Today, Saskatoon City Council decided to proceed with the procurement of a private partner to operate Saskatoon’s new arena and updated convention centre if the downtown entertainment district project goes forward.

The facilities would be owned by the City but operated by a private partner – a win for the community and a move that is consistent with key trends in facilities management:

1. More cities are moving to private, contacted management of facilities. With a move to private management, there is more accountability, ability to meet workforce needs, and a focus on key performance indicators (KPI’s), such as revenue, expense, customer service, and others.

2. More cities are benefitting from greater focus on efficiency. As cities have worked to treat convention and event complexes like the competitive businesses that they are, coordination amongst the sales organization, facilities, and hotels is critical. The most successful structures include weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual coordination between sales, marketing, finance and other administrative departments.

According to destination real-estate experts, Hunden Strategic Partners, more and more facilities are operated by private partners, including:

• 41% of arenas currently used by Western Hockey League teams
• 80% of National Lacrosse League arenas
• 30% of arenas used by the Canadian Elite Basketball League
• 25% of small convention centers

We applaud City Council’s move and welcome opportunities to keep the downtown entertainment district project moving forward.

Read excerpts from the report here.