Coldplay: Reports reveal UK rock band paid $8m for WA shows

UK mega-rockers Coldplay pocketed $8 million from WA taxpayers for two Perth concerts last year, it has been reported. State Government documents seen by the Guardian reportedly show the pricetag to lure Coldplay to Perth for two exclusive performances at Optus Stadium in November — an amount Labor has previously refused to reveal. The concerts were hailed as a “major tourism coup” by the State Government, with Tourism Minister Rita Saffioti saying after the event she was confident the visitor spend would beat the taxpayer investment. “We do a return on investment (report) to ensure that the expenditure from the government is outweighed by the economic activity and this has a very strong return on investment,” she said. “But I can tell you ... 40,000 people travelling interstate, accommodation spend, hospitality spend — the wider economic activity far outweighed any government spending.” In a statement to the Guardian, Tourism WA said the concert poured “tens of millions of visitor spend” into the state’s economy and the decision was made after “a rigorous assessment, cost-benefit analysis, review and approvals process, including review and approval by the Tourism WA Board, Treasury and final sign off by the minister for tourism and premier”. Prior to the event, modelling by the Tourism Council projected a tourist spend of almost $70 million. In documents released to The West Australian under freedom of information laws last year, emails between Tourism WA and Coldplay’s promoter Live Nation show the two parties bartering over the price of the contract. But the full details of the cost Western Australian taxpayers paid to draw the band to Optus Stadium were heavily redacted, under commercial-in-confidence provisions. Instead, there is one hint in an email sent on January 12, revealing the State Government had allocated a “significant” portion of its $75 million major events budget in its bid to snag the band. In an email sent on January 12, 2023, Tourism WA events executive director Anna Last wrote to Live Nation asking for a decision deadline for confirmation of Coldplay’s appearance. “We are quarantining a significant amount of money from our budget for this event, and now it’s 2023, we will need to know very soon if it is going ahead otherwise we face budget implications,” Ms Last wrote. The band was paid its fee from the State Government’s major event funding pool, which totals $75 million in the 2023-24 financial year. Originally aimed for early 2023, the emails reveal haggling over dates and price, but at one point, the two parties were worlds apart on cost. “Further to our discussion on the exclusive Coldplay opportunity, the initial investment of [REDACTED] AUD is not something we can explore,” Tourism WA events executive director Anna Last wrote on October 6, 2022. “However, we would welcome a discussion around an alternative investment once you have discussed it with your team. “As you work closely with ... the team at Optus, I’m sure you are aware of the commercial yield potential of holding an event at the Stadium, given the large amount of premium seating and hospitality options. Hopefully, this can be further considered in the overall funding request.” In early negotiations, Live Nation suggested the only night which Coldplay could perform was mid-week. “Million Dollar Question: ‘is there any world in which we can make Wednesday 22 Nov work?’,” the promoter’s representative wrote in a November 2022 email. “Unfortunately, their window of availability is tight due to many factors, and they are trying to slot this show around the existing challenges and current plans for their Asian tour. At the conclusion of the Perth show in 2023, Coldplay announced shows in Sydney and Melbourne for the end of 2024.