State agencies pour thousands of dollars into state fair to reach Hoosiers
INDIANAPOLIS (INDIANA CAPITAL CHRONICLE) — For many attendees, the Indiana State Fair is the perfect time to celebrate Midwest traditions and have fun with friends and family. Some visitors will try eccentric food combinations — like a Cinnamon Toast Crunch funnel cake or spicy pickle pizza — or stop by the Midway for amusement park rides. Others might opt to watch livestock shows and learn more about the state’s history through the fair’s museum exhibits.
And for some state agencies, the 15-day event presents another unique opportunity: the chance to market to more than 850,000 Hoosiers.
State agencies including the Hoosier Lottery, Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission, and Secretary of State’s Office pour hundreds of thousands of dollars into the state fair each year to sponsor information booths, giveaways, concert performances, and more.
Sponsorships from public and private groups for the fair, which climbed to $2.6 million for the 2023 event, is just one way the Indiana State Fair Commission (ISFC) brings in revenue. The commission oversees the operations for the fair and event center.
With the 167th annual state fair set to kick off Aug. 2, the Indiana Capital Chronicle took a look at the finances behind the event.
Anna Whelchel, chief marketing and sales officer for the fair commission, said the state fair usually sees around 850,000 visitors each year, but attendance can depend on weather conditions. Last year the Indiana State Fair saw 840,414 visitors, an increase from 2022 (837,568 visitors) and 2021 (830,390 visitors). She said poor weather likely limited attendance in 2021.
Indiana’s all-time attendance record was around 978,000 at its 2013 event.
The Indiana State Fair over recent years has experimented with how many days it is open, ranging from 12 to 18 but recently has settled on 15.
John Pfeffenberger, vice president and chief financial officer for the commission said there are usually four large sources of operating revenue for the state fair; tickets/admission, parking, concessions/Midway amusement park rides and sponsorships.
The fairgrounds holds events the entire year, not just during the State Fair. In its audited financial statements, the ISFC does not break out the marquee fair event from the rest of its year-round business. Pfeffenberger said it’s helpful for the commission to look at a consolidated business operation, rather than just the fair, since many of its costs are year-round such as salaries for employees, insurance and utilities.
“Historically, we’ve taken this approach, for probably about the last 10 years, to help and really aid our ability to bond and to finance certain projects on our campus,” Pfeffenberger said. “So it was helpful from an underwriting perspective to look at the business as a consolidated operation versus split between fair and non-fair.”
According to the audited financial statements covering all events for 2023, the commission generated around $5.7 million in admissions revenue, $3.3 million for parking and $5.1 million for concessions. It also reported $7.8 million in revenue related to renting the fairgrounds and slightly more than $1 million in “other operating revenue.” Pfeffenberger said this category includes revenue generated from merchandise sales, its harness racing stall and campgrounds.
While the operating expenses reported each year were higher than the operating revenue in 2021, 2022, and 2023, the ISFC generates enough non-operating revenue — such as direct funding from the state or outside grants — to still report a positive net position each year.
Sponsorships
According to invoices sent by the ISFC to its sponsors, which the Indiana Capital Chronicle obtained through public records requests, the state fair received $1,967,670 in sponsorships from 16 state agencies from 2021-2023. According to the fair’s website, the event has more than 70 sponsors including non-state aligned groups, ranging from the U.S. Army to the Indiana Soybean Alliance and Busch Light.
One of the top state sponsors was the Hoosier Lottery, which paid about $661,000 over the past three years.
Jared Bond, the Hoosier Lottery’s director of external affairs, said the agency can track the benefits of their sponsorship with the fair by looking at several different metrics. For instance, last year the Hoosier Lottery sold $553,000 in tickets during the fair. He said the Hoosier Lottery is also mentioned in news coverage more frequently during the weeks leading up to the fair, when the commission shares the lineup of concerts taking place at the Hoosier Lottery Free Stage.
In addition to the Hoosier Lottery Free Stage, one day of the fair, Aug. 10, is a dedicated “Hoosier Lottery Day.” The agency also participates in giveaways, operates carnival-style games in an area called the “Hoosier Lottery Town” and has other signage throughout the fairground.
