LN, County Reach Deal On Montage Lease

Live Nation will pay Lackawanna County, Pa., an estimated $300,000 in new ticket fees this year at the Pavilion At Montage Mountain as part of an amended concession agreement approved April 19 by county commissioners. 

facebook.com/ThePavilionatMontageMountain – Pavilion At Montage Mountain
near Scranton, Pa. 

The figure is based on projections the 17,528-capacity venue will sell approximately 200,000 tickets, according to the Scranton, Pa., Times-Tribune. Live Nation gets an annual option to terminate the remainder of the lease “in addition to provisions providing pre-approval for some events and addressing parking concerns,” according to the paper.

Ticket fees will rise from $1.50 this year to $2.50 in 2021, one year after the county’s debt service for construction is paid off. Lackawanna Country currently pays $800,000 annually on the debt service, while reportedly bringing in less than $500,000 per year from annual rent paid by Live Nation.

The parties have been negotiating over the lease since March 2016, when an opt-out window opened for Live Nation. A short-term agreement was reached that allowed Live Nation to stay on as facility manager at Montage Mountain, in Moosic, Pa., that season and requiring it to contribute some $75,000 to cover the cost of deputies to beef up security.