ONEP getting new operators starting September 1

WNIN | By Tim Jagielo

Published July 30, 2025 at 7:24 PM CDT

Izumi Braun from Troy Michigan, juggles during the Open Gym time of the 2025 International Jugglers' Association Festival Thursday, July 17, in the Great Hall of Old National Events Plaza. Braun and about 600 others stayed in downtown Evansville for the convention. The festival schedule encouraged exploring the downtown and patronizing businesses. Vanderburgh County elected, and tourism officials are seeking to recruit more overnight conventions to the ONEP, in cooperation with a new management company on September 1.

Local tourism officials are seeking to increase profits and efficiency, overnight conferences at the Old National Events Plaza by changing who operates the facility

ASM Global has operated the Old National Events Plaza (ONEP) since 2001. Now the plan is for VenuWorks to take over on September 1.

ASM agreed to a "wind-down" contract, which the County Commission approved on Tuesday.

This is the result of a nearly year-long collaborative process to keep capturing the 2-percent innkeepers tax to fuel tourism in Evansville and operate the Events Plaza.

Attorney for the county, Mike Schopmeyer, said the innkeepers wouldn’t support the tax continuing unless the money was used more efficiently at ONEP.

The subsidy to support the venue was at times reaching $2 million annually — too high for the innkeepers.

Schopmeyer said while studying the profits of ONEP, losses were accumulating “greater than I think any of us thought.”

To secure custom legislation allowing the tax to continue, they had to work collaboratively with all county government and tourism organizations. The county was required to examine ONEP’s management and work toward reducing the subsidy.

The expectation is that VenuWorks, which already manages the Ford Center and Victory Theater, can improve efficiency.

Tom White is president of Explore Evansville — the group dedicated to growing tourism city and countywide. His team is actively recruiting overnight events to come to ONEP. "I feel very confident with this change, and with what direction of my team and the VenuWorks team, I think we're going to see that impact grow," he said, addressing the Vanderburgh County Commission July 29.

Tom White, president of Explore Evansville, is confident they can increase overnight conventions with VenuWorks.

“VenuWorks does a tremendous job, and with the right team in place there and within Explore Evansville with the right mission and the right incentives to get these groups to come in, I think we can have that,” he said. “And I think we'll see that turn in time over the next couple years.”

While events like concerts bring visitors downtown, the real economic drivers are overnight conventions and travel sports league events.

VenuWorks has an incentive to reduce the subsidy to $600,000 annually — to “walk into” ASM’s contract, which renews in 2027.

The base pay for operating the venue would be $120,000 annually with 5-percent kickback from food sales.

Another benefit according to Schopmeyer and White, is with one company operating all three major venues, better coordination can be had concerning show and events scheduled downtown.

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