April 4, 2017: N.H.L. Won't Participate in 2018 Winter Olympics, Cannes to Launch New Drama Series Festival, AEG Presents and Barclays Center Owners to Acquire Webster Hall

1. N.H.L. WON'T PARTICIPATE IN 2018 WINTER OLYMPICS: The National Hockey League has announced it won't send players to the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, as league owners are opposed to the idea of shutting down for several weeks. ESPN: "The league had been looking for conciliatory offers from the International Olympic Committee and/or the National Hockey League Players' Association in order to placate an ownership group increasingly unhappy with the league shutting down for weeks every four years to take part in the Olympic tournament. When that didn't happen in recent weeks the league decided to formally make the announcement that it would not participate in the South Korea Games, making good on a promise to resolve the matter prior to the start of the NHL playoffs which begin April 13. What remains unknown is whether this decision precludes the NHL from returning to the Olympic Games in Beijing in 2022. The league's decision to abandon the South Korea Games comes less than a week after NHL officials, including NHL commissioner Gary Bettman visited Beijing to announce that two preseason games would be played in China by the Vancouver Canucks and the Los Angeles Kings next September. … The players are almost unanimously in favor of the NHL continuing its Olympic participation and this decision will no doubt be greeted negatively by the players. The league had been hopeful that the players' desire to continue participating in the Olympics would lead to some sort of concessions, like agreeing to see the current collective bargaining agreement through to its conclusion in 2022 instead of exercising an out option two years earlier. But the players' association's view was that they should not have to make concessions to ensure that Olympic participation continued." http://es.pn/2nU3nf7

2. CANNES TO LAUNCH NEW DRAMA SERIES FESTIVAL: Cannes mayor David Lisnard has announced that the French Riviera resort town will host a new international drama series festival in 2018. The event will be open to the public. Variety: "Named Cannes Series, the eight-day festival will run alongside MipTV, the global television showcase organized by Reed Midem, with a budget of 4 million euros. MipTV—the current edition of which is now underway—will mostly maintain its format as well as its six-day length, while the new festival will open a couple of days before MipTV. Meanwhile, the future of MipDrama Screenings, the competitive section of drama series premieres that wrapped its second edition Sunday, is being discussed, according to a source at Reed Midem, which besides organizing MipTV is also a partner of the new Cannes Series. The new fest will include an official selection and a competitive section of 10 unreleased live-action series. Web series and short-format will also be considered. It’s unclear if these will have to be international or world premieres to be eligible for the competition, as it is the case with major film festivals, such as Cannes. The jury will be composed of at least five people. Unlike MipTV, which is a B2B event, Cannes Series will be open to the public: Theaters across town will play the shows throughout the day and on evenings, while TV viewers and web users will be able to vote for their favorite series. In total, Cannes Series will host more than 200 free screenings, including an all-night event, called the Night of the Serivores. Cannes Series—at least its opening and closing ceremonies—will also be broadcast on Canal Plus, which will be a partner of the festival." http://bit.ly/2nxr0qg

3. AEG PRESENTS AND BARCLAYS CENTER OWNERS TO ACQUIRE WEBSTER HALL: AEG Presents and Brooklyn Sports and Entertainment have purchased New York's Webster Hall, with Bowery Presents taking over talent buying and booking. Billboard: "BSE CEO Brett Yormark tells Billboard he was first approached about a Webster Hall acquisition by Mark Patricof, a managing director at investment bank Houlihan Lokey. Patricof introduced Yormark to Webster Hall’s principal owner Lon Ballinger, and eventually, AEG joined the discussions and agreed to partner 50-50 on the transaction. The deal comes as AEG Presents is looking to expand its presence in New York, chairman Jay Marciano tells Billboard, explaining 'you’ll spend more time trying to make money in a lesser market than you will in a great market. Los Angeles, New York and London are all great markets and it's our view that you can’t have enough venues, because, in those cities, each venue stands on its own, each venue is profitable and each service a different segment of the market.' AEG has seen a rapid expansion in New York—in January, AEG Presents announced it had acquired a 50-percent stake in Bowery, bringing principal partners Jim Glancy and John Moore over to AEG and venues like Manhattan’s 3,000-capacity Terminal 5 and the 550-capacity Music Hall of Williamsburg under the AEG umbrella. AEG and BSE plan to spend about $10 million renovating Webster Hall’s Grand Ballroom, The Studio and The Marlin Room spaces 'to bring them up to contemporary standards and add a few more customer features,' Marciano says. 'You can’t replace a venue of its size and stature anywhere on the island of Manhattan, and we jumped at the chance to bring Webster Hall into our growing venue portfolio,' Marciano explains." http://bit.ly/2ouAiZb


* INDUSTRY NEWS *

Experient—A Maritz Global Events Company has announced a strategic partnership with the Experience Institute, allowing Experient to offer clients the ability to survey attendees at conventions.

* LOCAL NEWS *

CHICAGO:  The ninth annual Green Music Fest will take place June 10-11 at Damen Ave. Programmed by Wicker Park music venue Subterranean, the event also will offer craft beer, a family fun festival, and local and organic products from local vendors.

LAS VEGAS:  On April 1, the Flamingo Go Pool at Flamingo Las Vegas hosted the fifth annual ACM Pool Party for a Cause, featuring performances by Dee Jay Silver, Jackie Lee, Jerrod Niemann, and Old Dominion.

LOS ANGELES:  The inaugural EeeeeatsCon food festival will take place May 20 at Barker Hangar. The event, which is from the organizers of the Infatuation, will feature bites from local restaurants such as Sweetfin Poke, Salazar, and Matcha Bar, as well as speakers Nancy Silverton and Shep Gordon. The event is sponsored by American Express, Bumble, and Caviar.

For information on upcoming events in Los Angeles, visit Masterplanner: http://www.masterplanneronline.com/losangeles

MIAMI/SOUTH FLORIDA:  Pérez Art Museum Miami raised more than $1.1 million for the museum's education program at its Art of the Party event on April 1.

NEW YORK:  National YoungArts Foundation's second annual New York Gala will take place April 20 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Temple of Dendur in the Sackler Wing. The event is presented in by Swarovski and Max Mara.

The Time 100 Gala will take place April 25 at Frederick P. Rose Hall, home of Jazz at Lincoln Center.

The nominations announcement for the 71st annual Tony Awards will take place May 2 at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center. The event, which is sponsored by I.B.M., will be hosted by Christopher Jackson and Jane Krakowski.

The inaugural N.B.A. Awards Show will take place June 26 at Basketball City at Pier 36. The ceremony will air live on TNT.

For information on upcoming events in New York, visit Masterplanner: http://www.masterplanneronline.com/newyork

TORONTO:  The 6ix Banned Nations Dinner will take place April 27 at Indian Street Food Co. Offering dishes from Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Libya, Iran, and Iraq, the event benefits the YMCA Immigrant Services Program.

WASHINGTON, D.C.:  Nonprofit legal services provider Children's Law Center will sponsor a breakfast on Wednesday that will feature speaker Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. The event will take place at the offices of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom L.L.P.

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With contributions from Alesandra Dubin and Claire Hoffman in Los Angeles, Mitra Sorrells in Orlando, and Beth Kormanik, Michele Laufik, Jill Menze, and Ian Zelaya in New York.

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