Ogden’s Sell-Off Plan Puts Sun in Spotlight : Pop music * Speculation about the new O.C. concert hall, which is starting out strong, includes purchase by SFX.

The Sun Theatre, which had all the makings of a dominant pop music venue when it opened Sept. 2, must now try to build its reputation under a sudden cloud of uncertainty. Yes, the Sun owns the Orange County concert market for major pop attractions not big enough to headline large arenas or amphitheaters. But who will own the Sun?

Ogden Entertainment built and equipped the lavishly appointed, 1,200-seat theater in Anaheim, investing $18 million for land, construction, furnishings and equipment, according to Ron Drake, the Sun’s general manager.

But its parent, Ogden Corp., last week announced it will sell its $500-million-a-year entertainment, food-service and facility-management division to focus on the energy business.

That leaves the Sun as a very small part of what promises to be a very large deal. Ogden Entertainment’s contract to manage the nearby Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim is a larger part of a sale package that is national in scope.

Sun officials said the venue’s launch won’t be hampered by the ownership uncertainty.

“It’s business as usual,” said Tim Ryan, the Pond general manager who also oversees the Sun for Ogden Entertainment. “Everything is intact and we’re moving forward.”

The Sun is off to a good start, Ryan said, even if its long-term fate is unclear.

“It’s exceeding expectations. We keep booking more acts, and the public response has been more than we expected. The momentum is building. We’re going to continue doing our jobs in each of our venues, booking aggressively, managing efficiently.”

As Ogden divests, a couple of key players in the Southern California concert market might appear logical candidates to take an interest in the Sun.

SFX Entertainment, which has been described as the Pac-Man of the concert industry for its omnivorous acquisition of venues and concert promoters across North America and in Europe, has spent more than $1 billion over the past three years buying 11 concert-promotion companies and gaining control over 83 venues. Its holdings include Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre, the Glen Helen Blockbuster Pavilion and the Encino-based Avalon Attractions.

SFX is known for promoting entire national tours--including recent ones by Tom Petty, ‘N Sync and Bob Dylan/Paul Simon--with many of the dates routed into venues it controls. It also owns, books or operates smaller venues, including the 1,800-seat Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, the 2,200-seat Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles and 26 others in the 1,000- to 3,000-seat range across the nation.

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Gary Bongiovanni, who watches the concert industry as editor of the trade magazine Pollstar, said SFX is a possible contender for the Ogden lode.

“Being that SFX is still on an acquisition binge, I’m sure they’ll look at it,” he said, adding that SFX and Ogden Entertainment “already have a close working relationship.”

Early this year, Ogden contracted to be the concessionaire at all SFX-operated venues--most of them immediately, others when preexisting contracts expire.

“The way they’ve been buying up the business, it’s not inconceivable that they might make a run at [the concessions] end of the business as well,” Bongiovanni said.

Tim Klahs, a spokesman for the New York City-based SFX, said Wednesday that the company would not comment on speculation about any future acquisitions.

The House of Blues is also in expansion mode. Besides its national chain of clubs, it recently bought Universal Concerts, owner of 20 venues across the country, including the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles. And House of Blues has its sights on Anaheim as a link in its club chain. Tentative plans call for a new House of Blues in 2001 as part of Disney’s expansion.

“Nothing is written in stone yet” regarding that expansion, said Ann Wills, a spokeswoman for House of Blues. “Right now, our only interest in Anaheim is through Disney, and we’re not interested in the Sun Theatre at all.”

Bongiovanni said the Pond and the Sun will probably not see any erosion of their concert bookings due to the ownership issue.

“That’s not going to affect an artist’s decision to play a building. I think the buildings will continue to operate basically as normal.”

So far, said Ken Phebus, the Sun’s concert director, the facility has performed well. Of the first four acts booked at the Sun, he said, only Lynyrd Skynyrd didn’t meet attendance goals--partly because the Sun had a short lead time to promote the Sept. 3 show. Otherwise, Phebus said, “Ticket sales are right on track with what we thought the talent was worth.”

The Sun failed in its first incarnation as Tinseltown Studios, a theme restaurant that staged mock Hollywood-style awards shows. Shifting to pop concerts, the Sun filled a long-standing void in the Orange County concert market, which had lacked a good, mid-size venue. Upcoming shows include Los Lobos, Squeeze, Yes, Sisters of Mercy, Lucinda Williams, the Cramps, Michael McDonald, Robert Palmer and Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys.

Before the Sun, some of those acts would have skipped Orange County for lack of a big enough place to play, or they would have played a smaller-than-normal gig at the Galaxy in Santa Ana or the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano.

“I’m not ever going to get [any performers] away from them,” said Gary Folgner, owner of the 492-seat Coach House and the 650-capacity Galaxy, which since 1986 had been the dominant Orange County concert clubs.

But Folgner said that, considering the big construction bill it has to pay off, the Sun will have trouble making a profit. Folgner said his clubs can do well booking smaller-name acts in place of some of the talent the Sun has drained.

“Our schedules are full,” Folgner said.