 million! The direct local tax impact will be more than $1 million. In a tough budget year, where we saw personnel and healthcare costs increase significantly, the additional revenue from the Lakeview Amphitheater was needed.
Lastly, the legislature was told that the Amphitheater would create approximately 360 jobs. Between SMG Management, Aramark Refreshments, Live Nation, and local businesses that total exceeded 780 jobs.
SMG and county officials received a lot of feedback throughout the concert season on ways to improve the experience at the Lakeview Amphitheater, and we’re working together to implement some of these suggestions, most critically with improvements to be made to the concessions and parking in the near future. The shuttles from downtown proved to be quite successful and those will continue next year, which is great news for downtown businesses that also saw the impact on concert nights.
Overall, it was a great first season! We must build on this momentum and secure great acts that keep attendees coming to the Lakeview Amphitheater and staying in Syracuse.
Derek Shepard represents the 13th legislative district; this includes the town of Van Buren, the town of Elbridge and portions of the town of Camillus. Derek welcomes constituent feedback; he can be reached by email at [email protected] or by phone at 635-3875.
