FireAid Stream Extended, Ballmers Pledge To Continue Donation Match

The streamers that helped FireAid reach more than 50 million viewers have committed to keeping the on-demand streams of the benefit concert active for one year, while Steve and Connie Ballmer pledged to continue matching donations made during viewings (or repeat viewings) of the star-studded six-hour show.

The basket of streaming services that will have the concert, which featured more than 30 artists Jan. 30 at Inglewood, California’s Kia Forum and Intuit Dome, include Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, iHeart, KTLA+, Max, Netflix, Paramount+, Peacock/NBCNewsNow, Sirius XM, TikTok, Veeps, and YouTube.

FireAid has already raised more than $100 million from ticket sales, sponsorships, merchandise sales and donations from the public including private gifts from the Azoff family, the Eagles, Andrew Hauptman and Ellen Bronfman Hauptman, and U2. 

Operating costs were offset by the LA Clippers and. Live Nation served as the production partner.

The presenting partners of FireAid were Kaiser Permanente, Live Nation and Scopely. More than 50 brands were sponsors. Including Diamond Partners American Express, AT&T, Capital Group, Netflix, Snap Inc., U.S. Bank, UBS, Venmo and Visa Foundation; Gold Partners AEG Presents, DIRECTV, Goldman Sachs, HBO, Intuit, Starbucks, YouTube and the Verizon Foundation; and Silver Partners – CalHOPE, Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios, JPMorganChase, Salesforce, Schuman Family Foundation, SiriusXM, Sony Honda Mobility, Spotify and TikTok.

The FireAid Grants Advisory Committee, composed of longtime LA-region philanthropic leaders are working to identify key areas of need. Led by the Annenberg Foundation, the committee has been listening daily to affected communities, assessing local resource gaps to ensure aid reaches those most in need, and researching the handling of other fire disasters, such as those in Maui and Northern California. 

The first phase of grants are expected to be awarded by mid-February.