It looks like all the financial details of the Carrie Underwood Concert at East Tennessee State University are now out in the open… and it looks as if the college spent more than a little too much to bring that show to their students and guests of the students. The total spent to bring Carrie, her instrumentalists, and the stage to Memorial Stadium on the ETSU campus was $534,000. (How many scholarships could have been awarded with that kind of money!)
When you realize that only 8,000 people attended the concert, the cost of the tickets was $10 for guests and free for ETSU students, they sure didn’t bring a lot of revenue in that night. Students pay $20 in activities fees for both the fall and spring semester.
I know entertainers are working to make money … they have a lot of expenses. But I think ETSU should have taken all of that into consideration when they chose Carrie, instead of a performer who might not have demanded such a large fee for a one night show. An article in the Bristol newspaper said the cost of that show came out to $41,077 per song, or $7,120 per minute for the time she played. Surely she could have dropped that to $5,000 a minute for a college performance. ETSU is the only college she played this year — maybe now we know why. No one else was willing to put out that much money for one show.
I certainly can’t speak for the administration of East Tennessee State University, but I have a feeling they won’t be so quick to drop half a million dollars on another concert any time soon.
How do you feel about it? Is there any performer out there today who should expect $7,000 per minute to put on a show? I know it was a good show — but that wasn’t my question. Take care guys, talk to you all soon!
Country
country5@hotmail.com
That’s really crazy to think about. Surely Carrie herself doesn’t decide that number…Her career is BOOMING right now. Guess her managers take as much advantage of that as they can. That’s A LOT of money. Geez!!
Hi Stephanie,
I know you’re right about management getting a lot of the money ETSU paid for Carrie’s concert. There are no doubt a lot of “management and agency folks” getting rich off of Carrie’s talent.
She is now an established star! She needs to think about renegotiating her contracts, and if her current group of “people” won’t take less, find someone who will. I know there are capable booking agents and management groups out there who would be more than happy to handle her for a smaller percentage of her gross.
Thanks for your comment!
Country