There is a convention at the Bellagio March 23-27 that has every single ballroom booked, all day every day. That is also one of the reasons why guest rooms are outrageously priced that week at the Bellagio and why it's been impossible to get a discounted room rate. We have had to be very creative to pull off our first two nights of events, so here you go:
Thursday, March 26th: Auction Championship & All-Star Auction will be held in Executive Penthouse Suites in the Spa Tower. I will announce the room numbers once I know them, but if you are staying at the Bellagio request a Spa Tower room. That will save you a lot of walking. These are 15-team leagues, so we'll have to be creative to get everyone into those boardrooms or just outside of them at separate tables, but we'll make this work and it will be a cool family-league-type of setup. I am negotiating for one more room for the NCAA Viewing Party, but we'll allow access to parts of the All-Star Auction for folks during the night. We have to work all of that out first and still work on the space for the party. But we are definitely upstairs and we'll meet in front of DaVinci Ballroom 4 to get upstairs starting at 4 pm PT. Should be fun.
Friday, March 27th: Just like Thursday, we are going to have to host the NL & AL Auctions plus the three Primetime Leagues in the Executive Penthouse Suites. We have two right now and we'll start the NL Auction at 10 am and the Primetime at 10 am in separate suites. The 10 am Auction Championship league is going to be held in a cool boardroom next to the Business Center downstairs. Look for our NFBC banner outside near the Business Center in the Convention Center. The 4 pm Auction Championship will also be in the same spot downstairs, so plan accordingly. If you come into the Convention Center from the casino, this is one of the first rooms you'll see after you walk past the swimming pool. You'll like this setup. The Friday Primetimes will fit perfectly in the Executive Penthouse Suite and we'll run those in the same room at 10 am, 1 pm and 5 pm. We'll also run the $1300 AL and NL Auctions in one of those suites as well. Getting everyone upstairs will be the biggest challenge, but we'll have plenty of food, drink and camaraderie in these rooms and again we'll announce the room numbers once we have them. While I know it's not great for those not drafting to hang around, we'll work with folks who still want to come upstairs to have access if needed. We'll work hard to make sure we have everyone nearby or with access to these suites. Should be fun and pretty unique.
Saturday, March 28th: The Main Events are scheduled for the Tower Ballrooms, which is an area just to the right of the DaVinci Rooms on the Spa Tower side. We have Tower Ballrooms 1-5 on Saturday and will close the walls for the private leagues on Saturday night. Again, all of those are in Towers 1-5 and we'll list where each one is located as we get closer to the live drafts. I do know the Platinum league at 6 pm is in Tower 5.
Sunday, March 29th: These private leagues will also be in the Tower Ballrooms and with walls up to keep each private. We have 10 am drafts and auctions and the 4 pm Diamond Auction. Brady Tinker will be the auctioneer for this one, for the Platinum on Saturday night and for the AL and NL Auction on Friday. Should be fun.
Monday, March 30th: We have a full Ultimate Draft League Online, but my suite is open for anyone who wants to draft up there and partake in the fun.
Wednesday-Thursday, April 1st and 2nd: Any Primetimes or Main Events that we fill mid-week also will be held in the Executive Penthouse suites. We'll finalize this plan once we get closer to Draft Day, but there is another convention there from March 30-April 3 that has most of the ballroom space.
Friday, April 3rd-Saturday, April 4th: We are back in the Tower ballrooms 1 and 2 for the weekend. No problems with space on the weekend.
So again, if you are staying at the Bellagio request the Spa Tower and you will have a 100 foot walk to the drafts from your elevator. Very easy on the feet. And if you want to come to the Executive Penthouse Suites, you'll already have access to those elevators from the Spa Tower. Easy enough.
It should be a GREAT TIME in Las Vegas starting with the Thursday night party and auctions all the way through the Second Weekend. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone and actually feeling the warmth of the sun again. Please let it be unbelievably hot out in Las Vegas for 12+ days!! Tom, myself, my brother Mike and Dean Peterson will all be there on the First Weekend in Las Vegas, and then Mike and myself will handle things on the Second Weekend. We are ready!!! Come join us and let's kick off our 12th season of live drafts in Las Vegas and the 6th straight year of live drafts at the beautiful Bellagio!!
I did have to pay an OSHA fine for the tripping hazard I created. Though besides Juprinka, I don't think anyone actually fell. 
