David Brauer [on the position that the Ordway deal would result in its monopoly of the big theater market]
No, it is. If you wanted to present a big theater show, where else would you play? You'd have to deal with the Ordway. Me: I'm still unconvinced, but open to argument. I'll grudgingly accept for purposes of this argument that the Ordway deal creates a monopoly on the 'big theater show' market in the Twin Cities. But I'm unconvinced that the Ordway--or the proposed Twin Cities Theater Alliance--will exhibit monopolistic practices, such as artificially inflated ticket prices or, conversely, artificially low prices to drive perceived competitors away. It also does not prevent development of other theaters and/or bookings of shows there, nor does it appear to extend to other small and regional theaters. The TCTA will control the bookings at a total of four theaters--certainly significant theaters--and I'll grant that this presents an issue. But I genuinely ask for some concrete examples as to how the Ordway deal will hurt consumers, which is the ultimate issue confronting allegations of monopolistic practices. Also, couldn't a negotiated contract with the City of Minneapolis address this issue, if the City is truly so concerned with a perceived monopoly? Moreover, the new TCTA will be accountable to its funders, many of whom demand diverse programming. It's not a private entity accountable to private shareholders and thus outside the public realm, but a public nonprofit entity accountable to its board, and in turn accountable to the public. I think that has to be part of the equation in arguing it is acting like a typical monopoly. Finally, I need to soften my frustrated overstatement that "no theater entity in the Twin Cities has broader direct public support and a stronger commitment to the public good [than the Ordway]." I obviously neglected the Guthrie and the Children's Theater, two real gems with broad public support. Gregory Luce St. Paul REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
