Staples Center and the Forum are among Southern California's biggest and best-known arenas, but a lawsuit filed Wednesday suggests this town may not be big enough for the both of them.
Pitting theirs as a "David vs. Goliath" battle, executives at Forum Enterprises Inc., a unit of a church group that owns the 39-year-old Inglewood arena, disclosed that it was ailing financially and placed the blame on Anschutz Entertainment Group Inc. for allegedly steering concerts to its own venues, including Staples.
The lawsuit charges that Anschutz -- until this week the exclusive booking agent for the Forum -- had engaged in a conspiracy with Anschutz affiliates to "unlawfully monopolize" the Los Angeles entertainment market.
Concerts can be highly lucrative for arenas because of the fees and concession sales they generate. The Forum group is seeking to recover more than $5 million it alleged has been lost because of Anschutz's booking strategy.
"AEG does not want us to increase booking activity for the Forum because it becomes a competitor for Staples arena," Forum lawyer Gregory G. Gorman said.
Anschutz, owned by Denver billionaire Philip Anschutz, issued a statement late Wednesday calling the claims meritless" and accusing the Forum group of trying to circumvent Anschutz Entertainment's exclusive booking rights. The company vowed to pursue claims against the Forum for allegedly failing to live up to the agreement.
Nicknamed "The Fabulous Forum" in its heyday, the arena played host to such iconic artists as Jimi Hendrix, the Rolling Stones and Elvis Presley. It was also home to the NBA-champion Lakers and hosted the men's basketball competition during the 1984 Olympics.
Many predicted its demise when the $375-million Staples opened in Downtown Los Angeles in 1999. But operating through the newly formed Forum Enterprises, the 13,000-member Faithful Central Bible Church bought the Forum in 2000 for $22.5 million. The African American church holds weekly services there.
The new owners agreed at the time of the purchase to use Anschutz as an exclusive booking agent, with the company obligated to book $500,000 in events at the Forum each fiscal year.
The Forum alleged that Anschutz had not held up its end of the bargain, adding that Anschutz said in writing that it never intended to fulfill its fiduciary obligations as a booking agent.
