|
Assistant Police Chief Earl Paysinger says anywhere from a quarter-million to 700,000 people may try to reach the arena, even though a wide area around Staples Center will be sealed off to those without tickets.
City Councilwoman Jan Perry strongly urged people to stay home and watch the memorial on TV. The ceremony will not be shown on Staples' giant outdoor TV screen and there will be no funeral procession through the city.
But public safety officials appeared to assume their requests to stay home would have little effect. Since Jackson's death, fans have flocked to Jackson sites from Los Angeles to his Neverland Ranch in rural Santa Barbara County.
Staples Center is offering the memorial tickets through an Internet lottery. Eleven thousand tickets are for the arena and 6,500 for the adjacent Nokia Theatre.
People who want tickets must register on the Web at Staplescenter.com. After 6 p.m. Saturday, 8,750 names will be randomly selected to receive two tickets each. Notifications will go out on Sunday.
After the ticketing details were announced on television, it became impossible to log on to the arena's Web site.
Brent Trueheart, 20, of Los Angeles, went online on his cellphone immediately after hearing the announcement.
"It kept saying 'service unavailable, service unavailable,' and finally it got through. So once it got through, I started celebrating," he said. "It feels real good."
No details were given about the actual memorial events.
The memorial comes as the nation's second-largest city struggles with a $530 million budget deficit.
Perry said the cost of police protection for "extraordinary" events like the memorial is built into the Police Department's budget, but she still solicited help for "incremental costs."
Last month, donations covered about $850,000 of the city's $1 million cost for the Los Angeles Lakers' NBA championship parade. Critics had blasted the idea of using city money when it is considering layoffs to close its budget gap.
The treasure trove of material, along with possible insurance proceeds and ticket sales to memorabilia collectors, could help benefit the late singer's estate, which is burdened by an estimated $400 million in debt.
"He was our partner in life and now he's our partner in death," Randy Phillips, president and CEO of concert promoter AEG Live, said in an interview at Staples Center.
Jackson had been rehearsing for a giant series of comeback shows in London.
"If we all do our jobs right, we could probably raise hundreds of millions of dollars just on the stuff we have worldwide and then the estate could eradicate its debt."
AEG Live also stands to profit from the material. Jackson's album sales have exploded since his death, with three of his albums in the top three spots and 2.3 million tracks downloaded in the United States, Nielsen SoundScan said. Worldwide digital downloads for the week hit 3.3 million.
The clip released Thursday shows Jackson dancing and singing to "They Don't Really Care About Us" on June 23 during a rehearsal at Staples Center. He died two days later at age 50.
Phillips said he released the clip because he was tired of seeing the singer negatively portrayed in the media since his death.
"I said let's grab one piece where we can show people where he was headed," he said. "He was developing getting his moves together."
The rehearsal footage, shot in high definition, includes Jackson performing his hits "Thriller" and "Beat It." Other footage shows production meetings and auditions.
"We have enough audio to make two live albums, and he's never done a live album," Phillips said. "This is really the last great work of a 21st century genius."
The production budget for the 50 London shows, which were set to begin July 13, swelled to more than $25 million, he said.
Part of those costs included 3D technology used to produce what Phillips called "mini-movies" involving "Thriller" and "Earth Song."
"That's what's so compelling," he said. "Just `Thriller' is nine minutes of 3D visual insanity."
Another possibility is a tribute show at The O2 arena in London that would be broadcast worldwide and then sold as a DVD, the promoter said.
Phillips said AEG Live is waiting for Jackson's estate to be settled to see who the company will be dealing with. The estate "would get the lion's share" of any profits from the release of the rehearsal footage, he said.
Insurance will help cover any losses on the London shows if the coroner's autopsy shows that Jackson died accidentally -- including of a drug overdose -- but not if he died of natural causes, Phillips said.
AEG Live took out $17.5 million in insurance coverage through Lloyd's of London.
That would fall short of the $25 million to $30 million Phillips said AEG Live spent on Jackson's advance, producing the shows at The O2 arena, covering some of Jackson's debts, and paying his staff and rent on the Holmby Hills mansion where he died.
Phillips added, however, that 40 to 50 percent of concert ticket-buyers have so far decided to receive tickets as memorabilia in lieu of a full refund, a pace that is on track to help the company at least break even on its expenses.
The sold-out concerts had garnered some $85 million in ticket sales, but AEG has offered full refunds on the face value and surcharges.
Phillips said AEG is not in any financial trouble: "I'm heartbroken but the company's fine."
Jackson left behind a battle for control of his estate. Lawyers named in Jackson's will as executors estimated the estate is worth more than $500 million. His mother, Katherine Jackson, is also seeking to become estate administrator.
Phillips said he saw no need to sue the estate to recover any of AEG's costs.
"Right now I think the estate and AEG are very much in line and not adversarial," he said, "and I'd like to keep it that way."
|
|
