news Press Drama its Here: Billboard - Cancellation Could Cost Her Millions

[Barajas]

Britney Spears' Domination Las Vegas Residency Cancellation Could Cost Her Millions

While scheduled February and March dates are likely lost, MGM might be able to fill in some of the pop star's previously scheduled summer dates at the Park Theater.

Britney Spears' announcement Friday (Jan. 4) that she would not perform Domination, her new Las Vegas residency at the Park Theater, came as a shock to many looking forward to the pop star's newest Sin City run. The 31-show run was scheduled to begin Feb. 13; it's unclear whether the performance will be revived at a later date.

Sources familiar with the show say ticket sales had been slower than other residence shows at the Park Theater, including Lady Gaga's double residency which started late last month and includes one performance of her pop hits and one focused on jazz and piano music. Cher and Aerosmith also have residencies booked for the 5,200-seat venue this year.

 

 

In 2017 Spears wrapped her four-year, 248-show Piece of Me residency at Planet Hollywood, followed by the 2018 Piece of Me tour on the East Coast and through Europe. Sources tell Billboard the demand for Spears in 2019 had dropped -- a situation only compounded by competing Las Vegas residency shows by Gaga, Mariah Carey, Gwen Stefani and the Backstreet Boys.

Spears' widely panned announcement for Domination, also didn't help matters. She first appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show to announce a forthcoming big announcement, making for a segment that was more awkward than anticipation-building. Days later, fans tuned in for a 28-minute so-called "official announcement" that showed Spears turning up late to only wave to fans before walking down several steps to a waiting SUV that quickly drove off, leaving many bewildered by her behavior.

Fans were far more sympathetic Friday (Jan. 4) when the "Toxic" singer announced the cancellation, noting her intent to spend more time with her family, revealing her father suffered a life-threatening colon rupture last year and has been hospitalized since. He is expected to recover.

 

Sources say the cancellation could cost Spears her guarantee for the show, which could be worth several million dollars. There would also be costs for the venue and its owners MGM Grand, which likely already invested in preproduction for the show. That could easily add up to $2 million to $3 million, according to a source in Las Vegas familiar with residency shows.

There's also the lost marketing costs, including the strange-but-pricey Las Vegas October announcement and print and online advertisements spent on the show, plus the opportunity cost of having nine event nights in February and March go dark. While it might be difficult to fill those dates in a few weeks, the 22 dates scheduled for May, July and August are likely salvageable. The popular venue is typically booked out several years in advance and sources say the 2018 dates present an interesting opportunity for an artist or show looking to play in Las Vegas.

While it's unclear whether Spears' insurance would cover lost revenue, Paul Bassman of Ascend Insurance, which services the live entertainment industry, says it's common for artists to have policies that cover cancellation due to a family member's illness. But typically those policies only cover life-threatening illnesses.

"Since her father is expected to recover, that's typically not something that would be covered," Bassman says, adding that he does not have any inside knowledge of Spears' policy for the show.  

Bill Hornbuckle, president MGM Resorts International released a statement to Billboard, saying  “All of us at MGM Resorts wish Mr. Spears a speedy recovery. We wholly understand and respect Britney’s commitment to her family and believe that her place is with them during this important time.”

Reps for Spears did not respond to requests for comment.

 

 

 

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Well at least they showed 1 day of respect for JL health... Im surprised these kind of shady comments are cooming from Billboard though. 

I blame this on Larry (love doing that!!)... he could have waited and make things right, but he rushed tooo many things (tour and new residency) and didnt focus on the important (music for the fans and wellbeing for her).

https://www.billboard.com/articles/business/8492275/britney-spears-domination-las-vegas-residency-cancellation-cost-millions?utm_source=twitter

 

[Hypnotherapy]

There’s not a single shady thing here though. Her own die hard fans have said much worse.

It’s a clear fact the planning and marketing up to this point have been dire.

[Shadow.]

im sure the financial loss is what britney is really worried about at the moment

[Spearsfan]

2 minutes ago, Hypnotherapy said:

There’s not a single shady thing here though. Her own die hard fans have said much worse.

It’s a clear fact the planning and marketing up to this point have been dire.

I agree. Britney is a millionaire a few million won’t break her. 

It’s fine 

[Cappycorn87]

The show is postponed. Not canceled

Whatever money lost now will be made up on future dates

This is the media and they need a story/headline

[Cigarettes&Cologne]

while i understand how hard it must be for the family at the moment, his condition is stable and he is likely to recover, so it's fine to talk business in my view. if he was in critical condition it would be insensitive. i think jamie's illness plus the stress of getting the show ready in a month and its low sales have pushed her to finally stop. all summer i kept thinking 'she needs a break' watching her performances, and i think she's finally snapped and is doing it.

[Good4Ya]

So the postponement had been a possibility for months hence the lack of hype and publicity (or complete absence thereof tbh). Now everything makes sense. 

[maquisl]

Nothing new or false... It's all true. As I said yesterday, she's losing more money by doing this than going ahead with the residency with low tickets sales. Of course, I don't think she cares anyway... 

One thing is for sure... They didn't lose much money with the marketing campaign 

[Alex_1991]

6 minutes ago, Cappycorn87 said:

The show is postponed. Not canceled

Whatever money lost now will be made up on future dates

This is the media and they need a story/headline

I kinda agree (for once). I think that team Britney and Park Theater have a sort of agreement, so both won't waste money.

