READING, Pa. – The Berks County Commissioners on Thursday heard a report from the Berks County Convention Center Authority, the owners and operators of the Santander Arena, the Santander Performing Arts Center and the Reading Royals Hockey Team.
Authority chairman Michael Gombar, Jr. noted that 2026 is an important year as it marks the 25th anniversary of the opening of the Santander Arena.
“I know there were a lot of naysayers at that time, so it is a kind of a proud moment to be here, knowing that the arena has been a success for the last 25 years, and we look forward to another successful 25 years,” Gombar said.
Authority treasurer Michele Richards explained that the venues serve as a significant economic engine for commercial development and entertaining in the Reading Berks area.
Richards said the venues experienced record-breaking attendance and events.
“Our 2024/2025 economic impact continued to be strong,” she reported. “Attendance was over 363,000 people across 177 events. The amusement tax revenue for the city was $873,000, and that was coming off an all-time high of $1.2 million in 2024. Our parking revenue was over $727,000, and the economic impact from what I’ll call purchasing from local businesses exceeded $4 million.”
Richards said the numbers reflect a significant growth in attendance, amusement tax dollars and parking revenue over the past ten years.
“The venue continues to offer a diverse array of entertainment and has become a regional epicenter for Latino entertainment exemplified by record-breaking performances.,” Richards said.
But Richards said the total number of events is down in 2026, mainly due to some Latino events not booking as much as they previously had.
“We do expect that to rebound,” she added. “We still expect to be profitable for the year, but that will certainly not be at the same level as it has been in the previous year, nor to what we budgeted.”
Richards also noted that hockey game attendance is down from previous years even though the hockey expenses have increased.
Authority member Michael Ehlerman said in the past five years, the authority spent about $19 million on capital expenses, with $13 million being expended in the most recent fiscal year.
Some of the expenses included the ice-making and the replacement of the seating in the arena.
Ehlerman said future big-ticket items include some updating to the performing arts theater and additional renovations at the former Pearl Vision Center building at the corner of Penn and South 8th Streets.
David Farrar, general manager of the Santander Arena, said last year the arena was number 72 in the United States for the number of tickets sold and the theater number was 89.