No surprise...Tulsa state fair attendance

[inteller]

Down again.  Fair hasn't made money since the last year of Bell's.  I loved the way they tried to spin it though...ride coupons sales were up.....WELL YES when you charge parents to ride just to provide their toddler's safety ticket sales are going to be up.....I guess they have to make everyone pay since the comission that Murphy bros pays went up 14%....man that is a steep palm greasing to be rid of bells[}:)]

So let me get the math straight....to prevent the fair from going in the hole, charge your ride providers MORE to make up the difference.

Sounds like desperate measures.

I heard that the food sales were really off.  No doubt since the parents had to pay money to ride with their small kids they couldn't afford food afterwards.

[kimmyco]

What you can get for $70 at the Tulsa State Fair 2008:

3 rides with your child
2 snowcones
1 corndog
1 $4 Coke!!!!!
2 games of balloon/darts
6 Carnies staring at you as if YOU are the giant turkey leg

[RecycleMichael]

This was the part of the story that was most telling...from the Tulsa World...

"year's estimated attendance was 915,000, down less than 1 percent from last year's estimated attendance of 987,057, Andrus said.

Andrus said Friday that previous Tulsa State Fair attendance figures have always been estimates but that he did not know how those estimates were determined.

This year, Andrus said, he calculated attendance by adding various ticket sales, from daily gate admissions to Mega Ride passes.

But he acknowledged that the process is imprecise because some types of tickets, such as Mega Ride passes, allow for unlimited access to the fair.

"This is not a scientific formula," he said, "but one where you make the best estimate in all categories, and there are some generalizations made. But that leads you to what I consider the best, conservative estimate, which is my goal."

The Tulsa State Fair has no system to track attendance at entrances, nor does it plan to put one in place, Andrus said."

I like how the past Fairgrounds folks would estimate 987,057. That seems to be a very precise number to estimate.

If every year they just "estimate" the attendance...how is this a story?

[RecycleMichael]

I took my family to the fair this year on the second Friday night. The crowds did seem smaller than year's past.

We had four admissions, shared one corn dog, a funnel cake, cotton candy, a turkey leg, ice cream, a bag of baby donuts, and kettle corn. My daughter rode six of the kiddie rides, and my wife and kids rode the big swing thing twice. My son won prizes flipping frogs and throwing ping pong balls, but failed to win pitching dimes and footballs.

We spent an hour and a half in the children's area building wooden towers and watching the magician. Food was cheaper there and they had free samples of ice cream. We went into most of the buildings, got lots of propaganda about everything from home improvements to casinos and some cool giveaway toys.

We also saw about a hundred people we knew and enjoyed talking politics and parenting.

We spent about five hours and just under 90 dollars for a family of four. It worked out to under five dollars an hour per person.

[cannon_fodder]

quote:Expo Square officials declared the 2008 Tulsa State Fair a success Friday

Drop in attendance - check
Drop in revenue - check
$700,000 loss - check

A blazing success for sure!

Revenue over $7mil nets a $700K loss.  Really?  For every dollar spent the county kicks in 10 cents. That's just horrible.

It appears to me the County takes all the risk in contracting to vendors.  No way vendors would keep returning if they lost money 8 out of 10 years.  Thus, how ever it is structured, in essence we are subsidizing the profits of the vendors to the tune of about $250,000 a year.

It is also worth noting that since getting rid of bells we have posted the #1 and (probably) #2 largest losses from the fair in addition to losing the rent revenue.  Brilliant.

What a booming success.   How incompetent do you have to be to post the second largest loss on an event ever and call it a success?  In some ways, yes, it went very well.  Perhaps we need officials with a little bit loftier goals.

Don't worry though.  Next year they will make money.  

*No, the fair should not be about making money as a primary goal.  But it should be a consideration.  I would like to see a little more acknowledgment of our subsidizing the attraction of crowds for Murphy Brothers to fleece.

[Wrinkle]

It's a setup for next year when City Sales Taxes apply.

Saw a story on KOTV Ch 6 last week about how Tulsa Police officers were in training beside County Sheriff's deputies during the fair since TPD will be taking over security next year.

.....I said, "What!!!???".

That's BS, looks like someone's pushing an agenda here. TPD is in no way responsible for security at the fair, now, next year or ever.

For that matter, TPD isn't responsible for security at BOK either, but we're paying for it, at least now. That should also change.

Security is an event expense, charged to the event organizers directly. If they wish to contract with TPD, or off-duty officers, the Sheriff's office or Knight Rider, all they gotta do is call, negotiate a price and it's done.

[Jonette]

The thing I have not seen mentioned here is the fact that some people did not attend the fair because of the economy.


This is the reason my kids and I did not attend. I am not spending money on luxury entertaining any longer.

The bleeding has stopped!!


I am watching every dime and I am sure I am not the only one. Prices have increased in every direction in the past year. From Gas for the car, utilities, groceries, interest rates on everything financed. No wonder people didn't rush to throw a hundred bucks away at the fair. They have to use that hundred bucks to fill up their gas tanks to get to work.

[!]

[inteller]

quote:Originally posted by Wrinkle

It's a setup for next year when City Sales Taxes apply.

i dont follow, the city didnt annex the fairgrounds....so no sales taxes apply.

[RecycleMichael]

quote:Originally posted by Wrinkle
Security is an event expense, charged to the event organizers directly. If they wish to contract with TPD, or off-duty officers, the Sheriff's office or Knight Rider, all they gotta do is call, negotiate a price and it's done.

Yes. I have been involved with a few festivals around here. We have spent thousands and thousands of dollars on off-duty Tulsa Police officers for our security.

It is an expense that we expect and budget for.

[sgrizzle]

I'm waiting for a certain county commissioner to be gone before I go to the fair. I used to go 2-3 times a year.

[Wrinkle]

quote:Originally posted by inteller

quote:Originally posted by Wrinkle

It's a setup for next year when City Sales Taxes apply.

i dont follow, the city didnt annex the fairgrounds....so no sales taxes apply.

As I recall, we did. Just that it doesn't take effect until Jan 1, 2009, and, I think, omits a certain horse show for it's three year run, iirc.

[tim huntzinger]

[patric]

Great shot of some really poor lighting fixtures.
At least one company made money off of the fair [)]

[inteller]

quote:Originally posted by patric

Great shot of some really poor lighting fixtures.
At least one company made money off of the fair [)]

yeah, those lights look really white trash....oh wait.