Jackson"s Concert Sees a Big Loss

Michael Jackson's Seoul concert, staged on June 25, could have lost 2 billion won.
The concert's gate receipts totaled a disappointing 4 billion won on 45,000 tickets sold. From this money, 800 million won, 20 percent of the total, will be donated to UNICEF and the Republic of Korea National Red Cross. The rental charge for Olympic Stadium came in at a cool 1 billion won, and the taxes, including value added tax, total 800 million won, while 2.4 billion won is due to the Korean promoter, Cheil Communications.
Factoring the additional expenses for singers and construction of the stage, the loss is likely to soar to 2 billion won.
Experts are placing the blame squarely on the shoulders on the event coordinator's numerous mistakes, such as reducing the number of seats to 45,000 from 60,000 and not charging for the TV rights.
Kang Joo-an : jooan@joongang.co.kr