BLOOMINGTON - Country superstar Kenny Chesney and accounting changes at U.S. Cellular Coliseum helped pull the city-owned facility's books into positive territory in September.

Chesney's sold-out concert on Sept. 17 helped record a $64,671 profit for the Coliseum for the month and helped the year-to-date numbers cross into the black by $3,234, said building operator Central Illinois Arena Management.

The monthly financial report for September was released Thursday by the city of Bloomington.

Audit adjustments of $123,371 also may have helped the building post a year-to-date profit. In August, before the auditor's changes, the building recorded a year-to-date loss of $188,820.

Calls to CIAM owner John Butler and Coliseum General Manager Bart Rogers were not returned Thursday.

The management letter submitted by CIAM to the city highlighted a change in how the auditor accounted for accruals and adjustments. Accruals are lump-sum payments to the arena that have to be divided monthly over the fiscal year, and adjustments reflect monthly corrections in income and expenses.

"The net operating profit for the U.S. Cellular Coliseum for September 2009 was $64,671," the letter said. "The fiscal year-to-date reported profit with auditor's accruals and adjustments from last year is $3,234."

Mayor Steve Stockton and City Finance Director Tim Erwin had not been briefed on the accounting changes and did not know for sure how much of that $123,371 difference was adjusted by auditors. They referred questions to CIAM.

Overall attendance at the Coliseum for the September was 13,597. The Golfer John Daly and Friends concert Sept. 10 had an attendance of 1,177, and meetings and a wedding reception also were included in the monthly attendance numbers.

But Chesney was by far the biggest draw. The concert had an attendance of 8,256 people in a building that has an average of 7,500 seats. A tailgate party held prior to the concert drew about 2,485.

Coliseum Assistant General Manager Traci Andracke said in the news release that accompanied the financial report that Chesney broke three Coliseum records. With his concert, the Coliseum saw the largest number of paid tickets sold for a single performance, it was the highest grossing show at the box office and it was the fastest sellout for a concert.

Chesney's concert, part of the Sun City Carnival Tour, included country artists Miranda Lambert and the Zac Brown Band.