To help renovate Nationwide Arena, the Columbus City Council has approved increasing ticket fees there and diverting more casino tax revenue to the arena.
The city council voted 9-0 to approve both items on Dec. 15. The legislation came at the request of the Franklin County Convention Facilities Authority, which has a renovations plan for the arena totaling $400 million.
The council added last-minute amendments to the ordinance on casino tax revenue to add guardrails.
The FCCFA, the public authority that operates the arena, wants to leverage local public and private investment to apply in early 2026 for $100 million in state grant funding. The plan is to take out over $100 million in bonds and use ticket fee and casino tax money to pay the debt back.
Columbus City Councilmember Nick Bankston added an amendment at the meeting that withholds new casino tax money until the arena secures state money. The amendment also reverts the arena’s share of casino revenue back to its original level when the bonds are paid off.
The amendment also requires the Facilities Authority to enter into a community benefits agreement with the Columbus/Central Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council. This will make sure union members work on the arena renovations.
The agreement must also include commitments to sustainability; using regional businesses for design; the inclusion of public art and plans for youth programming.
Bankston, chair of the Economic Development & Small Business Committee, told The Dispatch ahead of the meeting that it’s important to invest in the 25-year-old arena, which is publicly-owned by the city and county.
“I am very supportive of the Franklin County Convention Facilities Authority’s (FCCFA) plan to renovate and improve the arena,” Bankston said. “That transformative plan and this legislative proposal are key to the city maintaining its competitive advantage for events and experiences and will also put us in a position to capture a once in a lifetime investment from the State for those improvements.”
He said what council approved Monday is just the first legislative action of many along the path to the arena’s renovation.
Ken Paul, the facility authority’s executive director, said at the meeting this is not a luxury investment.
“If we want this building to continue serving Columbus for 25 years, reinvestment is necessary,” Paul said.
Councilmember Melissa Green expressed some frustration during the meeting that this legislation moved forward so quickly but other groups like the Community Shelter Board and the Greater Columbus Arts Council have been saying for at least a year they need more funding.
Bankston pushed back, saying this is not a bail out for a team or a billionaire, but investing in a public asset. He said it’s not a binary choice.
In one ordinance, the council OK’d increasing the admissions fee on arena events from 5% to 7%. All of that increase will go to the arena. The formula that distributes the original 5% will remain intact, with most of the money going to the arena and a portion allocated for the local arts.
In the other ordinance, the council agreed to increase the arena’s annual piece of the city’s share of state casino taxes from 32% to 50% over four years.
In recent years, the arena has received around $7.5 million in casino tax revenue from Columbus and Franklin County, according to state audits.
The authority is also asking the Franklin County Commissioners to increase how much casino tax it diverts to the arena. The commissioners had their last meeting on Dec. 9 and will not meet again until January.
The city’s casino tax allocation for the arena will rise from 32% to 36% in 2026, and transfer about a half million dollars more to the arena next year. The amount will go up every year through 2029.
The arena discussion comes as city leaders say the 2026 operating budget will be tight. They’re working to find millions of dollars for priorities currently unfunded in the mayor’s $1.26-billion proposal like police recruitment, homeless shelters and the Columbus Promise before the final budget passes early next year.
Government and politics reporter Jordan Laird can be reached at jlaird@dispatch.com. Follow her on X, Instagram and Bluesky at @LairdWrites.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus OK’s fee hike at Nationwide Arena, sending it more casino tax
Reporting by Jordan Laird, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
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