The final numbers of the Florida A&M Homecoming 2009 concert are out. A report obtained by the Famuan, Wednesday afternoon, showed the total concert expenses at $212,061.66. FAMU fronted $150,000 to concert promoter of Double Trouble Entertainment, Will “The Thrill” McKenzie. McKenzie expenses totaled to $181,023.25, fronting most of the money for the concert before the university disbursed funds to him. The concert’s total net profit came to $2,808.34. McKenzie received 40 percent of that, $1,123.34.
Last year, the concert’s net profit came to $3,094.41. Frontline Entertainment received 45 percent, which was $1,392.48, according to the report.
Advance and at the door ticket sales totaled $66,870.
“My only concern, which is sincere, is that I think the negative publicity really put a damper on the concert and hurt ticket sales to some extent,” said Henry Kirby, vice president of student life, in a e-mail. “However, if you compare profit margins and expenses for the 2009 HC concert with the 2008 HC concert neither generated big profits. In fact the profit margin between the two is negligible. It’s the risk that promoters undertake with such ventures. Although the 2008 had about 5,000 in attendance, the profit was only a few hundred dollars more than this year’s concert.”
Expenses by McKenzie of $31,023.25, which exceeded the advance of $150,000 and per terms of contract, are legally reimbursable as with past contracts with other promoters such as Frontline. This is not unusual and is standard practice for concert promotions at most universities. McKenzie began contracting acts the end of September, using his own money upfront. He didn’t receive any money from the university until the beginning of homecoming week. All promotion and financing were done by McKenzie’s company.
“The university made profit, my company [Double Trouble Entertainment] made a profit,” McKenzie said. “All of the artists that were contracted did perform.”
Kirby said that McKenzie cooperated well when asked to provide documents to the university about the concert.
“The finances and record keeping were not out of the ordinary,” Kirby said. “The promoter was forthcoming in providing records when requested by the university. “We had no problems with the promoter responding to our requests,” Kirby said. “He [McKenzie] was always cooperative.”