Acquisitions

• December 2000: Concerts West, Los Angeles^[11]
• March 2001: Goldenvoice, Los Angeles^[12]

Soccer

Anschutz was one of the co-founders and one of the lead investors of Major League Soccer. In 1996, he became the investor/operator of the Colorado Rapids, his first MLS franchise. The Rapids were then a subsidiary of the Anschutz Corporation. In subsequent years, as Anschutz acquired additional sports teams, it led to the formation of a new division of the company whose focus was sports and entertainment, leading directly to the creation of AEG. the Rapids and National Hockey League's (NHL) Los Angeles Kings as its original members.

Since 1996, AEG has held ownership in the Chicago Fire, San Jose Earthquakes, New York/New Jersey MetroStars, D.C. United and Houston Dynamo.^[21][22] Currently, AEG is the operator of the Los Angeles Galaxy.

Anschutz was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 2006. Also in 2006, Anschutz received the National Soccer Medal of Honor, one of four recipients to ever receive the award.^[21] In 2007, Anschutz and AEG played a role in bringing David Beckham to the United States. In 2009, he joined the Board of Directors of USA Bid Committee, a group which was formed with the aim of promoting the application and campaign to bring the World Cup to the United States. This was ultimately successful with the 2026 World Cup.

Between 2001 and 2019, AEG was the biggest external investor and minority shareholder of Swedish Allsvenskan club Hammarby IF.^[23] On 27 November 2019, it was announced that Zlatan Ibrahimović, had acquired 23.5 percent of the outstanding shares in Hammarby, which meant that AEG reduced their stake by half.^[24]

AEG were part of a consortium with Tottenham Hotspur which proposed to demolish the London 2012 Olympic Stadium in Stratford and then to build a new 60,000 seater soccer specific stadium in its place and to renovate the Crystal Palace athletics stadium. These proposals was rejected as they violated the Olympic legacy provisions of the UK government.

Ice hockey

AEG owns the NHL's Los Angeles Kings,^[25] the AHL's Ontario Reign, the ECHL's Cincinnati Cyclones (co-owned with Nederlander Entertainment), and the German ice hockey team Eisbären Berlin. AEG also formerly owned the Manchester Monarchs^[26] and an interest in the Reading Royals, both of the ECHL.

Golf

This section may contain information not important or relevant to the article's subject. (February 2012)

In July 2010, it was announced that Xanterra Parks & Resorts, Inc. had entered into an agreement to purchase the Kingsmill Resort near Williamsburg, Virginia.^[27] Xanterra, owned by Anschutz since 2008, has traditionally operated in national and state parks across the United States, especially in the Western regions, including Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming and Crater Lake National Park in Oregon.^[28] As of 2010, Xanterra was operating about three dozen hotels and lodges with more than 5,000 guest rooms combined, with over 8,000 employees.^[29]

It has also been reported that Anschutz is currently in negotiations to buy the Silverado Golf Resort in Napa, California.^{[citation needed]}

Other

Anschutz Entertainment Group also owned the Tour of California bicycling race and the Bay to Breakers footrace.

The company also managed the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri, and managed the XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut until 2013. They previously operated Rentschler Field in Hartford from 2007 to 2010, during which they held a stake in the now-defunct Hartford Colonials of the UFL.

In April 2016, AEG announced a partnership with esports company ESL;^[30] the next year the company also announced an investment in the North American esports organization, Immortals.^[31]

Berlin

In Berlin, local groups started a boycott against the projected development Mediaspree, of which O2 World is a part, arguing that huge sections of public spaces were being lost to the private sector. Furthermore, the Anschutz company was criticized for bully-like behavior in regards to the changing of the outer parameters of the sports arena. A section of the nearby East Side Gallery, a leftover piece of the Berlin Wall now serving as an international memorial for peace and freedom, had to be removed to enable the view of Anschutz's new arena, located on the former eastern side of the city Spree.^[34] AEG has since promised to financially support the preservation of the East Side Gallery.^[35]

Michael Jackson memorial service

AEG had a global interest in the death of Michael Jackson by hosting a public memorial service at Crypto.com Arena (formerly Staples Center), a prominent music venue in Los Angeles and home of the Grammy Museum. The event included security and logistical support by the City of Los Angeles totaling $3.2 million.^[36] During this expense to the city during the Great Recession, some economists estimated that the event also generated $4 million for local businesses such as hotels and restaurants.^[37] City Council members and local media have called for the cost of the memorial incurred by the city to be paid for by the Jackson family or AEG, instead of by the city taxpayer.^[38] In June 2010, AEG agreed to pay the city of Los Angeles $1.3 million to offset some of the cost incurred by the city during the tribute event.^[39]

AEG was also accused of having attempted to profit from the death of Michael Jackson, who was due to perform at London's O2 Arena in 2009 and 2010. The approximately 750,000 tickets were eligible for refund upon request, but the promoter offered to send out "souvenir" tickets if customers waived their right to the refund.^[40] The company estimated that 40–50% of its customers would request the original tickets in lieu of the refund, which would save the company $40 million in refunds. That was in addition to future profits from any material that formed a part of the "This Is It" concerts, which AEG made its intellectual property in sponsoring the concerts.^[41]

After Conrad Murray, the physician appointed by AEG to take care of Jackson during the run-up and throughout the "This Is It" concerts, was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the California v. Murray case, Katherine Jackson, Michael's mother and legal guardian of his three children, filed a wrongful death suit against the promoter, seeking damages reportedly exceeding tens of billions of dollars. AEG filed a motion to have the case dismissed which was denied by a Los Angeles County judge who ruled that sufficient evidence was present for the progression to a jury trial. The trial began on April 2.^[42][43][44] Murray served jail time for the death of Jackson, and indicated that if he was called as a witness for this case, he would refuse to testify to avoid incriminating himself amid his sentence appeal, as he had not previously testified under oath regarding Jackson's death.^[45] On October 2, 2013, AEG was found not liable in the death of Michael Jackson.^[46]