[Isla]

They wrote that headline as if she's bankrupt. She has plenty of money in the bank but looking after her ill father is more important right now.

[Cuteney]

Tbh, we don't know **** about her father situation, but seems like he's not close to the grave

Though financial discussions are relevant, cuz you know her father might be ill, but think about those dancers and all the team around the show they had their schedule planned for one year at the very least, now from an second to the other they basically became unemployed

You know, they may have family to feed, or health costs to fund for a relative 

It's kind of unfair just because HER dad (who's reportedly recovering) the whole team has to be put (for some of them maybe) in a more critical situation

[Barajas]

3 minutes ago, Isla. said:

They wrote that headline as if she's bankrupt. She has plenty of money in the bank but looking after her ill father is more important right now.

yeah thats my point.. its surprising to me that Billboard makes a headline like this..
like "whyy?? we used to be friend Billb... "

[Cuteney]

Though when they say it might be because of low ticket sales I think it's the other way around

Tickets sales are low because she did no promo (even for her standards), which might be explained by his health state

[ubritney]

42 minutes ago, Mariahkween said:

**** them, her dad is sick and they're talking about money? **** them for real, whatever happened to sensitivity and respect? they are trash

**** the millions, as long as she's there for her family 

I don’t know who downvoted you but I do feel sorry for this sad soul.

[generation glory]

Fair and honest article by Billboard. Of course they’ll report on this aspect of postponing the show how could they not? That’s what the mag is about, all aspects of entertainment. I get the feeling their “sources familiar with the show” is indeed Larry and various someones from Park Theater speaking anonymously. Stand out remarks from Billboard:

 “Sources familiar with the show say ticket sales had been slower than other residence shows at the Park Theater. Sources tell Billboard the demand for Spears in 2019 had dropped -- a situation only compounded by competing Las Vegas residency shows by Gaga, Mariah Carey, Gwen Stefani and the Backstreet Boys. Spears' widely panned announcement for Domination, also didn't help matters.”

^^ Ok. Can we accept that while the sluggish tix sales is NOT the main reason for putting Domination on hold, that doesn’t mean it was not a factor in deciding to postpone it? It was a factor. Family first, yes. Always! BUT... This is a business not just a show. I don’t see anything wrong with admitting the truth. I understand many people buy their tix the day of the show but *maybe* Team Britney and Park Theater didn’t feel they could gamble on a lot of randoms casually popping in to see Britney’s show regularly that would compensate for the lackluster number of tix bought in advance??

Also thanks to Britney’s impact so many more artists from her generation (BSB, Gwen & Gaga) have brand new residencies too. The field is oversaturated with artists on their first go round with a residency plus Brit was just there not even a year ago, for 4 years playing POM.

Many others have already said all of this but maybe it takes Billboard saying it this time for some fans to face reality. The demand isn’t as strong for a new Britney residency. The rollout such as the (non) announcement was a big disappointment. To many of us the rehearsal vids looked as though Dom was shaping up to be nothing more than POM 3.0. Jamie’s illness aside, postponing Domination gives them all time to get things together including Britney herself, make the necessary changes to give fans a much improved show. I just hope for everyone’s sake Domination will go forward at a later date and it’ll actually be worth peoples $ and time and that Britney performs good consistently.  P.S. get well Jamie.☺️

 

[ZoneGirl]

30 minutes ago, Cuteney said:

Tbh, we don't know **** about her father situation, but seems like he's not close to the grave

Though financial discussions are relevant, cuz you know her father might be ill, but think about those dancers and all the team around the show they had their schedule planned for one year at the very least, now from an second to the other they basically became unemployed

You know, they may have family to feed, or health costs to fund for a relative 

It's kind of unfair just because HER dad (who's reportedly recovering) the whole team has to be put (for some of them maybe) in a more critical situation

I get what you're saying about taking other people's family and financial situations into account. But at the heart of it, the show is Britney's show and she's the one "in charge" so-to-speak. She acknowledged the decision was a hard one and it seems like they tried to see if they could still go on with the show next month. Alas, that was not the case.

Still, it's terrible for the dancers and other personnel to have to find other work to make up for the income they'll likely be losing from the show.

[.: lucky :.]

literal pocket change to her

[falka]

Can a person under financial conservatorship lose all that millions publicly without any changes in structure of conservatorship? Didn't they score awards for themselves for splendid managing skills?
 

[Spearsfan]

55 minutes ago, maquisl said:

Nothing new or false... It's all true. As I said yesterday, she's losing more money by doing this than going ahead with the residency with low tickets sales. Of course, I don't think she cares anyway... 

One thing is for sure... They didn't lose much money with the marketing campaign 

The real winners of this whole thing moneywise is MGM. Because they now know how Britney was selling and what profit the show was estimated to make. 

I’m really interested to see if the contract will stay the same or they will change it if Vegas continues. 

[Spearsfan]

Just now, falka said:

Can a person under financial conservatorship lose all that millions publicly without any changes in structure of conservatorship? Didn't they score awards for themselves for splendid managing skills?
 

If it’s for the well being of the client I’m sure won’t be held against them. 

Britney’s mental stage could be effected by her dad being ill, therefore not able to continue work.