Maryland will let O’s owner keep all concert revenue in violation of lease, because vibes

Feeling just enough better today to play everyone’s favorite game, “What’s Baltimore Orioles Owner John Angelos Seeking Public Money For Now?”

Last year, you’ll recall, just weeks after the state of Maryland approved $600 million in public funding for Orioles stadium upgrades if and when Angelos signed a new lease, the state stadium authority agreed to let Angelos keep all the money from a Paul McCartney concert, disregarding his existing lease that said 45% of the proceeds was supposed to go to the state treasury. Now, one of the other living gods of stadium rock, Bruce Springsteen, is playing at Camden Yards, and have they worked out that whole who-gets-the-money thing yet?

Rock icon Bruce Springsteen will play Saturday at Oriole Park. As landlord, the Maryland Stadium Authority could receive 45% of the profits (or suffer 45% of the losses) from the event, which is hosted by its tenant, the MLB team. However, the Orioles asked the state not to share in the revenues, which would allow the team to keep all profits from the concert, and the stadium authority board unanimously agreed Tuesday.

This may seem slightly weird for the stadium authority to just give in on, especially given that the state is in the middle of contentious negotiations with Angelos over signing a new lease already. But stadium authority director Michael Frenz told the Baltimore Sun yesterday that Angelos has said having to give the state its contractually mandated cut would be a “significant disincentive” to holding more concerts, and “from our perspective, we do want there to be more of these.” But, Michael, why exactly do you want there to be more concerts even at the expense of the state getting none of the reven — oops, sorry, you’re still talking:

Frenz said it’s “reasonable to conclude” that the Springsteen show will turn a profit, but because the current lease is expiring and the new lease is unlikely to have the same revenue-sharing provision, the authority thought it best to allow the club to keep the revenues.

“We did say [in 2019], yeah, we would look at it in the future,” Frenz said Tuesday. “But I really think that given where we are in the life of the current lease, given that we’ve opted out of the previous two [concerts], I think for us to opt into this one may have been — it’s possible it would send the wrong message to the team.”

So the message that the state stadium authority wants to send to its baseball owner tenant, who is refusing to sign a new lease despite more than $600 million in promised subsidies, is that he shouldn’t have to worry about sharing any concert revenues with his public landlord, either now or in the new lease that he’s refusing to negotiate. That is maybe a slightly odd negotiating tactic, but then letting the stadium authority have final say over whether the local team owner pays his rent is slightly odd as well. “A savvy negotiator creates good vibes by giving the other side whatever it wants and hoping this will lead to voluntary concessions,” as Jerry Reinsdorf never said.

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2 comments on “Maryland will let O’s owner keep all concert revenue in violation of lease, because vibes

  1. This may be all for nought — Springsteen has postponed the remainder of his current tour on doctor’s orders. The Boss is being treated for symptoms of a peptic ulcer.

    1. The concert will be held eventually (I mean, knock wood), so it’s still a question of whether the MSA is going to let Angelos keep all the money — if not under this lease, then under the next one.

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