[Moncton] Centre Avenir Centre | 26.65m |~6 Fl | Completed

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by lirette

I'm guessing its multiple hotels. The Delta has over 300 rooms on its own..so yes Moncton definitely has more than 1000 rooms available. The casino has over 120.

Well over 1000 hotel rooms. Maybe around 1,800 IIRC.

Increasing demand for hotel rooms will spur additional development in the city (such as a rumoured large Hilton branded hotel on the current V Hotel site).

I'm aware of at least four rumoured additional hotels in the metro area.

[mylesmalley]

CBC article from last fall says 2,200 hotel rooms.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/moncton-hotel-occupancy-1.4457319

I feel like that number might even be low-balling a bit.

Ignoring downtown entirely, there are like 600 just at the end of Mountain by Magnetic Hill, a few hundred each on Dieppe/Harrisville, Mapleton, and Lewisville/Paul.

Places like the Econolodge on West Main, and the Elmwood Motel don't exactly spring to mind when you're thinking about hotels in the city, but those little ones add up to a few hundred.

[Photo1]

Originally Posted by lirette

I'm guessing its multiple hotels. The Delta has over 300 rooms on its own..so yes Moncton definitely has more than 1000 rooms available. The casino has over 120.

I just read a CBC article and this was in it, it's not 1000 rooms, it's "1000 nights" for 200 people working the event.

" Although the city will look at the hard economic impact of the UFC, Turner said, 1,000 nights are already booked for the 200 people working with the organization. " ~ CBC

So...200 people in hotel rooms for 5 days.

[SevenSquared]

Originally Posted by Photo1

Between that at the Magic, the city has now spent almost $500K on two things...I'm all for the Center, don't get me wrong, but that just seems a bit crazy to me.

That part about the Magic doesn't sound quite right...

My understanding was that the city hasn't given the Magic anything, and won't give them anything unless their revenue this upcoming season falls short of what it was at the Coliseum (which wasn't much, roughly $600k iirc), they'll compensate them for the shortfall to a maximum of $333k.

That's the gist of it... I could be wrong on the revenue number.

[Photo1]

Originally Posted by Photo1

I just read a CBC article and this was in it, it's not 1000 rooms, it's "1000 nights" for 200 people working the event.

" Although the city will look at the hard economic impact of the UFC, Turner said, 1,000 nights are already booked for the 200 people working with the organization. " ~ CBC

So...200 people in hotel rooms for 5 days.

So funny that, on average...$150/rm/night x 200 x 5 = $150,000

So essentially we paid for the accomodations of the UFC staff.

[BlackYear]

So Moncton paid $150,000 to bring a world class event to town. Sounds pretty cheap to me.

UFC events are broadcast through television and online around the world with fans around the world. Let's get some Google search stats on Moncton come one week before the event.

The average 30 second national tv commercial cost around $120,000. Moncton paid $150,000 for a 2-4 hour worldwide broadcast exposure, depending if there is a prelim.

If 4000 fans at the Avenir Centre spends a measly $40 each somewhere in Moncton, that's $160,000 in sales somewhere.

Me, I'll be at the Avenir Centre in section 101 with a friend buying plenty of $9.75 beers. I've been following the UFC since UFC 1 and never seen it LIVE. This will most likely be my only live event, so my $300 budgeted night out is pretty dam cheap.

[MonctonianSentinel01]

Originally Posted by Budyser

So Moncton paid $150,000 to bring a world class event to town. Sounds pretty cheap to me.

UFC events are broadcast through television and online around the world with fans around the world. Let's get some Google search stats on Moncton come one week before the event.

The average 30 second national tv commercial cost around $120,000. Moncton paid $150,000 for a 2-4 hour worldwide broadcast exposure, depending if there is a prelim.

If 4000 fans at the Avenir Centre spends a measly $40 each somewhere in Moncton, that's $160,000 in sales somewhere.

Me, I'll be at the Avenir Centre in section 101 with a friend buying plenty of $9.75 beers. I've been following the UFC since UFC 1 and never seen it LIVE. This will most likely be my only live event, so my $300 budgeted night out is pretty dam cheap.

Great post man! Liking the view points. Have a great night and enjoy!

[felip_ars]

While it's not the first time a City paying to get an event (just look at F1 continuing asking more money to every cities around the world), it does raise the question about the budget that SMG have for booking events.

They promised world class entertainment but cant afford to pay 250k for an event that, even if not selling well, will at least bring over 5k (which is a pretty big feat in Moncton)?

Or it's just a strategy to get more money from the City...

"Sooooo we would really like to bring Paul McCartney, but we would need an extra 250k....but think about all the publicity!!"

[riverviewer]

Originally Posted by felip_ars

Or it's just a strategy to get more money from the City...

"Sooooo we would really like to bring Paul McCartney, but we would need an extra 250k....but think about all the publicity!!"

Paul McCartney performed in Winnipeg last Friday. Did that make any of you fall more in love with Winnipeg? Why would Moncton be different.

Winnipeg even got free publicity in the National Post... https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/dud...eatle-joins-winnipeg-couples-wedding-pic

Other than groupies, I'm not sure anyone cares.

[Sunnybrae]

Originally Posted by felip_ars

While it's not the first time a City paying to get an event (just look at F1 continuing asking more money to every cities around the world), it does raise the question about the budget that SMG have for booking events.

Well I do understand your point, using F1 as an example is extreme. Usually countries (not just cities) hope to host an F1 race. If a spot becomes available in the calendar, then there is usually a bidding war. 250 million dollars for a ten year contract to host a race is not unusual, then you need to build the track and facilities.

[lirette]

Originally Posted by riverviewer

Paul McCartney performed in Winnipeg last Friday. Did that make any of you fall more in love with Winnipeg? Why would Moncton be different.

Winnipeg even got free publicity in the National Post... https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/dud...eatle-joins-winnipeg-couples-wedding-pic

Other than groupies, I'm not sure anyone cares.

Its an interesting discussion, as benefits from this type of thing is almost impossible to quantify. You can really say the same thing for any advertising. Rogers spends millions to slap their name all over arenas including our arena locally but everyone for the most part still hates rogers and that will never change no matter how much advertising they do. But in most places Rogers or Bell are literally the only options.

Does seeing Moncton on their TV make someone more likely to stop here on a road trip? Its certainly not a vacation destination, more of a home base to be central to many activities nearby, or a weekend stopover. Saint John has spent a ton of money on marketing via their hotel levy and it seems to have benefitted them.

To me I see the biggest impact is visibility for future events. if the event is a success then it increases our chances for future events, even non UFC ones. I'm way more worried about the slow ticket sales for UFC than I am worried about this $150K

[Philbilly]

One could say the reason for the slow tickets sales for the ufc is the lack of known fighter and tickets price, but we are forgetting the event is on the weekend before Halloween. Lots of people are having party’s . I know a couple friends that wanted to go to but have previous commitments for that reason and not going .

[Phil McAvity]

Wow, the facilities website fucking sucks, there's no mention anywhere of how much the facility cost, where the funding came from, how many seats it has or when it was built.

The only reason I even know about it was because I saw that the UFC is going to be there next month so I wondered how the hell Moncton could hold such a big event.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by Phil McAvity

Wow, the facilities website fucking sucks, there's no mention anywhere of how much the facility cost, where the funding came from, how many seats it has or when it was built.

The only reason I even know about it was because I saw that the UFC is going to be there next month so I wondered how the hell Moncton could hold such a big event.

The facility cost ~ $115M, and is brand new - opening just last month. It is state of the art and has a seating capacity of 8,800 although with floor seating for an event like UFC, they could probably push 10,000 seats.

As to how Moncton got the match, it probably has to do with the management company (SMG). The arena is the shiniest one on the east coast right now. Scotiabank Centre in Halifax might seat an extra 1,500 people, but it is getting long in the tooth.

FWIW, between the city and SMG, they're coughing up $250K to UFC for the event, but I gather that most arenas do this, so I don't know how much of an incentive this was........

[BlackYear]

Well this possibly could be a very good timing for Moncton, seeing what happened last night at UFC 229.

There are no other UFC events scheduled until the Moncton event. So all eyes & ears could be on the Oct 27th Fight Night show to see what the announcers/commentators will have to say/update on the post UFC 229 PPV event.

[lirette]

Originally Posted by Budyser

Well this possibly could be a very good timing for Moncton, seeing what happened last night at UFC 229.

There are no other UFC events scheduled until the Moncton event. So all eyes & ears could be on the Oct 27th Fight Night show to see what the announcers/commentators will have to say/update on the post UFC 229 PPV event.

It also gets lots of mainstream chatter around the offices I'm sure. Lots of news outlets are covering it that don't normally discuss MMA. Might help sell some more tickets as embarrassing as the incident was.

[MonctonRad]

I'm really surprised they haven't been advertising this UFC thing more. If they want to fill the arena, they will need to get traffic from the other NB cities and PEI and NS. I doubt there are enough UFC fans locally to support this event (certainly not me - I dislike martial arts in general and UFC is the most brutal of them all IMHO).

[Blue Blazer]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

I'm really surprised they haven't been advertising this UFC thing more. If they want to fill the arena, they will need to get traffic from the other NB cities and PEI and NS. I doubt there are enough UFC fans locally to support this event (certainly not me - I dislike martial arts in general and UFC is the most brutal of them all IMHO).

UFC has turned into WWE, after last week, fake scripted. I rather spend my money in other places.

[Scarface]

Originally Posted by Blue Blazer

UFC has turned into WWE, after last week, fake scripted. I rather spend my money in other places.

If it's the case it would seem UFC may not be profitable, and they would like to bring in WWE followers to there fan base.

[Phil McAvity]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

The facility cost ~ $115M, and is brand new - opening just last month. It is state of the art and has a seating capacity of 8,800 although with floor seating for an event like UFC, they could probably push 10,000 seats.

As to how Moncton got the match, it probably has to do with the management company (SMG). The arena is the shiniest one on the east coast right now. Scotiabank Centre in Halifax might seat an extra 1,500 people, but it is getting long in the tooth.

FWIW, between the city and SMG, they're coughing up $250K to UFC for the event, but I gather that most arenas do this, so I don't know how much of an incentive this was........

Thanks for the info

We got a similarly-sized arena built in 2005 here in Victoria yet even when you factor in inflation, ours was 1/3 the cost of Moncton's arena

Originally Posted by Blue Blazer

UFC has turned into WWE, after last week, fake scripted. I rather spend my money in other places.

You really think the shitshow that followed the Conor/Khabib fight was scripted?

If you believe that then you're dumber than I look. The UFC withheld payment to Khabib for the fight and is considering further punishment following an investigation. I also agree that the media attention following the clusterfuck will only help sell tickets in Moncton