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Rocky Mount Event Center reports rising tournaments, catering and concession revenues; managers seek to capture more visitor spending
Summary
Event Center managers told the meeting the facility’s sports tournaments and catering events brought consistent weekend traffic, recorded larger concession and catering receipts in late 2024, and are pursuing ways to increase local visitor spending and year‑round use.
David (Event Center general manager) and staff presented a review of the Rocky Mount Event Center’s calendar, occupancy and economic impacts, saying sports tournaments provide a steady weekend core and that catering and concessions are growing revenue lines.
Managers said 2022 and 2023 together showed strong traffic: 2022 had 19 tournaments and 222 catering events, with an estimated economic impact of roughly $12 million; 2023, the first full calendar after COVID restrictions eased, recorded about 24 tournaments and 226 catering events. The presenters described their attendance accounting as ticket‑based (the facility tracks paid admissions through its ticketing system) and said their minimum confirmed attendance figure for one year was 78,026 paid admissions.
Staff emphasized concessions performance as an indicator of captured visitor spending: recent back‑to‑back weekend totals included roughly $40,000 and $47,000 in concessions sales. In December the center ran 16 events that together generated about $80,000 in catering revenue, the manager said; the center also received direct catering requests from outside firms following that performance.
Presenters described diversification beyond youth sports — including conferences, graduations, community entertainment nights and adaptive sports events (a wheelchair‑basketball tournament for veterans) — and said the facility’s location near I‑95 and proximity to hotels helps tournament organizers and families travel in and stay overnight. They said most tournaments pay rent and that the center had not relied on bid subsidies to attract events.
Event staff also described operational constraints: a small core staff who rotate between sales, event execution and weekend operations; parking and traffic control for simultaneous events; and the need to improve the local visitor experience to keep dollars in Rocky Mount rather than outside restaurants or retailers. Managers said they will continue to refine concessions, add programming and coordinate with parks and recreation and local hotels to increase local economic capture.
The presentation credited a longtime sports‑facility company partner (Todd, senior vice president) and named on‑site staff: Hallie Green (catering and sales conventions manager) and Keora Taylor (event sales manager), who support tournaments, catering operations and conventions sales.
