Arena Commission

MAC Commission Meeting August 12, 2025 MAC Commission Meeting August 12, 2025, 11:30 a.m. Commission Members Present: Kirk Madsen, Mark Eckman, Marshall Redmond, and Rod James Commission Members Absent: N/A City Employees Present: Whitney Jacque Caesars Entertainment Members Present: Mark Vacanti, Amanda Kelley, Pete Shaner, Abby Williamson, Thomas Roberts, Janae Sternberg, Robin Gilmore 1. Call to Order at 11:32 a.m. Mark Eckman calls 2. Roll Call: Mark Eckman, Kirk Madsen, Rod James, Marshall Redmond 3. Approve Agenda August 12, 2025 – Motion to approve the minutes Kirk Madsen, seconded by Marshall Redmond motion passed. 4. Approve Minutes from February 18, 2025, Motion to approve Kirk Madsen seconded by Marshall Redmond motion passed. 5. New Business A. Presentation by Harrah’s Iowa Arena Management – Mid-America Center Operations Update - Mark Vacanti, MAC General Manager Welcome! Thank you to our Sales Team, Operations, and Food & Beverage. Also, I would like to welcome Shari McCormick, our new Sales Manager. July has been a slower month allowing us time to focus on special projects, maintenance and prepare and organize for upcoming events. We are also focused on sending offers out to artists for in-house promotions. Past Events May 2025 ❖ Nationwide Expos Spring Hill Show > New show that will also be back in January 2026 ❖ Ignite C.B. > Business conference back for second year ❖ TJ and AL Graduations > 4 graduations over a 3-week period in May/June Mark Eckman - Asks about graduation formats. Mark Vacanti - Replied that we try to keep them simple and match the others to reduce our expenses with setting up and teardown. ❖ Cyclone Tailgate Tour ❖ Lewis Central High School Graduation ❖ Wiese Enterprises ❖ Mystic Fest Summer > expanding from the Ballroom to the Exhibition Hall 1  MAC Commission Meeting August 12, 2025 June 2025 ❖ Bellevue University Graduation ❖ 2025 Iowa Association of Business and Industry Conference > ABI was a great event a real plus for our area ❖ Heartland Family Service – Strike a Chord 2025 ❖ Council Bluffs Chamber of Commerce Mid-Year Meeting ❖ USA Badminton U.S. Open 2025 > 2nd Year for worldwide draw and livestream. ❖ Council Bluffs CARES Prom 2025 Mark Eckman expresses his thanks for a job well done on the ABI event for going the extra mile and effort to make event great! July 2025 ❖ 2025 O Con > turnout was as expected ❖ 2025 ISEA Regional Summer Conference > Attendance was low for this event ❖ John Edwards Show August 2025 ❖ Spirit of Courage Celebrity Weekend – strong showing with 650 attendees ❖ Untied way of the Midlands Shine Bright VI Upcoming Events 2025 August 2025 ❖ Summer Academy 2025 – Professional Development Training ❖ CB Professional Learning Day ❖ Back to School Celebration and Employee Fair ❖ Quick Trip Annual Meeting September 2025 ❖ Lewis Township Fire and Rescue Banquet 2025 > Good event - 2nd Year ❖ Lord Of Hosts Church 2025 2  MAC Commission Meeting August 12, 2025 ❖ 2025 DERKA SMS User Conference ❖ Midwest Oncology Practice Society Meeting September 2025 > Hold several events during the year with us. ❖ 2025 Performance Foodservice Showcase > Outgrew Convention Center, Pete Shaner advancing this event and was able to convince them to use the arena this year ❖ Impact for Women Summit 2025 > 2nd time - Bi-Annual regular rotation. ❖ Heartland Developers Conference 2025 > Contracted at CHI but decided to cancel and hold the event at the Mid-America Center after a