Ford Park, Beaumont, Texas
Spectra by Comcast Spectacor (Spectra) has won the contract to provide venue management, food services & hospitality and corporate partnerships at Ford Park, Beaumont, Texas. The deal with Ford Park is the latest example of Spectra's comprehensive service bundle strategy. SMG has operated the facility since it opened in 2003.
On Monday, Oct. 3, Jefferson County Commissioners made the announcement that Spectra secured the contract after a lengthy Request For Proposal (RFP) process for the $75-million entertainment complex was completed.
Spectra will operate the entire Ford Park Entertainment Complex, which houses the 8,500-seat Ford Arena; 14,000-seat Ford Pavilion; Ford Fields, which consists of 12 youth softball and baseball fields; Ford Exhibit Hall, which has 48,000 sq. ft. of exhibit space and Ford Midway. The takeover date is slated for April 1, 2017. The contract is still in negotiations; Spectra is proposing a five-year initial run with a five-year option.
"SMG's contract was due to expire March 30, 2017, and per normal county procedure, we started the RFP process and solicited bids from management companies interested in running the facilities," said Jefferson County purchasing agent Debroah Syphrett-Clark. "SMG and Spectra were the only two companies that submitted proposals."
"The proposals went to a review committee to examine," said Syphrett-Clark. "Then we did workshops where the companies got to present their ideas to the commissioners' court. Finally, we asked for 'best and final' offers, which were presented to the commissioners' court again and they made their decision. A contract has not been executed yet; we are going into contract negotiation with Spectra and it will be signed, sealed and delivered if we can agree on contract terms with Spectra. If not, we would go to the next proposer."
"The court liked Spectra's new ideas for Ford Park," said Syphrett-Clark. "We hope it will bring more money into Ford Park, which will bring more money to the county. The more revenue, the better the savings to the county. We're also hoping that Spectra brings more content to Ford Park."
"We were just awarded this on Monday from the Jefferson County Commission," said Peter Zingoni, director of business development, Spectra. "Right now it's just a vote to accept our proposal. We're starting exclusive negotiations immediately."
"This is a unique situation because of the amount of time we have in front of us before the hand-over," said Zingoni. "This gives us time to hire the right staff and make sure the transition is as seamless as possible. When we hit the ground, we will hit the ground running April 1."
Staffing at Ford Park is still undetermined. "Our commitment is to keep as much of the staff as possible and give them the resources and support to let them grow professionally," he said. "We also plan to increase event activity, increase marketing efforts and improve the operation as much as we can."
Spectra, the unit of Comcast Spectacor that is engaged in the live event experience, provides venue management, food services and hospitality and ticketing and fan engagement services to stadiums, arenas, convention centers and performing arts centers. The preferred component of the Spectra approach is to sign 'bundled contracts' that have incentives built in if a venue uses more than one or all of its services.
Zingoni said that Spectra was excited that their bundled concept was going to be deployed in a new venue. "We're not just providing venue management at Ford Park," he said. "We're also bringing in our food and beverage operation, taking over corporate partnerships which includes sponsorships and advertising, and there's the potential down the road to take over ticketing as well." Ford Field currently uses Ticketmaster as their ticketing company. "One of the challenges is the current ticketing deal, but when we take over, we're going to look at when that contract expires and see if there's an opportunity for us."
Zingoni pointed out that seven of Spectra's bundled clients this year recorded their best fiscal year ever. These clients are Polk County, Iowa; Augusta (Ga.)-Richmond Coliseum Authority; the City of Cincinnati, Ohio; Cumberland County, N.C.; the City of Lowell, Mass; Palm Beach (Fla.) County and the City of Owensboro, Ky.
Tom McDonnell, director of business development, Spectra, said that Spectra's plan for Ford Park includes increasing event activity, increasing revenue streams, integrating multiple divisions and increasing food and beverage sales. "Ultimately, we hope to increase top-line revenue sales while minimizing costs."
"We've had tremendous success at similar-sized venues across the U.S," said Zingoni. "We were in the very same situation at Ford Idaho Center in Nampa. It is a multipurpose complex with an arena, an amphitheater and a horse arena. We came in with the same philosophy we're bringing to Ford Park. We got attendance up, which gets sponsorship up and food and beverage per caps up. After a year of operation, we've saved the Idaho taxpayers $500,000. The bottom line speaks for itself."
"We'll do the same thing at Ford Park. We're going to engage the community more, update the website and increase marketing. Once people are in the building, we'll sell them loaded ticket packages."
Spectra is going to make a substantial capital investment into the facility. "We're committed to revamping the food and beverage operation," said Zingoni. "We're going to improve the concession stands, change point-of-sale systems and evaluate where the best return on our investment will go."
Spectra is also expecting Jefferson County to bring improvement funds to the facility. "There are definitely some updates that are going to be needed and Spectra and the county will start a conversation to address improvements shortly," said McDonnell.
Spectra has been on a roll in Texas. Recently signed contracts include Richard M. Borchard Regional Fairgrounds, Robstown; Ortiz Center, Corpus Christi and MPEC in Wichita Falls. "We're really expanding our footprint in Texas," said McDonnell.
Comcast Spectacor has three core businesses. They are the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League, Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia and Spectra.
Interviewed for this story: Debroah Syphrett-Clark, (409) 835-8599; Peter Zingoni and Tom McDonnell, (215) 389-9477