BEAVER TOWNSHIP — For the past 15 years, Eric Ryan has served as CEO of JAC Management, which oversees everyday operations for both the Covelli Centre and Youngstown Amphitheater.

He has witnessed both the highs and lows of his efforts.

Since coming out of the pandemic, Ryan is hoping for a strong showing this year with prospects in ’24 even brighter.

With YSU’s basketball team posting its best record since becoming a Division I program (1981-82), could their men’s and women’s hoop teams be playing a portion of their games at the Covelli Centre beginning next season?

“We are going to meet with YSU athletics officials soon. We have had preliminary discussions but there are hurdles that need to be discussed as it relates to practice time and scheduling,” Ryan told the Curbstone Coaches during Monday’s weekly meeting at Avion Banquet Center. “Practice time remains the biggest hurdle but we would certainly love to have a conversation about their programs playing at our venue. If you recall, back in 2019-20 and right before COVID hit we hosted the Penguins’ men’s squad when they played West Virginia.

“We certainly want to explore the feasibility. I do have a meeting already set up with Ron Strollo, director of athletics so we will start that conversation shortly. We would have to make a few changes to the arena but it is small stuff, perhaps capping off one end because we would be over 6,000 with seating. We look forward to seeing where it takes us because we have a lot to offer in the way of parking, suites, digital boards, and other bells and whistles.”

The Covelli Centre staged 225 events last year drawing 265,000 people to their venue.

They continue to host the USHL’s Youngstown Phantoms with a new commitment already in place from the team.

“We just signed a new agreement with the Phantoms for a new ice plant. It will cost over a million dollars, which the Phantoms have agreed to pay for,” Ryan added. “We have a multi-year deal in place and they are drawing much better these days. Their specialty nights have done quite well.”

When restrictions coming out of the pandemic were lifted, Covelli’s main events began to take off.

“We are doing really well right now, however, it has been a challenge because we were one of the few industries in the country mandated to basically be out of business for over 15 months,” Ryan stated. “We were under restrictions from an attendance standpoint and that prevented us from operating under normal circumstances. Since July of ’21, when those restrictions were eased, the challenge became securing bigger shows.

“What happened was the entire industry was shut down for 16 months. When it started back up, large tours got together and played mostly major markets. For a secondary market like ours it became very tough to attract those popular acts. We were able to grind through ’22 and the tail of the year but into the early part of this year, we had four consecutive sell-outs and that was great to see.”

The sell-outs to which Ryan was referring included country and western singer Cody Johnson, WWE, the popular monster trucks show, and the rock show Rockzilla.

“We also have Alice Cooper coming on April 29, several other major shows lined up that we will be announcing over the summer plus Hardy, another country and western show in September that sold out in five minutes once we put it on sale.

“At the amphitheater, we’ve already booked REO Speedwagon for June 21, Parker McCollum, an American and country singer who will be here June 22 with the Doobie Brothers set for June 28. An announcement is forthcoming regarding four more national shows for the amphitheater plus we just announced that Koe Wetzel, who is a blend of rock and country, and Boyz II Men will be appearing at this year’s Canfield Fair.

“We are also excited about Y-Live, our annual concert on July 29 that we will be announcing next Monday. Financially, we have been able to make it through the pandemic which has been great so from an entertainment standpoint, we are looking for a strong 2023 as we segue into ’24.”

Next Monday, Lowellville native Joe DeRosa, who had a distinguished five-decade refereeing career in the NBA and on the collegiate level, will serve as guest speaker.