Central Bank Center, Rupp Arena, and Lexington Opera House Had Record Year in 2023

Feb 26

In Tuesday’s Council Work Session, Council heard an update on Rupp Arena, Central Bank Center, and the Lexington Opera House’s past year of events and earnings from VisitLex and Oak View Group.

Here are some snapshots from the update:

Rupp hosted more non-UK athletic events and more UK athletics events than ever in its history.
The Lexington Opera House also hosted its highest number of events in 2023, with a special emphasis on atypical events such as live podcast recordings, tribute shows, and family shows.
In Fiscal Year 2023 (FY23), the renovated Central Bank Convention Center saw an 80% increase in revenue from FY22. They have projected a 100% growth from FY22 to the current FY24.
From FY22 to FY23, the Transient Room Tax brought in by the Convention Center grew from $8+ million to just over $10 million. The Transient Room Tax is applied to all hotels and is primarily used to fund VisitLEX.

You can view the presentation on page 41 of this packet.

Council Work Session was held Tuesday, February 27th. You can watch the archived meeting on LexTV.

Economic DevelopmentTourismVisitLEX

Adrian Paul Bryant

Adrian Paul Bryant is CivicLex’s Civic Information Specialist, reporting on City Hall meetings and local issues that affect Lexingtonians every day. Raised in Jackson County, Adrian is a lifelong Kentuckian who is now proud to call Lexington home.