Harley event OK’d for 50,000 people
Tour promoter had threatened to yank event from Old Bridge
A promoter for the much debated Harley-Davidson 100th anniversary celebration tour convinced the Old Bridge Township Council Monday night to raise the attendance cap on the three-day event scheduled for August at Raceway Park.
An attendance of 50,000 people per day will now be permitted, up from 40,000.
However, the 5-3 approval did not come easily, as some council members expressed skepticism about Raceway Park’s ability to handle the additional 10,000 patrons and how patrons arriving without tickets would be handled by racetrack personnel.
At one point, the promoter even stated that he would seek another venue for his event if the council would not allow the 50,000 attendance request.
Only because Ward 4 Councilman G. Kevin Calogera, a Democrat, changed his initial vote against the resolution allowing the attendance increase was the motion able to pass.
Calogera agreed to change his vote after receiving reassurances from Jonathan Heilbrunn, an Old Bridge-based attorney representing Raceway Park, and from Robert Butters, the executive producer of the event, that security concerns regarding the selling of event tickets at the Raceway Park entrance would be addressed.
Ward 2 Councilman William Baker, also a Democrat, and Republicans Richard Greene (Ward 5) and Lucille Panos (Ward 6) voted against the resolution. Ward 1 Councilman Joseph Hoff was not present at the meeting.
Addressing the council early in the evening, Butters, of the London, England-based And Entertainment, a promotional firm hired by Harley-Davidson to produce and advertise the international, traveling event, explained that the motorcycle manufacturer — and not Raceway Park — was requesting that the attendance cap of 40,000 per day be raised to 50,000.
On Jan. 22, the council voted 5-0-1 to allow the event at the racetrack on Aug. 16, 17 and 18. At that time, Ken Landerman, special events manager for Raceway Park, told the council that the racetrack would limit attendance to 40,000 per day with tickets sold in advance.
Explaining his request for allowing the increased attendance, Butters told the council that the other American cities on the tour are permitting that much attendance each day. The other American cities on the tour are Atlanta, Los Angeles and Dallas, Butters said.
"The other markets are allowing over 50,000 each day. We believe that 50,000 (attendees) at Raceway Park is within the capacity of the facility," Butters said.
Greene, whose ward includes Raceway Park, expressed concern as to whether the township could handle the extra attendance and whether patrons coming to Raceway Park without a ticket would be turned away.
"I don’t think that Old Bridge has the infrastructure to handle 50,000," said Greene. "My problem is what will happen to those people who come without a ticket?"
"We will advertise the event as ‘sold out,’ " Butters said. "We are not encouraging people to come to the venue and will tell them there are no tickets."
In accordance with a suggestion from Baker, council President Reggie Butler agreed to allow Heilbrunn and his clients to further present their case during the public portion of the meeting following the completion of agenda items.
During that public portion, Heilbrunn explained that Raceway Park’s original application requesting permission to hold the event had indicated an anticipated attendance of 50,000 each day.
"The 40,000 was an error. The application indicated that it was 50,000," Heilbrunn said.
"Forty thousand came out on the record in a public meeting," Heilbrunn added.
Heilbrunn said he and his Raceway Park clients had just recently received a copy of the resolution allowing the event. Consequently, it was only then that he and his clients became aware of the discrepancy, he said. At that point, Heilbrunn said he contacted the council president about getting permission to allow the extra 10,000 daily attendees.
"We created the error. You didn’t," Heilbrunn said.
Heilbrunn explained that, because of the need to begin selling tickets for the event, the attendance limit needed to be resolved as soon as possible.
"We are abiding by your commitment," Butters said. "If you say 50,000, then we will abide by that number."
Greene again expressed discomfort with how Harley-Davidson would handle the ticket sales to those who come to the event without a ticket.
"I was uncomfortable with the fact that, when a person doesn’t have a ticket, you will sell him a ticket," Greene said, alluding to a statement made by Landerman, Raceway’s special events manager, at the Jan. 22 meeting.
"We will make the public aware that they are not going to get in without a ticket, and we are not selling [tickets] at the door," Butters said.
Heilbrunn added that tickets will only be sold through a professional ticketing agency.
"Everyone will be vigilant. The media coverage will be substantial. If only half the tickets are sold, I will work to create awareness of the event," Butters said in reply to concerns about a potential situation in which sales of less than 50,000 per day would necessitate door ticket sales.
Emphasizing Harley-Davidson’s need to meet its sales goals, Butters told the council that if it could not comply with his request, he would have to seek another venue for the event.
Noting that he did not want to delay the matter any further, Councilman Larry Redmond motioned that Harley-Davidson be granted permission to sell 50,000 tickets per day. Councilman Dennis Maher seconded the motion.
During a brief public hearing, Dominic Cicio of Old Bridge’s Office of Emergency Management questioned Butters.
"I have not seen a plan for this event. People are going to come without tickets. What are you going to do?" he said.
"We are going to tell them that they are not going to be able to get in. We are not encouraging them to come to Old Bridge," said Butters.
Township Attorney William Ruggierio told the council and administration that he would meet with Heilbrunn to modify the original agreement between the council and Raceway Park. The new daily attendance limit and provisions regarding emergency services will be included in those modifications, he said.