Under a management deal that seems to be benefiting both facilities, Ohio State will continue to run both Schottenstein Center and Nationwide Arena, home of the Columbus Blue Jackets (NHL).
It is an odd situation, to be sure, from top to bottom. First, the arena is actually owned by Nationwide Insurance; the Blue Jackets hold the lease and had contracted SMG to run the arena. That didn’t end up as a financially successful proposition, with the team losing millions on operations, so Ohio State was brought in to manage things. Second, a rule of thumb is very few metro areas are capable of supporting two major arenas, but so far things are working out in Columbus, albeit with one manager, so promoters are not capable of playing one arena manager against another.
By having centralized management, Ohio State managed to turn a million-dollar profit on Schottenstein Center operations. The Blue Jackets aren’t saying how much money was saved, but apparently it was successful enough for the team to want to extend the management deal for another year.
RELATED STORIES: Ohio State: No reason for public release of arena-management details
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