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The Los Angeles concert scene should be considerably more competive if MSG is successful in buying the Fabulous Forum from Forum Enterprises for under $25 million; the plan is to upgrade the venerable facility into a world-class venue.
The Los Angeles Times is reporting MSG is prepared to spend upwards of $25 million on a renovation, making it a serious contender in the local concert world. Right now Staples Center gets the big acts by default, but promoters say booking a concert there isn’t very easy: with 130 events per year coming through the sports tenants (Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Kings) who demand the best weekend times, there’s not a lot of open dates outside of summer.
MSG Entertainment certainly is in expansion mode: besides controlling Madison Square Garden and the Beacon Theatre in New York City, the firm books the Chicago Theatre and has an interest in booking agent Front Line Entertainment.
Nice little piece of trivia: both the Forum and the current Madison Square Garden were designed by Charles Luckman.
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