Dear Editor:
“The resolution (approved by the Budget and Appropriations Committee in June) authorizes the department to issue a permit allowing Another Planet Entertainment, LLC (APE) to hold concerts at the polo field “on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday either following or preceding the Outside Lands Festivals … in exchange for a minimum permit fee of $1,530,000 per year for two-day events and $2,295,000 per year for three-day events through 2029, with options to extend the permit until 2035.” (Another Planet Entertainment Contract Extension Before Board of Supes, by Thomas K. Pendergast, Richmond Review, 7/8/26)
The contracts proposed, between the San Francisco Recreation and Park Dept. and APE fall short of the industry standard. The APE contracts are not typical for a venue this size, potentially costing the City millions of dollars in lost revenue.
How much money is APE making on the newly proposed post/pre Outside Lands (OSL) concerts? Not to mention OSL itself. APE won’t share that information. The City is not getting a share of the profits, so we don’t know.
Tickets to OSL cost a minimum of $200 a day, with premium tickets going for $1,000 or more. Assuming the same prices and level of attendance for the proposed concerts (sold out) and 1,000 premium tickets sold each day out of the 65,000 tickets: 1,000 tickets x $1,000 = $1,000,0000. 64,000 tickets x $200 = $12,800,000. That’s $13,800,000 per day. For two days, that’s $27,600,000.
APE is offering the City $1.53 million for two days: that is not a good deal. Why haven’t the terms of this ready-made APE contact been questioned? When the post-Outside Lands concert was first being voted on by the SF Rec and Parks Commission, Jenny Sue, a local resident, called in to comment on the proposed post-Outside Lands contract terms, “Currently Golden Gate Park plans to charge Another Planet a fixed permit fee… However when you take a look at local arenas like Oracle Arena, Chase Center, and SAP Center, ShoreLine Amphitheater and Concord Pavilion, they typically employ a percentage based revenue sharing model ranging from 15 to 20 percent of ticket sales.”
Supervisors, please don’t approve this giveaway contract.
David Romano
San Francisco CA 94121
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