GRAND RAPIDS, MI (CelebrityAccess MediaWire) — A lawsuit filed by the the owners of the Deltaplex against the the Van Andel Arena, alleging anti-competitive practices, has been settled.
The 2008 lawsuit stemmed from an email that was inadvertently sent by SMG to Deltaplex General Manager Rich Baylie. The email contained a "preferred promoter agreement," dated January 1 2008, between SMG and Cellar Door, a Live Nation-owned company. The agreement stipulates that if Live Nation promotes a concert at another West Michigan concert venue such as the Deltaplex, the promoter must pay one-third of the profits to SMG "for the benefit" of the Van Andel.
Lawyers for the County Convention and Arena Authority (CAA), which owns the Van Andel, said that the preferred promoter agreement had never been approved, nor had it ever been in effect.
"The whole concept was just unfair and I think once they understood where I was coming from," Joel Langlois of Delta Properties, which owns the Deltaplex told the Grand Rapids Press.
Full details of the settlement were not revealed, but the Grand Rapids Press noted that all parties were "satisfied." A part of the settlement stipulates that both sides agree to not enter into any contracts that would inhibit other venues. – CelebrityAccess Staff Writers
