AXS inks ticket deal for Denver-owned venues

The AEG Live-owned group becomes the city’s first exclusive ticket provider.

The city of Denver has finalized a fiveyear contract to make theAEGLive-owned AXS the exclusive ticket seller for all city venues, Denver Arts & Venues spokesman Brian Kitts said Thursday.

“It basically puts the city on an even foot- ing, from amusic management standpoint, as the other promoters in town,” he said.

The contract guarantees the city and AXS each about $4 million in net revenue over five years. The deal covers all cityowned venues, including Red Rocks Amphitheatre, the Denver Coliseum, Boettcher Concert Hall, Ellie Caulkins Opera House and the Buell Theatre.

AEG Live Rocky Mountains currently runs most of the non-municipal professional music venues in the Denver-Boulder area, including Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre, the Ogden Theatre, the Gothic Theatre and Bluebird Theater. AEG Live, in partnership with Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, also runs the FirstBankCenter in Broomfield.

Live Nation Entertainment-owned Ticketmaster, Kroenke Sports& Entertainmentowned Altitude Tickets and TicketsWest also bid for the contract.

The contract givesAXS $3 per ticket. The city also guaranteed it will sell at least 300,000 tickets a year throughAXS and will pay a penalty if it does not meet that goal.

“We think that’s a pretty manageable figure,” Kitts said. “There’s about twice that number going through Red Rocks alone.”