newjerseynewsroom.com

Assembly Speaker Sheila Y. Oliver (D-Essex) Thursday asked the state attorney general’s office to investigate a report concert promoters were secretly paid $3.4 million to book acts at the Meadowlands.

The Star-Ledger of Newark reported the payments 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. The agreements were released only after the authority lost a three-year court fight with the newspaper to keep the documents secret at a cost of more than $500,000 in legal fees.

“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,” Oliver said. “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.

“These payments to promoters have not been made public, raising government transparency concerns,” Oliver added. “They also sliced into this public authority’s profit margin for each concert. We need a better understanding of this situation, and I ask the attorney general to shed light on it and recommend what changes may be needed to ensure competition and consumer protection.”

Oliver said the Assembly, if necessary, would hold hearings on the matter.

—TOM HESTER SR., NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM