SACRAMENTO — The City of Sacramento could soon offer financial incentives to help attract more musical acts to two of the city's most iconic venues.
The Memorial Auditorium is currently booked only 190 days a year, and the SAFE Credit Union Performing Arts Center has 246 events a year.
Both are owned and operated by the city, but some say it's currently too financially risky to book concerts there.
"The cost for the memorial is just too expensive for local promoters to do shows in it," said Jim Cornett, a concert venue owner.
How would Sacramento's promoter incentive program work?
The city would give event organizers between $5 and $10 in cash back for each ticket sold. Money could come from sources like the city's commission on food sales, charging up to $3 more on drinks, and increasing ticket convenience fees.
"If we had these tools, we would grow our ticketed commercial events considerably," said Sid Garcia-Heberger, manager of the Sacramento City Theater & Auditorium.
But there's some concern that people are already fed up with high ticket fees.
"I don't want us to do anything that exacerbates the unhappiness of ticket buyers," said City Councilmember Roger Dickinson.
Many downtown merchants support efforts to bring more concerts to town, saying it helps boost their business.
"We know that music and live performance are really a serious economic engine," said Jameson Parker with the Midtown Association. "We've seen the positive ripple effects that come from live entertainment."
City leaders say the incentives will also increase parking and sales tax revenue and help Sacramento stay competitive with other cities that offer rebates like Stockton and Fresno.
The city's budget and audit committee unanimously endorsed the idea of incentives at its meeting Tuesday morning. The program will need to be approved by the full city council before taking effect.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Sacramento could offer financial incentives to attract musical acts to unused venues )
Also on site :
- McDonald's Reportedly Combines 2 Beloved Items Into Divisive New Dessert
- Cambodia PM urges calm after border clash with Thailand leaves soldier dead
- Israel authorizes 22 Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank