Shaquille O’Neal, who has won more NBA championships (four) than drivers he can name in the F1 series (one, Lewis Hamilton), said he wants to invest in a team in Las Vegas.
He has already said it on other occasions. She said it again Saturday during an appearance at the Sports Illustrated Club SI party on the Strip. But this time, with a twist: O’Neal said he would even join another NBA legend, LeBron James, on a Las Vegas expansion team.
“If an NBA team ever comes, I’d like to be involved,” Shaq said when I asked him for his NBA prediction in Las Vegas. “With LeBron, without LeBron, I just want to be involved.”
O’Neal divides his time between Las Vegas and Atlanta. He said last month that he wants to explore an NBA expansion team in Las Vegas. He told me in 2021 that the league belongs to Las Vegas, at the time of approaching a team to move here.
O’Neal was on hand alongside football legend David Beckham and representatives from Authentic Brands Group, including CEO Jamie Salter, to host the F1 party. O’Neal is an investor in the company, among his many business ventures, which now include the newly opened Cheri nightclub in Paris Las Vegas.
O’Neal said Hamilton was the only F1 driver he knew – and Shaq knows him personally – but praised the series’ first race in Las Vegas.
“Las Vegas has always been the Entertainment Capital of the World and whoever came up with the idea of bringing F1 here for the next 10 years has been a genius,” he said. “When I first saw the cars go down Las Vegas Boulevard, I was wondering how it was going to happen, but I’m sitting there watching it and I think it’s going to be a very prestigious event.”
There was talk of prestige up north on race night.
Later on Saturday, representatives of the group planning an NBA-style stadium held their own F1 party. Oak View Group (OVG) hosted a party for about 400 VIP guests at its pop-up party complex located across from the Fashion Show shopping center at the Strip and Spring Mountains. Or, only in turn 12, for the purposes of the race. OVG President and CEO Tim Leiweke and senior executives Marc Badain and Randy Morton watched the race from the multi-level hospitality annex.
Sphere Entertainment Group CEO Jim Dolan was also on hand, for a while, to check out what his headquarters looked like from the bend’s vantage point (stunning, simply put).
The event was an impressive statement by OVG, which is trying to bring an NBA team to its $10 billion casino project at Las Vegas Boulevard and Blue Diamond Road. The stadium would have capacity for 20,000 spectators and would be the same size as the Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, another of Leiweke’s companies.
Leiweke was CEO of AEG when the T-Mobile Arena was built. His new stadium would compete with that of the Golden Knights. A couple of conclusions after chatting with the OVG bigwigs: the new stadium would cost more than twice as much as the T-Mobile Arena, $1 billion, compared to $375 million. And an NBA expansion team won’t want to be the second tenant of any stadium.
The OVG team knows how to throw a party. But his vision for Las Vegas is serious, believe it.
Voltaire, Kylie y Rodgers
Voltaire, at The Venetian, was one of the big stars of the night, with Nile Rodgers and Chic on Wednesday and Friday, and Kylie Minogue hosting the F1 closing party at the Amber Lounge on Saturday. I saw Rogers’ show on Friday, when he took the stage at 11 pm, following previous performances of Belle de Nuit. Star DJ and producer Jellybean Benitez closed the night.
It was a tough draw for that three-course experience, as the F1 crowd was still busy with qualifying action and the venue was at around half capacity. It did not matter. The band rocked out, opening confidently with “Le Freak” and “Everybody Dance” and rocking relentlessly until 1 a.m.
Rodgers también interpretó “I’m Coming Out” y “Upside Down” de Diana Ross; “He’s the Greatest Dancer” y “We Are Family” de Sister Sledge; y “Like a Virgin” y “Material Girl” de Madonna.
We would like to see Rodgers again in that dazzling room. He has a show that fits the…chic aesthetic of the club.
The man in green
Guy Laliberte was dressed in colorful shades of green-red-yellow and smiling mischievously as he ventured into the DJ booth late Saturday at his Froogy Camp abode at Resorts World. Laliberte and his dumb-brilliant team took over the old Enchant and Transfix plot during F1.
Seventeen caravans painted with various Froogy designs were parked at the site. About a thousand people attended the party, which included bicycles and tricycles decorated with LEDs, cacti, and bonfires illuminated by daylight.
Laliberte goes on to say he wants to bring something “colorful” back to Las Vegas. We’ll let this play out at his own pace. But we were happy to see Cirque du Soleil executives like Daniel Lamarre and Stéphane Lefebvre joining in on the frivolity.
We are not talking about a formal partnership. But we sense that Laliberte will soon coexist in Las Vegas with the company he created.
Cool Exit Alert
One show that deserves more attention here, there and there is the “Michael Orland & Friends” open mic night at Myron’s, Monday at 7 p.m. Sing along, or sit back and judge, as the pianist and singing teacher of “American Idol” organizes a live singing competition. First prize is a $200 gift card. Visit TheSmithCenter.com for more information.
2023-11-21 23:55:59
#Shaq #NBA #expansion #Las #Vegas #LeBron #LeBron
