Colorado State Fair in Pueblo (Denver, Colorado Springs: professionals, move to, activity)

[Josseppie]

Originally Posted by bluescreen73

Remodeled or not, the off-season revenue potential of the fairgrounds site will always be limited by its location. As Bruce Hornsby once said, that's just the way it is...

As far as Denver "wanting the fair," I couldn't care less if the fair were held in Pueblo, Denver, Nucla, or Rangely - as long as it doesn't lose money.

With TABOR in place every last stinkin' penny of the state's revenue is important, and subsidizing the fair, to me, is way down the list of priorities.

Then lets wait and see what the new fair manager comes up with for the off season since the fair has proven not only does it make money during the fair but the numbers keep improving. Honestly if we get the right manager who understands this I think the fair grounds is a underutilized gem for the city and state.

[Josseppie]

A few people have talked about how it would have more attendance in Denver so when I came across this I thought I would post it:

Some have suggested that moving the fair out of Pueblo -- potentially to the National Western Stock Show facility-- would help. But Wiseman doesn't agree. He says there's more competition for entertainment dollars in the Denver metro area, and the average daily attendance at the stock show is lower than the fair.

- See more at: https://www.cpr.org/news/story/what-....VAcTEt8r.dpuf

[Hschlick84]

Originally Posted by Josseppie

A few people have talked about how it would have more attendance in Denver so when I came across this I thought I would post it:

Some have suggested that moving the fair out of Pueblo -- potentially to the National Western Stock Show facility-- would help. But Wiseman doesn't agree. He says there's more competition for entertainment dollars in the Denver metro area, and the average daily attendance at the stock show is lower than the fair.

- See more at: https://www.cpr.org/news/story/what-....VAcTEt8r.dpuf

That's a bunch of hogwash. If the Arizona state fair in Phoenix (bigger city than Denver) can attract 1.1 million to the state fair, then the state fair in Denver can be just as comparable.

[Josseppie]

Originally Posted by Hschlick84

That's a bunch of hogwash. If the Arizona state fair in Phoenix (bigger city than Denver) can attract 1.1 million to the state fair, then the state fair in Denver can be just as comparable.

That is just speculation based on no facts. What I posted was facts on how the stock show currently does in Denver.

How about moving the national western stock show to Pueblo. That should be enough to make the fair profitable on the off season. They could combine it with our wild Wild West fest in May with the Professioal BullRiders. Would be fun.

[Hschlick84]

Originally Posted by Josseppie

That is just speculation based on no facts. What I posted was facts on how the stock show currently does in Denver.

How about moving the national western stock show to Pueblo. That should be enough to make the fair profitable on the off season. They could combine it with our wild Wild West fest in May with the Professioal BullRiders. Would be fun.

It's speculation, but could happen who knows. I love the stock show, went to it in January 2012. Hope to go again next January.

[eatsDEN]

Originally Posted by Josseppie

He has a meeting but he is not the one who comes up with the numbers. He reports them its the auditors who come up with the numbers.

to me, it seems like he is trying to say that the numbers presented in the independent auditors reports are not representative of actual results... is how I read the statements... which is really concerning to me as a taxpayer, I mean, the financial position of a State program needs to be understood for what it is based upon Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) -- not what the administrators of the program think they should be calculated as...

but be the judge for yourself of some of the statements in the local press...

Jeff Stalter, director of budget and business operations for the Fair, gave an overall financial breakdown of the Fair and his recommendations to help fix the problem to the Fair’s board of commissioners.

Stalter said although some media outlets have reported a multimillion dollar deficit, it’s really closer to $116,000.

Fair General Manager Chris Wiseman said $714,909 in depreciation has to be subtracted for the actual deficit total. “The Fair saw a cash loss of $116,238 before depreciation,” Wiseman said.

http://www.chieftain.com/mobile/2236...ficit-reported

"They're talking about all our revenue that we get in from concerts and carnivals and things like that. What it didn't take into account, is all the revenue that we do get from state entities as well," Chris Wiseman, General Manager of the Colorado State Fair said. ...

"I can assure you that the cash loss from the fair last year was more like $384,000 from the annual operation," Wiseman said. ...

