WRAL’s Cullen Browder brings news that some publicly run venues in N.C. are losing money. I have a few problems with this story:
1. Some privately-run venues are also losing money. In fact, many businesses are losing money now. How is this news?
2. Making a profit isn’t the point of public venues. Public venues are designed to put “heads in beds.” They are designed to generate revenue from the tourists who visit because the venue drew them here.
3. Said tourists spend lots of money on restaurants and hotels while they’re here.
4. Hotel and meal taxes from these tourists go to pay for the public venue.
See how it works? If venues can fund themselves through ticket sales, all the better. But that’s really just gravy. Public venues really fund themselves through the business they generate. For WRAL to miss this important point is quite mind-boggling.