This Saturday, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band will be leading as many as 40,000 people ”Dancing in the Dark” at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

The Maryland Stadium Authority, which runs the facility and leases it to the Orioles, could claim as much as 45% of the revenue from the concert — but instead will settle for a cut of the 10% amusement tax on ticket sales, potentially forfeiting millions.

It’s not a new strategy for the stadium authority, which hopes that by letting the Orioles keep more money, the team will be incentivized to have more big, nonbaseball events to draw concertgoers and their wallets. It may be a preview of a provision in a new lease with the baseball team, which is still negotiating terms with less than four months to a Dec. 31 deadline.

On Tuesday afternoon, the stadium authority’s board of directors unanimously opted out of their 45% percent revenue share from the Springsteen concert, a split stipulated in their lease with the Orioles. Executive Director Mike Frenz estimated that the agency still stands to make about $800,000 from the show, based on their 80% share of amusement tax revenues with Baltimore City.

Under that estimate — which Frenz stressed was speculative — the money the stadium authority voted to give back to the team could be millions.

It’s the third straight time the stadium authority has declined to take its revenue split from a Camden Yards concert, previously opting out of sold-out shows by Billy Joel and Paul McCartney. The Orioles have indicated that sending almost half of its revenue to the stadium’s governing body makes them less inclined to organize more events because of the financial risk if an event is canceled.

The next lease — which state officials have repeatedly said they are confident will be forthcoming before the deadline — could box the stadium authority out altogether. The Ravens’ updated lease, approved in January, allows them to keep nonfootball revenue; the stadium authority can no longer even vote on whether to keep a split.

In the meeting, Frenz told the board members that both the Orioles and Ravens had shared reluctance to book more nonsporting events if the MSA took its maximum allowable split, saying “10% of something is more than 100% of nothing.”

Joel performed in 2019, while McCartney came in 2022. The Orioles have not yet announced a concert roster for 2024.

“Given that we’ve opted out of three concerts in a row, it would be reasonable to conclude that portion of the new Orioles lease will look like the Ravens’ lease,” Frenz told The Banner.

The motion passed unanimously during the stadium authority Board of Directors meeting, although board members asked several questions and a long pause passed before a second board member spoke up to allow a vote on the proposal.

kyle.goon@thebaltimorebanner.com