“It’s just a valuable partnership that really helps us promote our product, promote our different efforts that we do in following the mission of the Hoosier Lottery, which is to give back to the state of Indiana,” Bond said.
Some of the other top spenders were the Indiana Secretary of State, the Indiana Education Savings Authority and Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC), which spent $635,000 in 2021-2023.
Luke Wilson, executive director of external affairs for the IURC, said the goal of the agency’s partnership with the fair is to raise public awareness for Indiana’s 811 “Call Before You Dig” law — a law that requires anyone who is digging on a property to contact Indiana 811 at least two days before they start a project.
“Partnering with the fair provides a unique opportunity to raise awareness and reach close to a million Hoosier every year with the safe digging message,” Wilson said in an email. “For example, signage is placed in areas with heavy foot traffic, like Midway, and in multiple locations around the fairgrounds to ensure a high frequency of exposure. The goal is to reach people (multiple times), regardless of where they enter the grounds.”
The Indiana Destination Development Corporation (IDDC) spent significantly less than many other agencies for the fair — a combined $50,000 in 2022 and 2023 — but Amy Howell, vice president of tourism, marketing and communications for IDDC, said the fair was a good opportunity to market other festivals and events. Some years, the group would bring local stakeholders — including the Indiana Pacers and local visitor bureaus — to the fair to help promote the IDDC’s programs. However, the IDDC will not sponsor the fair this year because it has shifted all of its marketing efforts out of Indiana.
“A visitor, according to U.S. Travel (Association), is somebody who drives 50 plus miles, and so we want to concentrate on our drive markets outside of the state borders to get people to visit,” Howell said.
Whelchel, chief marketing and sales officer for the fair commission, said the fair usually sees 92% of its sponsorship partners return the next year.
“Our approach is really to remind them and introduce the opportunity to them to get in front of on average, 850,000 people, to a statewide community, and ensure that they see that true (return on investment) on their investment with us,” Whechel said.
Other revenue
The revenue reported by the state fair commission tends to fluctuate from year-to-year, with the commission reporting more than $77.6 million in operating and nonoperating revenues in 2023
Of that, about more than $13.1 million came from the state fair event.
Total revenue for the commission is up from around $43.5 million in 2022, and less than the $125 million from 2021, when the commission received abnormally high state funding for two major building projects.
Of those numbers, almost $12.6 million was attributable specifically to the 2022 state fair and $11.6 to the 2021 event.
Pfeffenberger said it’s normal for revenue and expenses to fluctuate each year, especially coming out of the pandemic.
“In 2021, we kind of scaled back pretty substantially coming out of the pandemic, so that was a new baseline for us,” Pfeffenberger said. “In 22 and 23, we really started to normalize our operation back to pre-pandemic levels, but we also, like most businesses, felt the impact of inflation on labor rates and contracts and services kind of across the fair and our year-round business.”
The State Fair also receives millions of dollars in support from state and federal appropriations and grants. These funds have been used to finance capital projects including the Fall Creek Pavilion project, a multi-use, 196,000 square foot track and field facility located on the fairgrounds. The building will host the NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field Championship in 2025.
The commission’s nonoperating revenue also includes dollars from the Standardbred Racing Fund, non-major tax distributions and other grants and contributions.
The Wisconsin State Fair, located outside of Milwaukee, has experienced a steady increase in attendance since 2021. In 2021, the Wisconsin State Fair welcomed 841,074 visitors, and last year saw 1,043,350 visitors.
Shari Black, CEO of the Wisconsin State Fair, told the Indiana Capital Chronicle that the two fairs have strong similarities, such as taking sponsorships from state agencies and generating revenue from holding events across the year.
Black said the Wisconsin State Fair Park reported $29.7 million for the 2023 fiscal year. While the state fair is its biggest source of revenue, it also earns off of its year-round promotional events and RV park.
Still, one major similarity is that both fairs are owned and operated by public agencies. While the Wisconsin and Indiana State Fairs receive support from their state governments, other state fairs, including Minnesota’s, are nonprofits or run by for-profit companies.
“At a high level, our job is to generate operating revenue to support the year-round operations at the fairgrounds and to produce the State Fair, and to be good stewards of our expenses,” Pfeffenberger said. “We still require some state support to preserve, enhance and maintain this facility for Hoosiers.”