OPINION

PAULZILLA
Paul Allen has squashed another company's plans to build an amphitheater at the raceway. Now he wants to do it himself.

For information on the dozens of media-related companies in which Paul Allen has invested, visit the Web site paulallen.com

 

Maybe it's a stretch to suggest that for City Commissioner Jim Francesconi, the next few months may be the most important of his short political career.

Closer to the truth, perhaps, is that Francesconi's current negotiations with Paul Allen will say a lot about his attention to detail, his interest in serving the greater good and his sophistication in dealing with someone who is seeking to muscle in on a larger share of the local entertainment market.

With little public fanfare, Francesconi decided earlier this year that if the city wants to build an outdoor amphitheater at Portland International Raceway, it will have to do business with Paul Allen or, more specifically, J. Isaac, the former rock promoter who is now a senior vice president for Allen.

Last year, when Francesconi met with representatives of another company to discuss building such a concert venue at the city-owned Northeast Portland racetrack, he received the equivalent of a cease and desist order from Isaac. The message wasn't delivered by fat guys with cigars, but the point was clear: If you are going to get into the entertainment business, do it with us ("Stop Your Engines," 500 words, WW, Oct. 1, 1997).

Isaac and Allen had bite to back up their bark. Earlier this decade, when Allen built the Rose Garden and promised to keep the Trail Blazers in Portland, the gazillionaire extracted a promise in return: For 60 years, Portland would not compete with the Rose Garden by developing any other venues--including an amphitheater--unless the Blazers were a partner.

This swagger annoyed a number of people. One is Bob Ames, the former banker, current Pearl Street developer and longtime race car enthusiast, who told WW, "I'm concerned about the monopoly, but that is the way it has to be."

Who cares if Allen (who, as one of two Microsoft founders, knows something about monopolies) wants a stranglehold on the Portland entertainment business? Anyone who is concerned about the media/entertainment consolidation that brings us closer to the day when a rock band under a contract to a promoter is glowingly reviewed by a magazine before it releases a record and plays a concert tour--and the promoter, magazine, record company and concert hall are all owned by the same company.

The other concern about Allen is that he hasn't delivered on his promise to make the Rose Quarter a vibrant commercial district. Instead, the plaza of stores and restaurants bordering the Rose Garden is a ghost town--except when the Blazers have a home game.

In light of the non-compete clause, Francesconi says that if Portland--one of the few metropolitan areas without a large outdoor amphitheater--wants to build one at the racetrack, it will have to do business with the Blazers. So he is trying to cut the best deal possible with the Blazers, one that ideally would have them foot the bill for construction and related improvements and still reserve for the city a healthy percentage of all tickets and concessions sold.

We have some simple advice for Francesconi: If you can't strike a good bargain, do nothing. Someone else will probably go ahead and build an amphitheater on private land. Although the city would lose some revenue, it would gain diversity in the entertainment market.

Allen might be the region's 800-pound gorilla, but this doesn't mean he should get to sit anywhere he wants.

The proposed amphitheater would have approximately 18,000 seats and host 25 outdoor
concerts a year. The total cost with
related improvements (assuming it can overcome neighborhood concerns) would exceed $17 million.

 

originally published July 29, 1998