The deal to keep Lollapalooza in Chicago for the next 10 years guarantees a larger minimum payment to the city than that of the new NASCAR race beginning next year, while the NASCAR race has longer windows for both setting up and tearing down, according to the contracts for both Grant Park events obtained by NBC 5 Investigates.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced the deal to keep Lollapalooza in Chicago through 2032 at this year's music festival. The terms of the agreement obtained via open records request by NBC 5 Investigates show that C3, the event production company that produces Lollapalooza, will pay the city a guaranteed $2 million for a four-day festival, $1.5 million for a three-day festival and at least $750,000 even if no festival is held.
Those payments are guaranteed minimums. But the contract shows C3 will pay the Chicago Park District a share of total festival revenue: 5% of the first $30 million, 10% of revenue between $30 million and $50 million, then 20% of revenue between $50 million and $70 million. The brackets escalate by $1 million per year, according to the agreement. In announcing the deal late last month, Lightfoot's office said Lollapalooza generated $7.8 million in fees for the Park District in 2021.
The permit agreement for the new NASCAR race - a deal lasting three years - shows that NASCAR will pay the city a permit fee of $500,000 for next year's event, $550,000 for 2024, then $605,000 in 2025. NASCAR will pay the city $2 per ticket sold, excluding corporate suites and VIP passes, as well as a percentage of net commission on food and beverage: 15% next year, 20% in 2024, then 25% in 2025.
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While Lollapalooza will pay a guaranteed $750,000 to the city even if no festival is held, NASCAR's deal shows its organizers can terminate the agreement up to 180 days before the event, with no compensation guaranteed the city. If canceled within 180 days, the termination fee is $250,000.
The permit agreements show NASCAR has a 21-day staging window before the event, which is slated to take place on July 1 and 2 of 2023, then 10 days to take it down. Shortly thereafter, Lollapalooza gets 14 days to set up for the four-day event in late July or early August, following by seven days to take it all down. Between the two, parts of Grant Park will be tied up for much of the summer, from mid-June through the first week of August.
Lightfoot's press release announcing the deal also said it "formalized C3 $2.2 million commitment to Chicago Public Schools" - but the newly obtained agreement doesn't mention that.
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"If I said that, I misspoke," Lightfoot said when asked about the deal at an unrelated event Monday. "The $2 million comes to the city and then in addition to that, C3, as it has for a number of years, has committed to providing additional resources to CPS."
CPS said that while the financial commitment is not in the fine print of the contract as previously announced, C3 "will distribute $2.2 million over five years to more than 200 CPS schools," though the agreement runs for 10 years.
As far as other investments, the deal shows C3 will "make a $100K commitment to Tennis Court renovation."
On both Lollapalooza and the NASCAR race, some members of Chicago City Council said they heard many of the agreements' details from the media - and that they want more input before the mayor agrees to major deals like these.
"This is going to be a very profitable event for NASCAR with all of their marketing, with all of their branding, and all of their side deals, they’re going to do quite well on this, they’re making dollars and we’re making pennies," Hopkins said earlier this month, when NBC 5 Investigates showed him the details of the NASCAR agreement. "This is a bad deal for the taxpayers. Even if you’re a NASCAR fan, the city left a lot of money on the table."
"Sometimes we've got to move a lot faster than the City Council process will allow," Lightfoot said Monday. "We try to engage them at the beginning, throughout and after action."
"The devil is in the details and we’ve seen a very slow leak of what those details are," said state Rep. Kam Buckner, who's running for mayor. He's asking the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency to require air testing before and after the NASCAR race.
"If this is a good deal, then what's the harm in shining a light on it?" he added. "If this is a good deal, what's the harm in giving the people of Chicago and the elected representatives who have been duly elected by the people who live here, giving them the details and the rundown on what's happening?"
