Last year, country music star Garth Brooks began his latest tour at Allstate Arena in Rosemont, but after months of resistance the village has only now released certain financial details of Brooks's 11-show stand.
Though the concerts were held in September, Rosemont declined to release financial figures, even passing an ordinance to keep that information under wraps. At that time, Brooks was said to gross $12 million from selling 183,535 tickets to the shows — both huge numbers — but now the Chicago Tribune has reported that the village also paid Brooks $1,050,000 in the form of a "rebate". That is, the report said, Rosemont paid $100,000 for each of 10 shows, and another $50,000 for the 11th show, which did not sell out.
A spokesperson for Rosemont told the Tribune that the town made more than $2 million from the concerts, but did not provide any documentation to back up that claim. The Tribune explained that Rosemont only released the information after Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan issued a binding opinion late last month that the financial details were subject to freedom-of-information laws. It's not clear if the deal with Brooks is typical, since Rosemont has not released information about other agreements with entertainers who perform at Allstate Arena, the report added. Continue>>>
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