Losses at the NASCAR Hall of Famedeclined 14% over the past year but still totaled more than $1 million, according to newly released financial reports from the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority. The $195 million publicly funded hall of fame finished with a deficit of $1.4 million in the fiscal year that ended June 30, compared with $1.6 million in 2013. The hall of fame opened in May 2010 and has lost money from the start. Attendance never reached the projections made before the stock-car racing museum opened and has failed several times since to reach revised targets. Tom Murray, visitors authority CEO, and Winston Kelley, executive director of the hall of fame, said in an interview Wednesday they are pleased with the progress of the NASCAR hall. Attendance, they said, has stabilized. Between July 2013 and June 2014, a total of 169,724 people visited the hall of fame, the visitors authority said. Those figures are for paid admissions only. The previous year, 178,838 people visited, but the difference of 7,100 is attributed to private events staged during the 2012 Democratic National Convention, which was included in fiscal 2013 (July 2012-June 2013).
Murray said talks are underway to revamp terms with the banks and NASCAR. ‘With our partners, we’ve had ongoing conversations. We don’t have any results with that, but they’ve been very amicable. There will be a future change in our structure of that some day.’ Reworking the loans and the deferred royalties is a priority, but Murray said there is no deadline for negotiating revised agreements. Both executives touted the changes to how the hall of fame is run internally as well as private rentals and other events for broadening the NASCAR museum as more than just a tourist attraction. Almost every convention hosts a party or reception at the hall of fame, Murray said.(Charlotte Business Journal)
AND Faced with continuing financial losses at the NASCAR Hall of Fame, the city of Charlotte has begun negotiating with Wells Fargo and Bank of America about forgiving a $19 million loan used to build the racing museum. The loan – which has grown to $21 million with interest – was supposed to be paid from the sale of sponsorships and commemorative brick sales, but revenue from those two sources has fallen far short of what’s needed. In addition, the hall is struggling to meet other obligations, including royalties owed to NASCAR on the sale of tickets, merchandise and food and beverages. The hall is also repaying the city for its share of a $32 million loan that was added to the hall in the midst of construction in 2008.(Charlotte Observer)(11-8-2014)
