Post
by Greg Ambrosius » Mon Nov 15, 2010 9:11 am
Originally posted by Sack:
Having drafted last season in the NFBC in Atlantic City and Las Vegas I'd like to share my thoughts/experiences. Add to this, I also took part in the NFFC drafts on back to back days in Las Vegas and New York this past September I'll build some added thoughts from those postive experiences.
MARCH 2010 - Bally's (first weekend)
Great location. I drove (always my preference)and stayed overnight at a hotel just out of town in a highly respected chain. Draft day meant getting to Bally's and parking. Very easy, AC hotels charge for parking but the cost is minimal. The draft room was excellent. Lots of room to spread out and for a 15 team draft this is important. High marks. Run of the mill chips and dips, but not the reason I draft. Would love a return to this site. Rating is clearly A.
March 2010 ( NFBC ) & September 2010 (NFFC )
Bellagio was the single best venue for any NFBC/NFFC event I've ever attended. Been hear since Day # 1. They actually IMPROVED from March to September. More on that in a minute. Again, I drove. The parking is free and the many drafts I attended never failed to find a space to park on the first level of the garage. Felt very safe. Long walk to the draftrooms, but this is Vegas and it was very well marked. Layout of the draftrooms are exceptional with plenty of room to stretch and enjoy the WHOLE experience. The NFBC food spread to me was not worth added FEE. Glorified chips and dips. But if I had to build in the size and comfort level to move up to a location such as this, they won me over. Add to this when I returned to partake in the NFFC the food spread moved from cold chips and dips to some hot food it truly made this a clear winner.
While I prefer to stay at the HOST site when I draft, the experience and price here was my only negative. Too big, but that is MY preference and not a deal breaker. Overall rating for the Bellagio is A+. I hope the NFBC decides to return.
September 2010 - Citi Field
I took part in the NFFC drafts and with this location a clear consideration for NFBC in 2011, some more thoughts.
I live in New Jersey. The trip by car to Citi-Field is a grind. It is expensive from a toll standpoint, but if you are givng me FREE parking at the host site ( they did ) it worked. Weekends are MUCH easier to reach this location and I'd avoid any EARLY draft times for events taking place on a weekday. Once the car is parked, there really isn't anything to do, so draft times for multiple events need to be spaced closer together.
Nothing fancy about the food served, but it was out early and refilled. Bar close, is was suprisingly very good. Thumbs up and while I hate to say this, worth the xtra FEE.
My issue with Citi-Field is something I hope the powers that be consider. The chairs provided were very big(positive) but for the 14 team NFFC drafts people were on top of each other because of the chairs. Either another table needs to be added (dont think that is feasible) or the chairs will need to be smaller. I'm thinking a 15 team league will be an issue unless you get lucky with having several teams drafting solo. The 12 teams leagues were PERFECT for this venue. I'd welcome taking part in a Double Play Live here. The staff, starting with parking the car, KNEW we were coming. Great experience and first run event. I'd rate this as a B overall, which is a true postive. I'd prefer this location to any draft location in Manhatten.
FINAL THOUGHT: This venue allowed you the opportunity to go WIRELESS. Everybody was provided a code. This was a HUGE benefit while drafting for those not able to connect to the internet wihtout a wireless plan. Because everybody at this site was offered the option, it seemed fair. The only other small knock was that the room seemed to darken as the sunlight fell away. Nothing was done to change this and brighten the room. Later drafts could be effected by this unless it took place because nobody spoke up at the draft. Good feedback Kenny and much appreciated.
It looks like we're going to finalize this with Bally's. We have the same space again and good room rates. That should be fun.
I agree with you on the Bellagio that the hotel was beautiful and they improved everything from March to September. The staff really had our event down to a T for the NFFC and I think that knowledge and awareness of what we want and need has us leaning that way again for March and next September if the NFL doesn't lock out the players. They are very, very full in March, though, so we have some decisions to make, but every hotel is full this March. Trust me, we don't get to just pick where we want to go this year. We need help making this work at one hotel for both weekends.
Citi Field will have free parking again and we will return to Caesar's instead of Acela's like we had in September. Tom agrees that the baseball setup was best and we'll have everything we had last March if we return. I really don't have a better lead right now in NY, so this looks good for us.
We'll work on the chairs and the layout and the lights, but I think this will work just like it did last March.
Greg Ambrosius
Founder, National Fantasy Baseball Championship
General Manager, Consumer Fantasy Games at SportsHub Technologies
Twitter - @GregAmbrosius
But the food and drink was on par with what we had for the Supers and Ultimate.
