After 10 days of crunching numbers and counting expenses, UA Presents came out almost $7,000 in the black for the Aug. 22 Randy Travis concert.

The Centennial Hall show sold about 1,800 tickets, resulting in $75,558 of revenue in ticket sales, according the event’s newly completed budget obtained by the Daily Wildcat from UA Presents yesterday.

Between the $50,000 paid to Travis for his appearance, about $7,000 in production costs and the almost $10,000 spent for advertising, the show’s total expenses came to $68,694, meaning UA Presents ended up with $6,824 in profits from the show.

The production costs were split between such expenses as hiring backstage personnel, enabling security and renting sound and light equipment.

Because the expense amounts are not yet final, they may fluctuate slightly, but the profit will almost certainly stay between $6,000 and $7,000, said Mario Di Vetta, UA Presents marketing associate.

UA Presents reduces profit, stays in the black

Despite losing 75 percent of its state funding due to budget cuts, UA Presents has already generated more than $1 million in ticket sales for the current season, said Natalie Bohnet, executive director of UA Presents.

The ticket sale amounts are already 9 percent ahead of where they were at the same time last year.

The current UA Presents season began in June when the B-52s performed at Centennial Hall.

UA Presents finished its 2008-09 season with a $58,000 profit, down from about $90,000 each of the previous two years. Di Vetta attributed the reduction in profit to steps that had to be taken due to a down economy.

The organization typically runs about 35 shows a year, and has had to scale back in expenses to stay within acceptable profit margins, he said.

Di Vetta stressed that UA Presents typically wants to bring different genres to campus in order to appeal to a variety of demographics.

Such an approach is both more balanced and profitable than just saving up for one or two blockbuster shows with musical artists that may not even be widely accepted or liked on the UA campus, Di Vetta said.

“”It’s about 35 shows for everyone,”” he said.