Out of the blue, Metropolitan Entertainment Group was "fired" from its Montage
Mountain contract by the Performing Arts Center authority in Scranton, PA, and in
a matter of days, the authority inked a 10-year deal with Clear Channel
Entertainment. But MEG is not giving up so easily. It has a March 21 county court
date to prove the contract was illegally broken.
"We have a legal and binding contract, MEG's Keith Beccia told CelebrityAccess.
"We still have not been notified by the authority. I was informed by the press that we
were fired. To this day we have still not been notified by them. And if we were fired
with no cause, they would have the legal obligation to let us know within 30 days.
Under our contract we would also complete this year plus two more years, they
would have to stay dark for five years, and we would have first right of refusal if it
reopened."
Notable is the fact that both CCE and former CCE exec Mitch Slater had been in
discussions with MEG to buy the company; Slater was selected, but it now looks like there will have to be some renegotiating between Slater and MEG.
"We had a meeting
with the authority's commissioner and there was no problem," said Beccia. "But Joe Corcoran, the county commissioner, wanted to meet with Mitch, and at their meeting made certain demands.
"We already agreed to increase the ticket surcharge 10 percent and redo the
concessions," Beccia continued, "but then said he would accept Mitch under certain
conditions, which is absurd."
Covered in CCE's 10-year deal is $2.5 million up front when the contract is signed;
$833,000 per year; if CCE sells the name, the county gets 15 percent of anything
over $600,000; 7.5 percent of gross receipts on beer and food; 8 percent of gross
on shows produced outside the May 15 to October 15 season.
"We've gone for an injunction against the authority and plan for one against Clear
Channel," Beccia stated.
To be continued…
