Virginia Beach City Council will soon decide whether to terminate the current management agreement with the Virginia Beach Sports Center.
The 285,000-square-foot facility opened in Oct. 2020. An audit released earlier this year showed in 2021 and 2022, the Sports Center lost $2.7 million.
On Tuesday, November 14, council members were briefed on the latest with the Sports Center including what would be involved if they decide to terminate the 10-year contract with Eastern Sports Management. If the agreement is ended, City would get an interim operator for a maximum of 12 months while it looks for another, according to City Manager Patrick Duhaney.
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Brian Connolly is with Victus Advisors, a consulting firm that was involved in researching the Sports Center.
On Tuesday, Connolly said, “My professional assessment of this is: the problem is not the operations of the facility itself or the events being brought into it. It’s the management agreement itself.”
Connolly and Nancy Helman, Director of the Convention & Visitors Bureau, explained that if the City ends the agreement, it would need to pay $4.6 million for the fixtures and furniture plus fees, putting it at more than $6 million.
Watch related coverage: Virginia Beach Sports Center is losing money, audit finds
Mayor Bobby Dyer commented that the Sports Center had the worst time to open with the pandemic and that it’s a learning moment for a lot of people.
One resident called into the evening portion of the City Council meeting and said the City has let down taxpayers.
The vote is expected during the City Council meeting on November 21.
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Meanwhile, a newly released economic impact study shows Virginia Beach welcomed 13.6 million visitors in 2022. The study was done by Tourism Economics, a subsidiary of Oxford Economics. A presentation given Tuesday shows the visitor numbers are similar to that of 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic. The study also showed visitor spending amounted to $2.4 billion which the Virginia Beach Convention & Visitors Bureau says is a significant increase of $300 million compared to the previous years.
“Virginia Beach’s tourism success in 2022 highlights the enduring appeal of our city and the resilience of our community,” said Helman.