site tour with our team October 2025 ❖ Nuke-Con 2025 > Ballroom ❖ Mystic Fest Fall 2025 > Exhibit Hall ❖ Fall 2025 Amcon Distributing Company Meeting ❖ Callahan Craft Fair Fall 2025 > Past 20 years 2-3 times per year ❖ Anime NebrasKon 2025 > Signed through 2030 ❖ 2025 Rasmussen Mechanical Services Conference > Local and have booked in the past. ❖ Trans-Siberian Orchestra Rehearsal > 18 Days of rehearsal November 2025 ❖ 250th Marine Birthday Ball Omaha Det 1 Maintenance Co > 500 Attendee’s ❖ Trans-Siberian Orchestra Show ❖ The Jason Awards > Back in November ❖ Council Bluffs Kennel Club 2025 Event Attendance: We have had some smaller events trying other venues like the Warehouse, Grass Wagon and PACE. Some of those events are returning to the Mid-America Center. Also, many Dance and Cheer competitions this year had lower number of competitors. We are down 47,000 in attendance, no Hot Wheels this year so we lost approximately 15,000 attendees from that one weekend. They have decided to skip a year, they will be back in 2026. No IWCC MAGE this year. 3  MAC Commission Meeting August 12, 2025 Mid-America Center Event Attendance FY24 Attendance Jul-23 17,289 Aug-23 5,648 Sep-23 15,271 Oct-23 29,774 Nov-23 11,343 Dec-23 17,359 Jan-24 21,326 Feb-24 20,008 Mar-24 47,595 Apr-24 18,425 May-24 13,240 Jun-24 17,123 Total 234,401 FY Totals: July 2023 – June 2024 234,401 Total July 2024 – June 2025 186,898 Total Mid-America Center Event Attendance FY25 Attendance Jul-24 3,270 Aug-24 4,075 Sep-24 9,342 Oct-24 29,588 Nov-24 9,718 Dec-24 15,684 Jan-25 6,003 Feb-25 27,856 Mar-25 34,985 Apr-25 16,300 May-25 19,449 Jun-25 10,628 Total 186,898 Capital Update o Future Projects Finalizing FY 26 • Went to Kansas City to visit the Irwin Seating show room for arena seating, Phase One work to be finished by June 30, 2026 • Arena seating Phase 2 on the plan for a start FY2027 4  MAC Commission Meeting August 12, 2025 • Arena Floor Seats • Parking Lot Replacement: Mark E. > Have all surfaces been replaced? Mark V. It will be close after this phase. It depends on pricing to how much will be completed. • FY27 -Boiler Replacement > Being discussed, long range plan. • FY28 -Carpet replacement> Cost around $1M, carpet will be 14 years old at this point. SALES REVIEW –Amanda Kelly Amanda Discussed: Recap for Q2 2025 ➢ Ovation Dance • February 2027 • March 2028 • March 2029 ➢ The Jason Awards • November 2025 ➢ Spirit Of Courage (Jennie Ed) > Typically 1 yr at a time, but was able to get them to book for 2 years. • August 2027 • August 2028 ➢ Arbor Bank • February 2026 moved to January ➢ Spotlight Dance • April 2026 • April 2027 • April 2028 • April 2029 ➢ Nationwide Home Show • January 2026 ➢ AIM Institute • September 2025 ➢ 250th Marine Birthday Ball • November 2025 ➢ Iowa Gideons State Convention • September 2026 ➢ Center for Improvement in Healthcare Quality > CIHQ Booked by Corporate In-Market Sales Manager 5  MAC Commission Meeting August 12, 2025 • October 2026 ➢ Connections Area Agency on Aging • November 2025 ➢ NAU Country Insurance > Back • End of March-beginning of April 2026 Sales Projection On the Radar…. ❖ AEA Purchasing School Spirit Show ❖ US National Baton Twirling Championship > New Event A guest was at Bellevue Graduation and was so impressed with our Arena/Ex Hall configuration she called to book a Baton/Twirling Competition! Mark Eckman would like CVB to assist. Hopefully this will be on a rotation. ❖ Iowa County Records Summer School ❖ Midwest