Sudbury Arena manager points to economy, industry for soft events line-up

Is the Sudbury Arena struggling to attract big name acts these days?

In 2008, theelectronicmarquee on Elm Street in the downtownwas lighting up with names like EltonJohn, Bob Dylan and the Backstreet Boys but these days, it seems the big name acts aren't coming to the Nickel City.

Arena manager Jeff Pafford says last year was a particularly tough one.

"2015 was a challenging year for the Sudbury Arena and the industry as a whole," he explained.

Pafford said there were fewer events booked, and cityrevenues were $236,000below what city staff expected last year.

He said some of that is the economy in general, withsome acts simplydeciding not to tour or to skip smaller cities to save on costs.

But Pafford points out that the 65-year-old Sudbury Arena has recently hosted some well-known comedians and country superstars like Brad Paisley.

And on Instagram, fans of the Canadian rock band Marianas Trench, which performed at the arena in March,seemed impressed by theproduction value of the concert.

Pafford said 2016 is already shaping out to be a better year.

"We're getting lots of calls and you know, we're not forgotten about."

Pafford said the arena is alsotrying to get promoters to bring different kinds of shows to the facility. For example:the Price is Right travelling show"comes on down" toSudbury in September.