Hoover Met Complex scored strong comeback from COVID-19 shutdown

COVID-19 left its mark on most everything in 2020, but the Hoover Metropolitan Complex made a strong comeback after being shut down completely for over two months, officials said.

The complex shut down completely from March 19 to May 22 due to concern about community spread of COVID-19 and reopened in May only for non-competitive, non-contact sports, said John Sparks, who served as the complex’s general manager until being promoted to a higher position in the company that manages the complex.

The volleyball clubs that practice at the Finley Center were allowed to do workouts but not have games, and people were allowed to walk on the track. But the state health officer and governor didn’t reopen the door for competitive sports — indoor and outdoor — until June 15, with social distancing requirements and other health requirements in place.

During the shutdown, the Hoover Met Complex lost 59 events with an average net income of $10,000 each, for a total loss of $590,000 in revenue, Sparks said.

But once business came back, “it came back with a vengeance — a positive one,” he said. “We came back in such a frenzy that we virtually in real numbers made up all that money.”

The outdoor fields were booked with tournaments and other activities almost seven days a week, and the Finley Center was covered up with basketball and volleyball activity five out of seven days each week from June 15 until school started back, Sparks said.

That was in addition to pickleball in the mornings and corporate events, he said.

The Finley Center had a huge influx of girls basketball tournaments normally held in other places such as Tennessee, Indianapolis and Atlanta, Sparks said. They couldn’t hold their tournaments in their regular locations due to health restrictions or civil unrest related to police departments.

The Finley Center hosted more than 800 teams throughout the summer, and now a lot of them want to come back in 2021 or 2022, Sparks said. The center has more requests than it can accommodate and is keeping people who want to host tournaments on waiting lists in case of cancellations.

“We’re booked in the Finley Center until November 2021 — for every weekend for sure,” Sparks said.

The baseball fields also had strong showings for the summer and fall, but the soccer and lacrosse tournaments didn’t return as quickly, he said. The Hoover area soccer and lacrosse leagues have a robust spring program planned, but complex officials say their big focus for 2021 will be to make better use of those fields for tournaments with a larger draw.

After the complex reopened, event attendance was strong, Sparks said. The Alabama Gun Collectors Association had better attendance at both of its 2020 shows than the previous three years, and Vintage Market Days also had record attendance, he said.

That’s despite the fact that the events could admit only 50% of their normal capacity level at a time, Sparks said. Organizers had to ask some people to wait to enter until others left the facility, but the waits typically weren’t too bad, he said.

When people came back to the Hoover Met Complex once it reopened, they came back hungry, Sparks said. Food and beverage gross income was about $500,000 for the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, compared to about $390,000 the previous year, and that’s with 59 events canceled, he said.

He’s cautiously optimistic about food and beverage gross income for 2021, predicting at least $600,000.

The cancellation of 59 events meant that overall attendance for the Hoover Met Complex declined from 182,000 in fiscal 2019 to 129,000 in fiscal 2020. The 2019 attendance numbers included the SEC Baseball Tournament FanFest experience at the Finley Center but not the 162,699 who attended the actual games, Sparks said. There was no SEC Baseball Tournament for 2020.

All the canceled events also spelled negative news on economic impact. The Hoover Met Complex’s estimated economic impact onthe Birmingham-Hoover area dropped from $49 million in fiscal 2019 to $35.7 million in fiscal 2020, according to numbers provided by Tynette Lynch, Hoover’s director of tourism and hospitality.

The complex was responsible for 45,331hotel room nights in fiscal 2020, compared to62,195 room nights the year before, Lynch said.

Sparks said the $35.7 million impact in 2020 still was $11 million stronger than original forecasts for this year when the complex was being planned.

Also, even before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the complex itself was projected to lose about $64,000 in fiscal 2020, Sparks said. Even with all the cancellations, the strong bounce-back allowed the facility to come in $460 better than projections.

Sparks predicts that in fiscal 2021, the Hoover Met Complex will actually make a profit for the first time. He’s projecting a profit of close to $100,000.

And that includes a two-month shutdown of the Finley Center from Nov. 16 to Jan. 20 for installation of a new floor. There was a problem with the original playing surface, which was designed to be removable if needed, he said. There was unevenness in some of the seams, which at times could have become a trip hazard depending on the humidity and temperature in the building, he said.

The floor supplier, Connor Flooring Co., elected to replace the floor free of charge with a permanent, safer surface, Sparks said. Normally, it would have cost more than $1 million, including installation, he said.

The Finley Center was expected to reopen Jan. 20 — a few days before the Jan. 23 Worldwide Spirit Association cheerleading competition, which was expected to bring 500 to 750 cheerleaders and about 2,500 spectators, Sparks said.

Following that will be an Alabama Performance Volleyball tournament, Lakeshore Shootout boys and girls soccer tournaments, Collectors and Shooters Company gun show, American Red Cross blood drives, baseball and softball tournaments by Asbury University, St. Louis University and Birmingham-Southern College, Greater Birmingham Association of Home Builders Home Building and Remodeling Showcase, Vintage Market Days, soccer tournaments by the Vestavia Soccer Club and Spain Park JV Soccer and Perfect Game Deep South Jamboree and Middle School Showdown baseball tournaments.

A much bigger event called the Perfect Game High School Academy Showcase is scheduled for March 5-6, featuring top baseball talent from across the country. Last year’s showcase included 12 of the top 25 Major League Baseball draft picks, Sparks said.

After that, there will be tournaments every weekend throughout the summer, he said.

The 16-court tennis complex also is doing well, with more than 100 members in the tennis club and attendance growing from about 2000 in fiscal 2019 to more than 9,000 in fiscal 2020, Sparks said. There is a full schedule of clubs and teams wanting to practice there, and the complex will be hosting high school sectional and regional events in 2021, he said.

Hoover Metropolitan Stadium is getting used most weekends by baseball tournaments and events in the spring and summer and Hoover High football on Friday nights in the fall, Sparks said. Hoover Met officials are exploring live music events for the stadium, but that industry has been sluggish since the pandemic started, so nothing of that nature has been solidified, he said.

Also, the educational and safe driving car events will continue in the Hoover Met parking lot, but the slalom racing events have been discontinued, Sparks said. “It became a noise issue.”