Balla says Arena will near $3 million in ticket sales in 2021

With four events scheduled in July, The Arena in Corbin is slated for another busy month.

Arena Director Kristi Balla, who was hired to manage the facility in August 2016, recently came to the weekly meeting of the Corbin Rotary Club to talk about how business has grown at the venue in those five years.

“I did this meeting once before shortly after I was hired, so I thought I would talk about what happened then and what is happening now,” Balla said.

“I can tell you that I had no idea what a roller coaster it would be,” Balla said.

Balla said when she walked into the building in 2016 it was empty and even emptier when she reached her office.

“The first thing I saw was hospital yellow walls from the 70s with no pictures,” Balla said of the office. “There was just a big, brown desk and they had where your back was sitting to the door.”

Two things that Balla said she did find was a computer with financial information and a stack of bills.

They were equally depressing as there was $40,000 in The Arena bank account.

“I sat back in my chair and said, ‘What the hell have I got myself into?” Balla said.

Balla said at the time the Arena was viewed as a big empty building with a huge price tag hanging over the city.

“I decided that I was going to treat it as if I was starting my own business with a turnaround time of three years,” Balla said adding that she didn’t paying any of the bills or having any money to book shows.

“I didn’t want to start my journey that way,” Balla said.

Instead, Balla said she got out a piece of paper, wrote the names of three musical acts that she was sure would pack the place and taped it to the wall as a goal.

On the list were:

• Lynyrd Skynyrd
• Charlie Daniels Band
• Hank Williams, Jr.

“A couple of weeks later, Lynyrd Skynyrd was the first act I contacted as a promoter,” Balla said adding that she didn’t have the money it would take to bring such a concert to Corbin, but she had connections in the music industry and was ready and willing to use them to benefit Corbin and The Arena.

Less than a year later, in April 2017, the classic rock band took the stage in Corbin to a sold out crowd.

“It sold out in a week after going on sale,” Balla said adding that Charlie Daniels and Hank Williams, Jr. have also played the venue to packed crowds within two years.

Balla said she keeps an updated list of the top three acts she would like to bring to The Arena, but declined to say who currently occupies it. 

In addition, Balla has brought WWE Wrestling, Rodney Carrington, monster trucks, bull riding, Flo-Rida, Salt–N–Peppa, Kane Brown, Dwight Yokum, Trace Adkins, and Rodney Carrington, among others.

July events include:

• Clint Black on July 16
• 3 Doors Down on July 18
• Harlem Globetrotters on July 21
• ZZ Top on July 25 

Balla said while the COVID–19 pandemic forced a number of cancellations and rescheduling, as soon as she was able, she began holding concerts and events with limited seating capacity to meeting COVID–19 restrictions.

Balla said in a recent report to the Corbin City Commission she informed the commissioners that since Jan. 1, even with limited seating, the Arena has hosted 19 events, filling 28 days.

Those events sold 33,764 tickets. An additional 10,000 people attended rental events at the facility.

“Over 80 percent of our ticket purchasers come from outside the area,” Balla said noting that patrons have come from 14 different states to attend events.

“I talked to some people who said they had flown from Chicago to attend an event in Corbin because the just really wanted to attend a show,” Balla said.

“You wouldn’t believe the outreach,” Balla said of how far people are traveling.

During the remainder of the year, The Arena is scheduled to host 25 events.

Balla said within four weeks of the last round of announcements that included: ZZ Top, Foreigner, 3 Doors Down and Jeff Foxworthy, The Arena Box Office has sold more than 9,000 tickets grossing almost $600,000.

Balla said in the year prior to her arriving, The Arena hosted 13 events.

“They were mostly local,” Balla said.

“For 2021, we have 45 events on the calendar, and we will likely hit around $3 million in gross ticket sales,” Balla said.

“We are where I want to be and we have a really bright future,” Balla said. “It is just going to get better and better.”