London’s Royal Parks renewed its contract with AEG for concerts at Hyde Park, but Live Nation isn’t having it.
According to Billboard, Royal Parks rejected a competing bid from Live Nation and instead renewed its contract with AEG to hold concerts at the park through 2025. The deal was first signed in 2012 and then re-upped for two more years in 2017, however, Live Nation previously held a contract since 2001, but the promoter had dropped its 2012 bid to hold concerts at the park because of noise requirements and logistical demands by the venue. Now, the live entertainment giant has filed a legal appeal to challenge Royal Parks’ handling of the bid process.
Hyde Park, one of the eight parks owned by England’s royal family and managed by the Royal Parks non-profit, has hosted concerts as a part of the British Summer Time concert series since 2012. It can hold nine major However, the venue used to be a home for festivals like Wireless and Hard Rock Calling, and in honor of the Summer Olympic Games, Live Nation hosted 25 concerts in the park in 2012. Live Nation eventually backed out of its bed after disagreements over which artists should play at the venue as well as “unrealistic revenue assumptions,” the company’s chief operating officer John Probyn noted in an interview with NME back in 2012.
“No promoter could go in and decently run a gig for more than we offered,” Probyn said at the time, explaining that he’s “not prepared to go on as a loss maker.”
A spokesperson from Royal Parks told Billboard that it would be “inappropriate to comment while matters are ongoing” but noted that “we are confident we have run the procurement process in accordance with the law.”
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Photo: Flickr user Daniel
