EPE plans a NEW Concert Venue - Get Ready for More Fees and Price Hikes!

Get ready folks to shell out EVEN More Money when visiting Graceland!

According to The Memphis Biz Journal, " EPE is planning a permanent concert venue that would be the second-largest in Shelby County. Initial plans call for a $40 million to $50 million, 6,200-seat facility with a half-arena format and light and sound technology to host concerts, graduations and basketball tournaments.

With that seat count, if it's an indoor facility, the Graceland arena would fall between the 20,000-seat FedExForum and 2,500-seat Orpheum, said Jay Campbell, a transaction law attorney and partner in charge of the Memphis office of Adams and Reese, on behalf of Elvis Presley Enterprises (EPE). The outdoor Mud Island Amphitheater has about 5,000 seats.

Based on conversations with LiveNation and other concert promoters, EPE estimates it can bring at least 50 events each year to the new venue.

When EPE approached the Memphis City Council in 2014 about transforming its campus ( This makes me laugh, CAMPUS! Well, it's fitting with their Summer School event schedule during Elvis Week. I will NEVER call it a campus.) into an international tourist attraction — which today includes the Guest House at Graceland and Elvis Presley's Memphis — it asked for support of a tax increment financing (TIF) district.

The TIF collects revenue from the increase, or increment, of property tax at Graceland and the surrounding area to retire the construction loans used to build the Guest House.

Tuesday, Aug. 22, during the council's executive session, EPE came asking members to support an increase in the TIF increment from 50 to 65 percent to fund the new theater.

Since the TIF is site-specific, the revenue from the increment can only be spent within a certain boundary that mostly includes the Graceland campus.

In order to meet the mayor halfway by also investing in the surrounding areas, EPE plans to charge a fee on every ticket sold for major events at its proposed theater.

EPE will then give that revenue to the Economic Development Growth Engine (EDGE) for Memphis & Shelby County, which has the authority to spend the revenue in the surrounding community.

Any changes to the TIF would have to be approved by EDGE, Memphis City Council and the Shelby County Commission."

The Commercial Appeal reports, "The management company is seeking additional public funding to build a 6,000- to 7,000-seat theater on the north side of the property at a cost of $40 million to $50 million, EPE attorney Jay Campbell Jr. told City Council members Tuesday. The theater would "easily" book 50 events a year and create about 150 new jobs, mostly for residents of Whitehaven.

The events center would fill the city's need for a mid-sized theater smaller than the FedExForum but bigger than the Orpheum — a void that many people wanted a redeveloped Mid-South Coliseum to fill. The theater, because it's on private property, wouldn't violate the city's FedExForum noncompete clause, Graceland officials said.

Roy Barnes, who heads the preservation advocates at the Coliseum Coalition, said a Graceland theater would make some people's vision of seeing concerts in the Coliseum less likely.

EPE and EDGE officials weren't immediately sure how much property tax revenue the city would forego in that scenario.

In exchange for the sweetened TIF, Graceland would give EDGE $1 per theater ticket for the remaining life of the TIF — plus five years — for reinvestment into economic development in the surrounding Whitehaven neighborhood, Campbell said. If Graceland has sold out crowds at 50 events, that would mean $310,000 per year for EDGE.

The addition of the theater follows a $45 million, 200,000-square-foot expansion dubbed "Elvis Presley's Memphis" across the street. A map of "anticipated additions" also shows an "entertainment expansion," an "exhibit expansion" and a "warehouse expansion," all on the north side of the main campus.

Which means More $$$$$$$ to the Elvis fans pockets but then again Wienshaky recently told Variety, Despite the first generation of Elvis fans leaving the proverbial building in increasing numbers, the largest demographic of Elvis fans these days is 28- to 35-year-old women. “A lot of them are inked disproportionately,”

So I guess the official Elvis Tattoo parlor will be next. But don't expect an Insider's discount!
And for $250.00 you can get a massage chair while you wait and a souvenir sippy cup.

So WE LOYAL fans who have visited Graceland every year, some twice a year or more, we do not matter to them anymore.

We are DEAD to them.

Let's see how that works out for them.

A THANK YOU Elvis Fans would have been nice. Since the fans STARTED the vigil and made EPE the success it is today. Remember, you are NOT being disloyal to Elvis if you disapprove of all this. This is now a corporation split in two. And Weinshaky is the one getting rich off Elvis. So don't feel bad. And don't let any fans bully you for how you feel. It's YOUR money you are spending and you have a right to say you are not happy. If you are a Founder or VIP ticket buyer and you are happy, that's awesome. Look whatever works, whatever floats your boat.

Let's not let this divide us. Everyone is entitled to feel the way they do. At the end of the day, we all LOVE Elvis. 

Not one of us is a bigger or better fan.

Many fans have taken to the internet to express their gripes, sadness and displeasure with the new "Campus" complex. Fans are complaining about all the fees, You absolutely need a ticket to enter almost everything, no place to meet up with friends, The walking is terrible for older or disabled fans, and the main complaint was the charge for the vigil and the Disneyish FAST Pass for a memorial service. A FEE FOR A MEMORIAL SERVICE! HOW LOW AND GREEDY CAN YOU BE? Remember the trouble last year happened OUTSIDE the gates of Graceland. This was just an excuse to get more of your hard earned $$$. Many fans say they will not return. Some say they will continue to go but not do the Vigil or the complex, some even suggest spending more time in Tupelo.

But then again, we are DEAD to them. Why would anyone want to give their hard earned money to a business that disrespected them so much? Remember they promised Super 8 room rates. What a load of pure BS.

It was very telling and COWARDLY that news leaked out the night before Elvis Week was to start that there would be a charge for the vigil. If you can't see the wrong behind that....I don't know!

I'll say it again, Elvis Presley never even wanted his ticket prices increased. He loved his fans and he was aware his fans were average hard working Americans and tourists from all over the world. So don't fall for the EPE Propaganda they spew out. Make your own decisions. If you're ok with it, great! And if you are not, that is OK too. Don't let anyone act like the Big Boss Man. They aren't paying your bills.

This feels like segregation to me. If you have the $$$$ to buy into the Founders, VIP passes, or the money to buy a fast pass for the vigil, you get treated different.

That is so UNElvis. Elvis treated ALL of his fans, ALL people the same. His fame and fortune NEVER went to his head. He would be so heartbroken by this, in my opinion. 

The prices are high now but they are going UP again. Has EPE bitten off more than they can chew? Let's hope not.