The Prospector (El Paso, Tex.), Vol. 44, No. 62, Ed. 1 Tuesday, March 28, 1978 Page: 1 of 8
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: The Prospector and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the University of Texas at El Paso.
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Tuesday
March 28, 1978
The University of Texas at El Paso
Vol. 44 No. 62
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Photo by Armando Maese
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Kenny Rogers. . .
Concerts hit sour note; lose money
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live
The director says he now is looking for more and different
shows. To Rosenfeld, time also is a factor for he says it will
take time for persons to hear about the center.
Until then the building will continue to house special
events. “It is already built; we have to maintain it if there’s
anything in it or not,” the director says.
And the president’s assistant points to the University’s
primary function: “We are still having classes, students are
still being educated, and that’s the business we’re in.”
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A10 n (
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by Beth Waters
The Jackson Browne concert cost the University $17,110.
When the Harlem Globetrotters visited campus, the
University gained $16,854. . .
After the Johnny Cash concert, the University realized a
$11,567 loss. . .
These figures mean the University lost $11,823 on its last
three major entertainment events in the Special Events
Center (SEC).
“So far we are operating the building at a break-even
point,” Steve Rosenfeld, SEC director, notes.
“We’re on a rollercoaster. We’re going up and down-as
long as we go up for every time we go down, we’re doing
well.”
Yet the director says he had expected a great deal more
profit and he was surprised when Johnny Cash returned
$7,5 00 to the University from his original $36,000 contract
fee. “He saw that the building was taking a loss; he did it out
of his own kindness,” Rosenfeld comments.
How serious is the revenue loss?
"I'm not sitting here wringing my hands,” Wynn
Anderson, assistant to the president, says. “We’re not in the
business to make or lose money,” the administrator notes,
adding, however, that two or three activities did not go over
well.
Anderson asserts that profitmaking is not a motive in the
operation of the center; however, he later commented that
the administration is concerned about the extent of the losses
and it wants to know why there has been little or no revenue.
“This means we will have to reassess our situation,” the
president’s assistant says. “If you had walked in here two
weeks ago and told me that Johnny Cash was going to bust, I
would have laughed in your face.” Now, Anderson describes
the incident as “spilled milk,” and says he is “not about to
cry over it.”
Despite these acknowledgments, Anderson and Rosenfeld
seem perplexed, citing specific reasons for low attendance at
recent concerts.
“You can ask any promoter in the world. It’s a flip of the
coin on any given night whether a show is going to do well,”
Rosenfeld comments, citing several reasons for each event’s
failure to attract a large crowd.
“Jackson Browne was just a case of overestimating his
drawing appeal, and Holiday on Ice (performed in the
coliseum) killed us on the Johnny Cash concert,” the director
observes.
Rosenfeld also suggests part of the problem is that the
building still is new to the public. “People are still learning
about it,” he notes, “and we are booking a new type of
entertainment.”
Rosenfeld contends this new type of entertainment
excludes rock groups and draws low attendance at his
concerts, commenting that “rock shows are the only things
that are selling in El Paso these days.”
If this is so, why are rock concerts excluded from the
center?
“I don’t want to see it (the building) messed up,”
Rosenfeld asserts, adding that he wants to present a “class
image” of the center.
As part of that image, Rosenfeld views the building’s
reserve seating policy as a hindrance. “The rock shows are
not interested in reserved seating,” he remarks. “They just
want to be able to squeeze as many people in the building as
they can and walk away with top dollar.”
Citing differing and similar views, Anderson compares
Editor’s note: This story does not include
returns from the recent “Musical Encounters
of the Fourth Kind,” a musical production
accompanied by a laser light show held in the
Special Events Center.
asking for a specific reason for the poor showing to asking
him to “gaze into a crystal ball.”
He then recounted a discussion he had with a
countrywestern fan who did not attend the Cash concert.
Anderson said the fan prefers the coliseum because it serves
beer, and “if these are the kinds of conditions, we don’t need
to be in the business.”
The administrator agrees with Rosenfeld that the newness
of the building plays a role in the problem, and he says that
parking and smoking restrictions plus competition from other
buildings also may be considerations.
But Anderson says Holiday on Ice did not conflict with
the Cash concert, although he does not cite a specific reason
for its revenue loss.
Both Anderson and Rosenfeld suggest a major limitation is
the UT System Board of Regents restriction on use-for
profit-of University facilities by outside groups. This,
Anderson says, eliminates the use of promoters for booking
entertainment. “Promoters agree to underwrite any losses,”
he explains, “but we can’t take that risk.”
Getting around these limitations finds the two men
differing again.
“We now know that the star quality will be fewer and
farther between,” Anderson suggests. “So we will have to fall
back on the safer activities.”
Rosenfeld cites other alternatives to the problem. “I see us
booking closer to the rock shows-the Eagles, America,
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University of Texas at El Paso. The Prospector (El Paso, Tex.), Vol. 44, No. 62, Ed. 1 Tuesday, March 28, 1978, newspaper, March 28, 1978; El Paso, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1621023/m1/1/?q=music: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting University of Texas at El Paso.