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Long before the celebrities began arriving; before Emeril talked to the media, Lagasse's Stadium at the Palazzo in Las Vegas was the star on Friday night. The 24,000 square foot club, which features a multi-level main room with stadium-style seating, dining, a massive oversized video wall and semi-private sky boxes that overlook the club, truly sets the stage as a sports, food, gaming, and nightclub spot.
(Read the Emeril Lagasse interview on The Biz of Baseball shortly)
During the day, it is the ultimate sports bar, complete with a “tailgate” menu that Emeril Lagasse and his staff have created that runs from Creole Shrimp Salad Sandwiches to Open-faced Ahi Tuna Melts to Emeril’s New Orleans BBQ Strips (see the complete menu here – PDF). But, in reality, Lagasse's Stadium is a destination, rather than location. Yes, it is a sports book, but as Lagasse said at the grand opening, it was added in last – with the Venetian hotel attached to the Palazzo, those that wished to place wagers had to make the lengthy trek to the Venetian to place sports wagers. With that, the traditional sports book as been completely upended. The normally placid and pedestrian sports book, with banks of numbers, boring atmosphere, and windows to take bets, has been replaced with “stadium seating” in white faux leather with throw pillows facing a custom built 103 inch Plasma TV and two 9 x 16 foot video wall.
But, that’s just the beginning.
There are four bars circling the two level space, over 100 hi-def televisions pumping all manner of sports, “Sky Boxes” that are semi-private areas off the Stadium main room, “Luxury Boxes’ that are private rooms with bathrooms, sunken living room, private patio access, billiards table, and (get this) a Nintendo Wii system displayed on a large hi-def system.
The upper level opens into a patio that sits right on the Strip. Bored looking at the passers by? There’s a black felted pool table, bar, more hi-def televisions, and outdoor dining for those that wish to have a more intimate dining experience.
As mentioned, we took in the grand opening gala with 1,100 other guests, showing that Lagasse's Stadium could shift gears into a night club. While there was no dancing, there is a DJ booth playing thumping beats. There’s also casino gaming at a poker table, and a private VIP mini-casino just off the space. All told, there’s the club has a seating capacity for approximately 500 patrons, which includes 120 dining seats, 11 bar seats and 40 patio dining seats.
Lagasse's Stadium will clearly be something that other hotel/casino/resorts will try and emulate, but can they pull it off? While there are other celebrity chefs, Emeril Lagasse is arguably the one that has the best crossover appeal, and the one that has “sports fan appeal”. While the space could be created, the food connection created with Lagasse, can’t.
Lagasse's Stadium is a gem: a place where sports junkies can get affordable quality food, a sports book, with casino gaming, and a lively atmosphere. Why would a sports fan ever need to leave the "stadium" at the Palazzo?
Select Read More to see pictures of some of the celebrities in attendance at Friday night’s grand opening gala in Las Vegas
Maury Brown interviews Emeril Lagasse before the grand opening of Lagasse's Stadium |
(From left) Warren Sapp, Emeril Lagasse, Brian Shaw, Gary Payton |
(From left) Bruce Jenner, Dara Torres, Jeremy Piven |
Entourage cast (From left) Kevin Dillion, Rex Lee, Jeremy Piven |
Dan Cortese and Warren Sapp |
Beth Ostrosky Stern and Derrick Fisher |
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 Maury Brown is the Founder and President of the Business of Sports Network, which includes The Biz of Baseball, The Biz of Football, The Biz of Basketball and The Biz of Hockey. He is available as a freelance writer. Brown's full bio is here. He looks forward to your comments via email and can be contacted through the Business of Sports Network (select his name in the dropdown provided).
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