The company has won approval to take over the iconic music venue after a long fight with Nederlander for control.
After a long, complicated, and at times heated, fight over who should take control of the Greek Theatre, Live Nation appears to have come away from it victorious.
The company announced that its proposal for the Greek Theatre has been approved by the Recreation and Parks Commission. This means that Live Nation will now be the new operator of the music venue.
Nederlander Concerts Co. started a last-minute petition effort to save its ownership of the Greek Theatre. The company, which is family-operated and has run the Greek Theatre for 39 years, tried to gain support from community members to allow Nederlander to maintain control of the venue. The company argued that it would offer the city of Los Angeles benefits for allowing it to keep the Greek Theatre. Among other benefits, the owners cited renovations on historic venues, millions of dollars in rent and popular booking performers.
But Live Nation offered its own benefits. The company offered a community trust program via a special ticket sales system. Live Nation argued that this would bring more revenue to the city overall than Nederlander’s proposal.
Despite the petition and offered benefits, Nederlander was unsuccessful in maintaining control over the historic venue. For the first time in nearly 40 years, the Greek Theatre will be on another company’s roster.
Live Nation issued an official statement regarding the decision over which company should control the Greek Theatre:
Live Nation appreciates the comprehensive, thorough and transparent process that led to our selection as the clear and unanimous choice to operate the Greek Theatre. We believe the process worked as intended.
Nederlander Concerts Co. CEO Alex Hodges said about the decision:
Nederlander Concerts and AEG Live are disappointed that the Board did not carefully consider the overwhelming evidence that the panel’s decision was premised on significant errors that infected the entire process.
The contract that Live Nation now has with the Greek Theatre will last up to 10 years, and can be extended two times for five years. Until this contract is complete, Live Nation has control over the management of the performances booked at the venue, as well as a portion of the revenue from Greek Theatre concerts.
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