Colorado State Fair falls behind in 2014 - KOAA.com | Continuous News | Colorado Springs and Pueblo



Sure, he calls the loss he wants to present out as the "cash loss" - which is technically correct; yet that particular framing or presentation leaves much out of the presentation of the program's position/standing, and is not a distinction easily understood by some less sophisticated/technically educated readers, IMHO of course

[wong21fr]

Originally Posted by Josseppie

That is just speculation based on no facts. What I posted was facts on how the stock show currently does in Denver.

Which is quite true. Of course, the Fair is held over Labor Day weekend when the fat slobs come out for a bit of low-cost entertainment while the Stock Show has to hold it's own in the cold of winter and during the NFL playoffs. Not to mention the height of the NBA and NHL season.

It's pretty pathetic that the Fair can only get a little over 500K in 11 days while the 'ol Taste of Colorado brings in that number in four days. Yeesh. Though this may be a better comparison as it seems that the Taste is more like the Fair than the Fair is like the Stock Show. Plus they are both summer events.

How about moving the national western stock show to Pueblo. That should be enough to make the fair profitable on the off season. They could combine it with our wild Wild West fest in May with the Professioal BullRiders. Would be fun.

That could be done if Pueblo is willing to offer more then the $700M that Denver is offering up. Aurora tried to lowball it for their fantasy Stock Show/Gaylord complex and look where it got them. You've got to pony up if you want to be a big boy instead of begging for scraps.

[Josseppie]

Originally Posted by eatsDEN

to me, it seems like he is trying to say that the numbers presented in the independent auditors reports are not representative of actual results... is how I read the statements... which is really concerning to me as a taxpayer, I mean, the financial position of a State program needs to be understood for what it is based upon Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) -- not what the administrators of the program think they should be calculated as...

but be the judge for yourself of some of the statements in the local press...



http://www.chieftain.com/mobile/2236...ficit-reported






Colorado State Fair falls behind in 2014 - KOAA.com | Continuous News | Colorado Springs and Pueblo



Sure, he calls the loss he wants to present out as the "cash loss" - which is technically correct; yet that particular framing or presentation leaves much out of the presentation of the program's position/standing, and is not a distinction easily understood by some less sophisticated/technically educated readers, IMHO of course

What is going is common in private and public. The auditors job is just to give the numbers without any editorial comment, which they did. Then its the job of the state fair manager to look at the numbers and explain them which he did and as you pointed out correctly. I mean while depreciation is a number the auditors had to come up with its not something that needs to be supported by the tax payer why the cash loss of $116,238 is the most important number and that is what the manager was talking about. Then its his job to figure out where the loss comes from which he did, the off season. This is what the fair and the stock show in Denver have in common. Both shows break even and even make a few dollars its the off season and the ability to remodel that is the problem. You would think it would not be in Denver due to its size but there is a lot more event centers too fighting for the entertainment dollars where in Pueblo the state fair events center is the only large one and only one of two south of Denver in the state. So now the new fair manager needs to figure out what can be done in the off season to cause them to break even or make a few dollars. Does not have to be a lot just some events that bring in outside money but in order to do that they might have to come up with a plan and work with the city, county and state to update the fair grounds to make it appealing to different shows. That would be a win win for everyone because technically the grounds is own by the state so if it makes money the state makes money and being in Pueblo would help the local economy.

[Josseppie]

Originally Posted by wong21fr

That could be done if Pueblo is willing to offer more then the $700M that Denver is offering up. Aurora tried to lowball it for their fantasy Stock Show/Gaylord complex and look where it got them. You've got to pony up if you want to be a big boy instead of begging for scraps.

Pueblo would not need that much because our venues would not need as much money to update it. How much would it take? No one knows unless a study would be done.

[Snikt]

Biggest state fairs:

Texas: Held in Dallas
Arizona: Held in Phoenix
Indiana: Held in Indianapolis
Ohio: Held in Columbus

Those all make sense

Don't think you can compare it to the stock show, I personally could care less about the stock show, but I also don't go to the state fair because it's 2 hours away in a kinda blah city to visit