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First we had the ticketing ordeal at the Events Center, that SMG claims they can take no action on (or will not take any action on). In other words they are allowing the promoters, the ticket brokers and artists to have dibs on tickets to a facility we are paying the mortgage/maintenance on, and holding us hostage to the higher scalped ticket prices.

Now they are not allowing a local BBQ joint to partake in RibFest, saying it is only for ‘national and international’ competitors. This isn’t a French cooking Festival, this is BBQ ribs.

But if that isn’t enough to torque you off a bit, I had a South DaCola foot soldier tell me the other day that when he tried to attain copies of the sponsorship agreements between the sponsors and Events Center, SMG told him that they were ‘private’ because they are between SMG and the sponsors AND not the city. As an attorney, he pointed out that SMG is merely an ‘agent’ of the city holding those contracts and it should be public record.

He didn’t have much luck with his argument.

I guess what bothers me the most is that we are allowing an independent contractor to not only bathe in the profits from the Event Center while we get to wallow in mortgage payments, we are allowing this public contractor to dictate to us, the ones providing them the opportunity to make a profit in our community, how and when we will be entertained and by who, and what that price will be.

If that doesn’t sound like an entertainment dictator, I don’t know what does?

14 Thoughts on “Why are we allowing SMG to run a dictatorship on entertainment options in our community?

  1. Dan Daily on March 26, 2015 at 1:32 pm said:

    No ticky for you! Just traffic & crowds so you can’t get around town, more taxes for infrastructure, and more law enforcement expenditure.

  2. toclayco on March 26, 2015 at 5:50 pm said:

    You can accuse SMG of a lot of things, this Rib fest situation being one of them (BTW, notice how this long-standing situation is now news, since the Argus dropped its sponsorship. Suck on that)
    But the ticket situation is out of their control. The promoters and artists call those shots.
    SMG mans up…guess what happens? No Seger. No Eagles. No Luke Bryan.
    But you can get tractor pulls. And rodeos.
    SMG is a pawn in the concert game. Just like the chumps scrambling for tickets.

  3. Ol'Bubbleguts on March 26, 2015 at 8:15 pm said:

    I stopped going to events/concerts when they went above $14.00 I aint a rich man.
    Seen a whole lot in my day.Not from here I saw Heart and Aerosmith in Radio City Music Hall.
    $5.75.
    Joe Satriani last one I went to $19.00 Electric Factory
    PhillaPA.
    Now you can’t even wait out in line to get the best seats
    they had a thing called tickertron where I am from.
    Go stand in line with a giant piss in your bladder reserve your place first dibs on tickets.
    Now it is all electronic.Kiss those $13 2nd row tix goodbye.
    PRE VAN HAGAR 8)

    OBG
    im dunn

  4. Johnny Roastbeef on March 26, 2015 at 10:17 pm said:

    Maybe I’m crazy, but I’m all for not allowing the local rib joints to partake in RibFest. If I goto RibFest, I would rather try the ribs from someone new not someone that I can’t get ribs from in town every day.

  5. Ol'Bubbleguts on March 27, 2015 at 5:23 am said:

    Ewww you fraternalize with the scum of the earth.
    Lawyers!

    OBG

  6. l3wis on March 27, 2015 at 9:00 am said:

    JR –

    First off, I stopped going to ‘Rip-Fest’ years ago. It is a gigantic rip-off fly fest. Secondly, while I would agree that I like to try different rib places, the problem is Rip-Fest invites the same 8 booths back each year instead of rotating in different participants.

  7. Johnny Roastbeef on March 27, 2015 at 9:31 am said:

    I have not been to RibFest in many years either. Doubt I’ll go anytime in the future either.

    Just not sure why anyone would want to pay more to eat ribs from a local vendor at RibFest when they have access to it for less money the rest of the year.

    I guess we can all agree it’s turned into a pretty bad event.

  8. Dan Daily on March 27, 2015 at 1:34 pm said:

    Johnny has a point. Ribfest is just another commercial ripoff. Now, it’s compounded with no place to park.

    Wouldn’t it be interesting if local excluded BBQ business leased Lifelight land 20 miles south for their own festival? Come to think of it, how bout follow it with a chili cookoff and Jazz festival? It’s perfect for getting around having to pay off the mayor and Sioux City hotels are cheaper, nicer, and always available.

  9. Winston on March 27, 2015 at 9:11 pm said:

    Why are we really surprised? When the Area was built, it was not named the Morrell Arena rather the Sioux Falls Arena. Today we have the Sanford Events Center.

    Just as there needs to be a wall between church and state. There should also needs to be a wall between corporate and state.

    But unfortunately, this political virtue has been lost all in the name of profit, licensing rights, and the fallacy of “running government like a business.”

  10. Ol'Bubbleguts on March 28, 2015 at 11:17 am said:

    Ohhh I haven’t had chili in 4 years
    can’t afford the meat.
    I miss it.I used to make 8qts.at a time
    BTW fuck hyvee,..

    OBG

  11. Dan Daily on March 28, 2015 at 3:46 pm said:

    I agree Winston just don’t mention church. Next thing you know all the churches will be named Sanford or Huether. Moses will come back and we’ll get caught worshipping false gold credit cards.

    I’m liking my idea for affordable outside events with parking and located south out of town. Call it Two Siouxs (between Falls & City). The two will eventually grow together. There’s potential for property appreciation when there’s no zoning restrictions. Imagine the new campgrounds and water park resort hotels. Either city affords indoor recreation but neither focuses on outdoor activities.

  12. Poly43 on March 30, 2015 at 10:59 am said:

    Scott H…..as I recall the mmm was going to make sure no scalping would be allowed at the denny. Yet, when I go to stubhub, I’m seeing hundreds of scalpers with tickets for sale. Is there any way to stop this?

  13. Honestly, the scalping issue has to be fixed in the major markets. We just don’t have that power, and if Their Man Mike even attempts to do it we’ll just lose whatever shitty shows we’re already getting. Not that Your Highness would have the intellectual capacity to try. It would end up being like when Pearl Jam tried to go after Ticketmaster. The industry needs a truly major market (NY, LA, Chicago, etc.), or actually a group of them, to fix the issue.

  14. OldSlewFoot on April 1, 2015 at 8:15 am said:

    I have bought face value tickets for both concerts I wanted to go to here. You just have to go to the presale. That seems to be the business model now. Which is nothing special, you sign up to the artists’ facebook page, website, or even Ticketmaster sends you an email. And if they are gone right away, come back. Most concert presales are released throughout the 24 hours from the original presale time. I bought Cher tickets 6 hours after presale started. I bought Eagles tickets 20 minutes after it started. Thought I would be locked out for both.

    Scott – I looked at the Philly/Eagles concert. Cheapest seat on StubHub is around $1,300. In SF/Eagles all the lower bowl and floor were $179. Front 25 rows more. seats near where I have ($179) are now up for $300 on StubHub. I guess until people can no longer turn over purchased tickets and make money, this will be the way it is. Even ticketmaster has a “marketplace” for resale of tickets.

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