Bemidji council starts early talks on Sanford Center management future

Bemidji leaders began laying groundwork for the Sanford Center’s next management decision with the current contract still nearly a year away from expiring. At a Tuesday work session, the City Council started directing City Manager Rich Spiczka on the questions it wants answered before March 2027, when the ASM Global agreement ends.

The timing matters because the Sanford Center is not a minor city asset. It is Northern Minnesota’s largest event center, home to Bemidji State University Beavers hockey and a major downtown anchor that opened in October 2010. A Bemidji Pioneer description pegged it as a 4,373-seat arena, and the city’s next decision will determine who runs that building and how aggressively it is marketed, booked and maintained.

ASM Global has operated the Sanford Center since March 2022, after the city approved that arrangement when its previous contract with VenuWorks ended. The management landscape has also shifted at the corporate level: Legends Hospitality announced on November 7, 2023, that it would acquire ASM Global, then said on August 23, 2024, that the acquisition was complete and the companies had united as Legends Global. That change could shape how Bemidji evaluates experience, support and future stability in the next contract round.

The council’s early discussion was driven by more than routine contract planning. The Sanford Center has long been a budget issue for Bemidji, with the city budgeting a $400,000 annual subsidy in a 2016 review as an operational investment. Later reporting said the venue’s annual operating deficit often averages between $300,000 and $400,000 outside the COVID years, with at least part of that gap covered by property taxes. Those figures make the coming review less about ceremony and more about whether the public is getting enough return from the building’s books and booking calendar.

Ward 5 Councilor Lynn Eaton pointed to the narrow 2006 referendum that first authorized the project, which passed by just 44 votes, 2,235 to 2,191. Mayor Jorge Prince said support for the center has risen and fallen over time and argued that the city now has a real chance to listen carefully and choose the path that best serves Bemidji.

The Sanford Center Advisory Board already exists to advise both management and the City Council, and city materials say it meets on the fourth Wednesday of the month at 7:00 a.m. in the Sanford Center Administrative Conference Room. As the 2027 deadline approaches, the city is preparing for a decision that could shape taxpayer exposure, event traffic and downtown activity for years to come.