ANSCHUTZ ENTERTAINMENT GROUP

Anschutz Entertainment Group



Anschutz Entertainment Group

Introduction

AEG is one of the leading sports and entertainment presenters in the world. AEG, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Anschutz Company, owns or controls a collection of companies AEG Live, one of the world's leading concert promotion and touring companies, with fifteen regional offices, is comprised of stand-alone affiliate divisions devoted to all aspects of entertainment.

Denver multibillionaire Philip Anschutz is a man of varied interests. His holding company includes an eclectic stable of entertainment, media, and sports businesses, in addition to telecom and energy development. Through Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), Anschutz promotes concerts and other events and owns 120 sports and entertainment centres such as Staples Centre and Best Buy Theatre. Walden Media was founded by college buddies Cary Granat and Michael Flaherty, who saw a lack of entertainment, geared towards families and set out to do something about it. (AFG films are rated G, PG, and PG-13 only.) Denver billionaire Phillip Anschutz later invested in Walden Media and combined it with Bristol Bay to form AFG, which is owned by The Anschutz Company.

Description

When AEG executives signed the final documents to take over the Millennium Dome in London, giggles could be heard in the adjacent room. The 860,000-square-foot entertainment dome was regarded as something of a national joke that had soaked up $1 billion in British taxpayers' money and was mothballed before the Los Angeles-based venue operator showed up with an offer."It was like they couldn't believe these silly Americans were dumb enough to do this," Anschutz Entertainment Group chief Tim Leiweke recalled. Ten years later, it's AEG that's laughing. After a half-billion-dollar makeover that included an 11-screen cinema, a museum and two concert halls, plus a new name -- The O2, thanks to a sponsorship deal with the British telecommunications giant -- the London venue became the world's most popular concert stage in 2009 and 2010, by number of tickets sold (Christopher, 2005).

The O2 metamorphosis, AEG boosters say, is just one example of the global firm's aptitude for spotting, shaping and selling risky projects. The company is leaning on that record to pull off what Leiweke characterizes as AEG's riskiest project yet: a $1.35-billion football stadium in downtown Los Angeles. That proposal is fraught with uncertainty. Assuming early City Hall political support holds through talks on a development deal, AEG would have to win over an NFL franchise, probably by persuading an ...