Venue News & Notes: Revenues for Marlins Stadium Coming in Higher Than Expected

As the steel girders and concrete ramps of the new Florida Marlins stadium reshape the view of Miami’s Little Havana, the taxes paying for the project are ahead of the game. When construction began last summer on the new $642 million ballpark, the hotels funding most of the tab wondered how much worse their business could get. A year later, a steady recovery by the tourism industry has left Miami-Dade County with more hotel-tax revenue than expected to pay back about $320 million of the stadium debt. A surge in winter and spring bookings bolstered hotel occupancy rates throughout South Florida this year. Some of the boost came from February’s Super Bowl XLIV, but the comeback went beyond football mania and reflects a broad recovery in travel spending across the country…

…Allure Global Solutions Inc. has completed a digital-signage deployment for the San Diego Sports Arena. The deployment is part of a larger renovation, which also includes new arena seating, totally renovated and rebranded club space, and other physical improvements. The San Diego Sports Arena is a top regional facility that provides a range of premium entertainment to more than 600,000 people each year. According to Pollstar and Billboard magazines, in 2009, the San Diego Sports Arena was rated one of the “Top 10 facilities in the world with 10,001 to 15,000 seats.” The arena is managed by AEG Facilities, which operates or consults on more than 90 of the industry’s preeminent venues worldwide…

…Aloha Sports Properties is completing a deal with Oceanic Time Warner to install an LED scoreboard at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu. The contract will be the largest to date with a corporate sponsor, according to Glen Higa, general manager of Aloha Sports Properties, which is part of CBS Collegiate Sports Properties. The four-year contract will provide Oceanic with corporate sponsorship. Financial details of the sponsorship were not available. CBS Collegiate Sports Properties has a 10-year contract with the Aloha Stadium Authority to sell advertising. The new scoreboard will come at no cost to taxpayers.