Assembly Speaker Wants Answers about Secret Payments to Concert Promoters

Published reports claim concert promoters were secretly paid $3.4 million to book acts at the Meadowlands. Today, Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver is asking the state Attorney General’s Office to investigate.

“New Jersey consumers know all too well the frustration that comes with trying to buy tickets to concerts, and this just adds to this concern,” says Oliver. “These payments deserve more scrutiny. We have too many unanswered questions, and quite simply consumers deserve to know whether these payments impacted competition – and thus ticket prices - within the concert market.”

Reports say the rebates to Live Nation and other promoters by the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority. The payments were detailed in confidential agreements disclosed by the agency under a court order. They were released only after the authority lost a three-year court fight with a newspaper to keep the documents secret. The dispute cost the agency more than $500,000 in legal fees.

Oliver says the Assembly will prepare, if need be, for potential legislative hearings on the matter.