Attendance, spending were up at Erie Events facilities. What led to boost?

Bigger events led to an increase in attendance and consumer spending at facilities managed by Erie Events last year. Attendance increased by 58,400 and spending was up by $8.2 million from 2022, according to information revealed this week in Erie Event's 2023 Community Report.

Erie Events, which manages four public assembly facility venues, saw the biggest increase in this year’s report come from UPMC Park. The downtown ballpark had an attendance increase of 58,937 people and an additional 35 event days.

“As we look back at 2023, I think what we are proudest of as an organization is return to activity," said Gus Pine, executive director of Erie Events. "2022 was definitely a recovery year, but 2023 we were back to in many of our facilities normal activity, and some of them above normal activity which I think is a great indication of improved tourism."

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UPMC Park takes the crown in 2023

UPMC Park, home to the Double-A Erie SeaWolves baseball team at 110 E. 10th St., brought in the largest crowd increase for Erie Events in 2023. Attendance was recorded at 251,467, which was a 15% increase from 2022 where attendance was recorded at 192,530. The stadium had 150 event days, 35 more days than 2022 which had 115 event days.

Consumers spent $35 million in and outside of UPMC Park in 2023, according to the community report.

The SeaWolves played a few extra games in September at UPMC Park since they made the playoffs and went on to win the Eastern League championship.

"They (the SeaWolves) had a great first half and a great second half," Pine said. "They put together a quality team throughout the year."

Renovations paying off for Warner Theatre

The Warner Theatre, at 811 State St., had a $36 million renovation in 2021 and, since then, have seen a return on that investment.

In 2023 the Warner had an attendance increase of 14,598 people compared to 2022 where attendance was recorded at 113,821. The theater had 160 event days, 26 more than 2022 which had 134 event days, showing a more significant bounce back after the pandemic.

Direct spending at the Warner Theatre was $22 million last year.

"I think what I'm proudest of in terms of the activity at the Warner last year is the diversity," Pine said. "We're pushing to do that this year. People's likes and dislikes are varied and we want to make sure we are providing entertainment that stretches the broad spectrum of people's likes and dislikes."

Some key highlights for the Warner Theatre in 2023 included the following:

• Diverse schedule included United States Field Band, MercyMe, Magic of Motown, "The Nutcracker" and more.

• Popular acts including Jerry Seinfeld, Bob Dylan, Jeff Dunham and others attracted six sold-out performances.

• One week in October logged 678 hours for Warner stagehands who worked six performances over six consecutive days.

• The Erie Philharmonic held 19 performances in 2023.

• Broadway in Erie presented 12 performances with shows including "Fiddler on the Roof," "Jesus Christ Superstar" and Irish sensation "Riverdance."

Erie Insurance Arena has eventful year

Although attendance was down 7,564 people and event days decreased by eight days, Erie Insurance Arena, at 809 French St., still made the best of 2023 with their events.

In 2022, Erie Insurance Arena recorded their attendance at 210,701 and had 92 event days.

In 2023, the report stated that $27 million was spent in and outside the arena.

Pine notes that the arena was the last of the organization's facilities to recover from the pandemic. In 2022, the arena did not see any large-scale concerts as that part of the industry was still recovering.

"This year it's been a total turnaround," Pine said. "We've budgeted for five concerts this year. We've already achieved that and we're about to announce our sixth for November. We may do up to 10 by the end of the year."

In 2023, Erie Events and Gannon University announced a new partnership providing the arena with an enhanced experience for suite-level patrons.

Highlights for Erie Insurance Arena in 2023 included:

• The Erie Otters had their first 30-plus win season and made the playoffs for the first time since 2016-17.

• Otters attendance was up 27% in the past five seasons.

• The arena hosted events including Harlem Globetrotters and WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event.

• "Disney on Ice" held six performances at the arena.

• AEW made its first appearance in Erie at the arena.

Bayfront Convention Center moves to more efficient business model

Pine said that business for the Bayfront Convention Center at 1 Sassafras Pier has moved to a more efficient model.

The Bayfront Convention Center, at 1 Sassafras Pier, had a record number of events with 215 in 2023. In 2022 the convention center only held 229 events.

In 2023, the report stated that consumer spending was $22 million at the convention center.

Attendance for the convention center was recorded at 114,942, which was down 7,562 people from 2022 where attendance was recorded at 122,504.

"We were able to book less smaller events," Pine said. "So you see the event count went down, but we increased the amount of larger events which are more in line with our mission to attract outside business and convention travelers. We had the largest revenue year ever. It was the first time we achieved $5 million at the convention center and we did that with less events. While some of the metrics are down, the overall activity was larger in general."

Some of the highlights from the convention center included:

• Hosted 97 convention trade/consumer shows, 67 banquets, 119 business meetings/corporate events and 46 other events.

• Included 61 additional trade/consumer shows compared to 2022.

• Business meetings increased by 43.

• Hosted groups including International Symposium, Western Pennsylvania United Methodist Church, New York State Teachers Conference and Pennsylvania Art Education Association.

Payments made to the City of Erie

In 2023, Erie Events recorded the following payments to the City of Erie:

• $142,126 in amusement tax.

• $109,128 in infrastructure payments.

• $92,156 in earned income taxes.

• $13,896 in parking taxes.

• $36,584 in real estate taxes.

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Contact Nicholas Sorensen at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Erie Events Community Report: Spending, attendance increased in 2023