Venue News: Blues See Green with Tablet Raffling

The Scottrade Center, home to the St. Louis Blues, will continue its partnership with Toronto-based Bump 50:50 this season, as part of a deal inked last year. Bump 50:50 develops in-venue mobile technology that uses computer tablets to maximize revenue from 50-50 raffles. After signing a five-year deal last season, the St. Louis Blues 14 Fund charitable trust used 10 iPads for in-game raffles, splitting the proceeds between the fan with the winning ticket and the charitable trust.  According to the team, using the Bump 50:50-supplied iPads generated over $7000 per game, a significant increase over the $3800 averaged two seasons ago when selling raffle tickets by hand. Tablet technology speeds up the raffle process, printing a numbered ticket for the fan and the charitable trust’s office, allowing the office to draw the winning ticket as soon as the raffle ends. The iPads also provide real-time updates on how much money has been collected…

… As workers begin tearing down the former home of the Orlando Magic later this year, they will begin a deliberate process slated to take as long as six months to complete. Much of the 22-year-old Amway Arena, which was the home court for the NBA franchise from the team’s inception in 1989 until the new Amway Center opened last season, will be recycled or reused. While the demolition will not begin until December, furniture, fixtures, and even some palm trees have been sold or moved to other city buildings as part of the arena’s decommissioning. When the actual demolition starts, aluminum and miles of copper will be salvaged and sold, with the proceeds donated to the Nap Ford charter school across the street. Drywall and steel will go to recyclers. The biggest part of the building — concrete — will be reused as the foundation for new roads that will run through the site…

… The Buffalo Sabres are changing the name of their home hockey arena. After First Niagara Bank bought HSBC Bank branches in New York and Connecticut, the arena will be called First Niagara Center. It had been HSBC Arena since 1999. The 18,690-seat home of the National Hockey League club is expected to bear the new name for 15 years…

UCLA will renovate storied Pauley Pavilion this coming season rather than build a new arena, and chose not to include luxury suites in the renovation. As the $136 million upgrade takes place, the Bruins will play “home” games at other sites, including 14 games in the Los Angeles Sports Arena (about 12 miles from campus), four games in the Honda Center in Anaheim (45 miles), and an exhibition game in the so-called Inland Empire (about 60 miles from UCLA in the Riverside-San Bernardino area of southern California)…

…The office that advises the California Legislature voiced doubts about the level of economic benefit that would come from an NFL stadium in downtown Los Angeles, saying studies commissioned by the project’s developer “likely overstated” the financial boost it would deliver. Speaking to a state Senate panel reviewing the plan by developer Anschutz Entertainment Group, policy analyst Mark Whitaker warned that football stadiums typically have a minimal effect on a region’s economic growth, largely because they become a magnet for household entertainment dollars that were already being spent elsewhere in the area. However, Whitaker stated that, as there is no football stadium currently in Los Angeles, a new team would draw some new economic activity in the area.

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