Parafest > Paranormal Trade Show May 2026 Rebooking… ❖ 168th Infantry Dine Out ❖ Mystic Fest ❖ CheerSport ❖ Beautillion> Last booking was in 2020 scholarship and dance for men headed to college ❖ Bellevue University Graduation Shari McCormick has been getting a lot of the Trade Show offers, it seems like they are making a comeback! FINANCIAL REVIEW – Janae Sternberg, Caesars VP Finance June 2025 YE 6  MAC Commission Meeting August 12, 2025 July 2025 Mid America Center Financial Comparison Actuals Budget Variance Actuals Actuals 1 month ended 7/31/2025 7/31/2025 7/31/2024 7/31/2023 Net Income 90,228 256,155 (165,927) 60,139 251,641 Operating Expense (293,605) (369,177) 75,572 (259,889) (288,186) Actual (Loss)/Income (203,377) (113,022) (90,355) (199,750) (36,545) Base Fee - - (16,903) Total Loss (203,377) (113,022) (90,355) (199,750) (53,448) MARKETING REVIEW Marketing/Entertainment – Abby Williamson Social Media Performance ✓ Facebook impressions are higher than all other platforms as usual. Be sure to follow our social media pages & share posts! Sharing is the best way to ensure more people see our events & attend! • Facebook – Mid-America Center • Twitter – @BackAtTheMac • Instagram – MidAmerica center Facebook consistently has more clicks! We are keeping people engaged. 7  MAC Commission Meeting August 12, 2025 Our high point was higher than last quarter! Please share our posts on social media. All referrals would be greatly appreciated! 8  MAC Commission Meeting August 12, 2025 th k t Up t ✓ MAC Fall Special Edition of the Omaha Dispatch to release September 16th Including all Events ✓ 1st Annual MAC Health & Fitness Expo Announcement! > In-house Marketing Stephanie Doty our sponsorship Manager is booking vendors for the fair. Fully produced in-house. Working on influencers as well as full-time traditional campaign. ✓ Marshall Redmond - Do you advertise wedding digital and physical campaign and geofencing to look at businesses? Yes, we will be this engagement season. Our goal is to book 10 weddings in 2026. ✓ Multiple events announced & going on sale over the next 3 months, Keep an eye on our social media pages for those announcements & ticket details! ✓ Christmas in July Promo, wedding promo’s in December BANQUETS/CONCESSIONS REVIEW – Pete Shaner, Banquets Manager Notable Events ✓ Ignite CB ✓ Army National Guard ✓ Heartland Family Services ✓ Iowa Association of Business and Industry (ABI) ✓ USA Badminton Catering ✓ Jennie Edmundson> 650 Three courses plated, served in less than 20 minutes ✓ Several New Hire additions 4 On -Call Banquets ✓ Retirement of Diana Wise> Tera Little taking Diana’s role and responsibilities. ✓ One cook back from LOA Event Call Out’s ✓ TJ AL Graduations ✓ Iowa State Tailgate Tour ✓ Mystic Fest ✓ Bellevue University ✓ USA Badminton ✓ O-Comic Con F&B Promos: ✓ Hot Dogs > Discounted ✓ Souvenir Cup ▪ Return visits to the concessions stand ▪ Refills ✓ Brookelyn, Marketing Specialist, is doing a great job promoting menus ✓ Additional Monitors ✓ Promos, Ads, Inviting Reels B. Report -Council Bluffs Convention & Visitors Bureau 9  MAC Commission Meeting August 12, 2025 Mark Eckman reviewed the monthly report that was given out at the beginning of the meeting. 6. Set date for next meeting Next meeting scheduled for Tuesday, Tuesday November 18, 2025, 11:30 AM 7. Adjournment Mark Eckman asked for a motion for adjournment, Rod James motioned, Marshall Redmond 2nd the motion passed. Meeting adjourned at 12:08 PM 10