Fishers City event center projects $6.4M gross income for 2026; managers cite schedule shifts and utility costs

Event center managers told the Fishers City Council that the venue’s 2026 operating forecast calls for roughly $6.4 million in gross income and a series of schedule and staffing changes that together will shape next year’s revenue and expenses.

The forecast matters because the event center must contribute to city debt-service and municipal revenues. Staff said the venue will continue to remit a $3 facility fee on every ticket sold that is paid to the city and that the center’s operations are expected to contribute about $1 million toward annual debt-service obligations.

Event Center Manager (staff member) said the change in next year’s revenue mix stems largely from a shift in tenants and touring shows. “We got a couple, leads can show contingent shows out there that are part of that number,” the manager said, adding that some tenant games in 2025 were concentrated because the venue opened late in 2024 and that 2026 will replace several tenant dates with touring concerts or private events that include per-event rents and stage-hand costs.

Staff reported the venue hosted several large events this year — including Rick Springfield and a multi-show comedy engagement that set a single-day ticket-sales record — and credited those shows with higher-than-expected concessions and parking revenue on certain dates. “The average ticket was a $122 an hour sold out instantly. So major major financial win there,” the manager said.

The budget assumes a modest drop in attendance for some touring shows (staff used a 73% attendance forecast for larger conferences) and a small overall reduction in ancillary streams compared with 2025. Food-and-beverage (F&B) has been a key revenue source: staff said the venue is trending toward about $3.8 million in rolling 12-month F&B revenue and projected that F&B profitability will rise from about 40% to 45% in 2026.

Staff outlined several expense drivers for 2026: an added event manager to cover increased event load, annual software licensing fees (noted as an annual license of about $136,000), and a higher repairs-and-maintenance allowance in the venue’s second year of operation. Utilities remain a persistent cost pressure; staff said HVAC balancing issues have limited their ability to turn systems fully off during slow periods.

Merchandise and parking remain variable lines: merchandise revenue can spike for outlier shows; parking produced some of the venue’s highest single-show revenue totals for this year’s largest events. Staff also said many private events generate substantial revenue that does not appear on public marquees but materially contributes to the facility’s bottom line.

Council members asked about regional competition and tracking attendance. Staff said a nearby facility in Noblesville had not produced a measurable negative impact so far and noted the venue uses ticket-sales data rather than cellphone pings to estimate origin patterns and attendance.

Staff said they collect post-event survey data on ingress, wayfinding, security and F&B and will share those results in a future meeting. “We send out a survey after all the ticketed events and it grades it in all these buckets,” Event Center Manager (staff member) said, offering to provide the findings at the next meeting.

Requests for additional detail on specific touring-show contracts, exact attendance tallies by event and the monthly remittance schedule for the $3 facility fee were discussed and described as items staff can provide in follow-up reports.