Adult Entertainment

Ready

Or Not,

Here It

Comes

Adult entertainment is like an issue on a ballot — people are either for it or against it. At best, the mere idea of adult entertainment is controversial because it conjures up images of society at its worst — seedy areas, shady characters and immorality in general, embroidered by strip joints, drugs and prostitution in particular. In the past, adult entertainment was not mentioned in “polite society” and if discussed at all, came under the “if we ignore it, maybe it will go away” category. It just wasn’t nice.

But like the song says, “The times, they are a’changin.’ ” Adult entertainment, far from going away, is a growing industry that can no longer be ignored. And if the newly formed National Cabaret Association (NCA) has its way, it is also an industry that is organizing and likely to get even bigger.

The brainchild of Sacramento lobbyist and former cabaret owner Michael Ross, the NCA is a political action committee formed to promote the adult entertainment industry and to represent the political needs and interests of cabaret (gentlemen’s club) owners. Its mission statement says that the group will: lobby for the defeat of state and local laws that establish unfair ordinances against such clubs; establish an education program to educate entertainers; support legislation that strengthens the industry; create “ProIndustry Reports”; assist in the coordination and promotion of the industry’s media message; and take the industry to new levels of professionalism and community involvement.

The group had its genesis four years ago when Ross started the Adult Entertainment Industry Education Fund. After that entity got started, Ross realized there were really two very different concepts of entertainment within the industry — movies and cabarets. In order to focus his efforts on the promotion of gentlemen’s clubs, he formed the California Cabaret Association with intentions of trying to organize club owners in his home state.

His idea, however, found a wider audience. “Calls started to come in from all over,” he says. “It was a push from other states that created the national group.” He found himself travelling all over the country offering information and advice so that club owners from other states could form their own groups. Since he started the NCA six months ago, nine state organizations have formed; in addition to California, there are now state cabaret associations in Arizona, Connecticut, Florida, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Texas. Ross says that Oregon and Wisconsin are about to come on line, and he has been asked to travel to Washington D.C., Georgia, Maryland, and North and South Carolina.

“What we are doing is not brain surgery,” he quips on the NCA Web site, www.cabaretcoalition.com. “At organized owners meetings around the nation, those in attendance are unanimously voting to form proactive PACs and are supporting it with financial pledges. In total, over 125 owners representing over 275 businesses have voted to support our concepts.” The NCA now has a three-year action plan and a $1.6-million budget to back it up.

Even though he claims the cabaret industry is one that is becoming increasingly upscale, Ross thinks that gentlemen’s clubs still suffer from an outdated bad reputation. “After representing the industry for almost four years, I don’t know of one club owner or entertainer in the nation who considers himself or herself a pimp or a prostitute and as such, supports prostitution in or around their business.” He also thinks that cabarets should be welcomed by cities instead of facing restrictive ordinances and zoning and that they are natural candidates for revitalizing business areas, even malls, because they add significant value to surrounding properties.

“Look, if you’re going to put a half a million, even a million dollars into a club, you have to maintain high standards,” he points out, adding that new club owners rehabilitate buildings, create parking, and install security and lighting. “We go to large extremes to protect our property and we certainly don’t want anything illegal going on to jeopardize our investment. There are negatives with any business, but in our case the negatives are outweighed by the positives.”

One of those positive aspects is that gentlemen’s clubs draw heavy traffic. According to NCA estimates, the adult entertainment industry pulled in $12 billion in 1998, up from $9 billion in 1997. Of the $12 billion in 1998, Ross says live adult-dancing venues made $4.5-5 billion. In the same year, he estimates that 785 million adult video tapes were rented. “At an average of $2 a rental, that’s another almost $1.6 billion — and that’s just rentals, not sales,” he points out. If that isn’t enough to indicate that adult entertainment has an audience, the NCA has developed or has links to 150 Web sites, which Ross says get 900,000 hits per month.

Because of the heavy traffic in and out of cabarets, other businesses often choose to locate around them. Ross says that when he opened his own club, within three months several peripheral businesses had set up shop, including boat and motorcycle dealerships and a carpet store. “They knew we guaranteed a flow of traffic,” he remembers. In another instance of a club opening, he says the restaurant next door saw its business triple. Other businesses that would probably benefit from proximity to a cabaret are sports-related, computer or photography equipment merchandisers. “You know, stuff that is guy-related, that men are naturally interested in,” he advises.

The proven level of interest in adult entertainment can be of great financial benefit to municipalities, and Ross says that cabarets contribute to communities rather than detracting from them. “Everyone used to think we caused problems, and cities try to make us stay away by restrictive zoning that puts us in bad areas.” But Ross points out that in his hometown, there are five clubs that collectively pull in $15 million a year and pay an eight percent tax on their revenues. “My community is getting $1.2 million in taxes from those clubs, and the largest recipients of those tax dollars are schools and law enforcement.”

The NCA is advising its members to tone down their external images in an attempt to upgrade the industry. “I’ve written a letter to all our members, and whenever I speak I tell them, ‘No pink buildings and no suggestive signs. Women object to that kind of thing and it makes kids ask questions. We don’t need that.”

In other attempts to boost cabarets, Ross is trying to find out whether Indian reservations might be potential sites for new clubs. He is also trying to attract outside support by asking club owners to to tell him who their vendors are. He intends to contact those suppliers to ask them to help him advocate and try to tap into any of their related organizations as potential backers of legislation that he says is coming.

“This year is devoted to infrastructure,” Ross warns. “By next year we hope to have a bill in every state.” He says he has already been asked to appear before two state legislatures and before the United States Supreme Court. “We are legitimate, we are recognized by the Supreme Court, and we contribute to society. In the last ten years, this industry has changed dramatically — but it’s never been organized before.”

Now it is.

For more information, contact Michael Ross, adult entertainment advocate, National Cabaret Association, 1808 Sherwood Avenue, Sacramento, CA 95822; 916-456-7311, Fax 916-456-9551; e-mail: mross@calweb.com; home page: www.cabaretcoalition.com.