It sure seems as if the promoters' priority is cost, followed by location.
That's my opinion. Here are the facts:
Based on the NSCC's most recent IRS filings (
receipts), it appears the nonprofit paid about $480K for the 2023 convention space. (I assume the $480K charge for "Occupancy" is the convention.) Even if Rosemont told 'em they just had to pay for five days and to forget extra time for setup/takedown, that'd still be the cheapest rate -- by far -- of any of the nation's larger convention centers ... and that's based on prices from 2016 (
receipts). Five days for 600K of space in Vegas this year would cost about $1.1 million.
It seems as if the NSCC would be hard-pressed to spend much more on a convention center because the nonprofit since 1996 is somehow losing money. It made $1.9M off tickets last year and $2.2M off booths ... but spent $3.4M on salaries and wages, with no officers/trustees receiving any reported money and no employee reporting more than $150K. (The nonprofit reported a loss of $1,100 last year and $3,700 the year before.)
I'm not one for conspiracy theories -- I acknowledge there's simply a lot I don't understand -- but I do wonder how NSCC's expenses add up. I'm guessing it likely just has something to do with a change in accounting practices. But I find it interesting NSCC reported, in 2023, a "Trade Show Expense" of $180K and $3.4M in salaries and wages. And in 2022, NSCC reported salaries and wages of $0 and a "Trade Show Expense" of $3.2M. Curious if others in the industry can speak as to whether that kind of expense is unusual, since it's also more than 6x the "Occupancy" rate.