"I'm getting lots of questions today -- 'What does our policy cover, What happens if?'-type questions," says Paul Bassman, president of Dallas-based entertainment insurance firm Doodson Insurance Brokerage. "Nothing's really happened yet, but in New York City alone, if the subways are shut down, you can't have shows."
So who gets hurt on Hurricane Sandy Financial Impact? According to Bassman, "Everyone's going to take a hit, but it's part of the business. That's why we're here."
Potentially, hundreds of events could be impacted, such as the Boston Nero Show. "A major weather occurrence like Sandy is, obviously, disruptive both in the daily lives of the communities we work in and the clients we tour," says Randy Phillips, president of AEG Live, the world's second-largest promoter, which is extremely active in the New York metro area. "It will have an impact on our budgets and earnings -- if even in the short term, since we average a couple of hundred shows a week in those markets that have had to hunker down while the storm passes through."
Besides potential property damage, which is typically covered by property insurance, promoters and venues are looking at the prospect of millions of dollars in lost marketing and promotion expenses in some of the most expensive media markets in the country. For them, and artists, profits could also slip away, or at least be deferred until a later date.
"If you're doing a show at Madison Square Garden, for example, and you're going to walk off with a million-dollar profit, you're not getting that profit," notes Bassman (although the Garden has no concerts scheduled for this week). "You can reschedule, but the show's not going to happen until later, and the rescheduled date is one you can't play somewhere else now."
Most venues don't carry...
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