NFBC New York 2023: Definitely At Dave & Busters!!

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NFBC New York 2023: Definitely At Dave & Busters!!

Post by Greg Ambrosius » Tue Sep 27, 2022 8:42 am

As we head to the finish line in the 2022 NFBC season, we are already planning for the 2023 NFBC season, which will be our 20th anniversary season. Twenty-years!!!! Amazing. :D

We are locking down a venue for Las Vegas right now and hope to have that announcement soon. The Bellagio's Convention Center is completely booked for March 22-30, so there is no chance that we are returning there this year. However, we do have tentative space at Park MGM where we just hosted the NFFC live events in September and hope to get similar space booked there this week. Stay tuned as I have a meeting with their convention officials this week. Everyone will need to plan and book early this year because March Madness's Sweet Sixteen will be held in Las Vegas March 23-26 at T Mobile Arena, which is right across from Park MGM. Hotel rooms are going to be EXPENSIVE that weekend and so will flights, so plan ahead of time if you're joining us for our 20th anniversary season in Las Vegas.

Now back to New York City.

We are trying everything we can do to return to the Big Apple for our 20th straight season of live events. There's a reason that no other high-stakes contest has ever hosted a live event in New York City: It's expensive. But we have a great group of customers on the East Coast and it's imperative that we give them a live event option because not everyone can get out to Las Vegas. So we're trying. Trust me, we are.

In 2004 when we first hosted live events in New York City, it was obviously a different environment for hotels and convention centers. They needed conventions to return to the Big Apple after 9/11. We had little trouble finding space at the Javitts Center or the Sheraton or the Hilton. The prices started to go way up starting in 2010, but eventually we landed at the Stewart Hotel, which made it convenient for drafters coming to the City and made it affordable for us. That worked for a good 4-5 years.

But the Stewart is closing before the end of the year and turning the building into either apartments or condos. Employees have already gotten their 90-day notices and the hotel will likely close in November. It's a shame because we loved that place.

Now what?

We've reached out to several hotels who have either not responded or let us know it would be $10,000-$20,000 a day in rental fees plus large room blocks at their hotels. The Javitts Center isn't cost effective as well. The environment has changed in New York City and a small show like ours isn't cost-effective for them or for us. And we're no longer getting 5-6 (heck we had 9 once) Main Event leagues drafting at once.

So I'm offering one solution to stay in New York City on March 17-19, 2023: Dave & Busters on 42nd and 7th/8th. You can see the meeting room space here. Click on the arrow and move it around to see 360 degrees of the two meeting rooms:

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Dave+ ... -73.988634

We hosted NFFC drafts in these rooms earlier this month, but we didn't know if we could hold two drafts at once, so we limited each day to one draft per time. We ran 8 live events over two days and the food was good, the service was good, the setup was good and for the most part everyone had a good time. Unfortunately, the air conditioning didn't work in those rooms, which made it very hot when the doors were shut, but I've talked to management and they apologized and said they will have that fixed. It shouldn't be a problem in March, but that also shouldn't be a problem again in September if we return for NFFC live events.

Anyway, the bigger meeting room can hold 55 people and the second meeting room can hold 45 people. There is an air wall if we need to separate the rooms and we'll move the buffet outside each room to make sure we have enough space for everyone. The downside is that we can only hold two Main Events at once on Saturday, but we'll double up the times and try to get 4 Mains that day and 1 on Sunday, which is more than we've had at Stewart Hotel since 2019. I think we can make this work, but I want your feedback first.

I'll email this thread to our past New York participants and see what everyone thinks. Again, I'm not trying to be dire, but our options are as follows:

a) Dave & Busters March 17-19 in Manhattan, 42nd and 7th/8th
b) Look at other options in Brooklyn or Jersey City March 17-19
c) Not host in New York this year

The other hotel and convention center options don't work financially, but we could look outside of the city if everyone is okay with that. We had a good option in Brooklyn for football, but our participants wanted to remain in Manhattan. We agreed and hosted at Dave & Busters. Oh, and there are plenty of hotel options in that area and we can recommend a few if you're coming to the city and staying the weekend.

Okay, here's a potential Schedule of Events for March 17-19 if we decided to host at Dave & Busters:

Friday, March 17th (yes, St. Patrick's Day in New York City):
9 am - $1500 Auction Championship
2:30 pm - $2500 Auction Championship
8 pm - MTM Invitational Ultimate League (on SiriusXM)

Saturday, March 18th
10 am - Main Event (2 leagues, open ballroom)
2 pm - Main Event (2 leagues, open ballroom)
6 pm - $1500 Auction Championship

Sunday, March 19th
9 am - $1500 Auction Championship
10 am - Main Event
2 pm - $1500 Auction Championship

Could we fill all of these? I would hope so. Could we add other options on Friday to split the two rooms or even on Sunday? Possibly. I'm open for all suggestions, but by starting earlier on Saturday I think we give two good time slots for the Main Event and hopefully we can still fill 4-5 live auction leagues. We always filled five auction championship leagues through 2020, but since the pandemic it has been tougher. Hopefully we can return to the old days in our 20th anniversary season.

Again, I'm open for feedback here. I'm confident this can work and if there was demand for some Monday events to get closer to Opening Day we'd listen to those suggestions. We want to return to New York City and Dave & Busters is giving us a chance to do that. The space could be a little tight for 15-team leagues, but we held a 14-team NFFC Super League and it worked. Moving the buffet out of the room will free up extra space, so I know this can work. Now I just need to hear back from my East Coast patrons!!!

Let us know what you think and look for an email shortly. Thanks all and finish the 2022 season strong. Then get ready for a fun, fun, fun 20th anniversary NFBC season. Can't wait. Thanks all.
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Re: NFBC New York 2023: Possibly At Dave & Busters

Post by Bronx Yankees » Tue Sep 27, 2022 12:08 pm

Thanks, Greg. I very much appreciate the NFBC's efforts to keep live drafts in NYC. I will be there for the 2023 drafts, wherever you hold them.

My preference from the choices listed would be Dave & Busters. Traveling into NYC from Upstate NY, I typically take the train so anywhere in Manhattan works for me, and Dave & Busters is conveniently close to Penn Station.

Looking at the proposed schedule for NYC, I have one suggestion: how about a live DC league, maybe at a $1,000 or a $2,500 price point (whatever gives it the best chance to fill with live drafters)? I love drafting live in NYC and Vegas, but can only handle so many FAAB teams. I think there are other drafters who might spring for another league in NYC or Vegas if it did not involve FAAB.

I also think drafters signing up for a live DC would be prepared, and so it would not take that much longer than a 30-round draft, and probably be shorter than an auction. The times to make picks also could be reduced as you get to the later rounds. Maybe something like:

First 10 rounds - 60 seconds per pick
Break
Rounds 11-20 - 45 seconds per pick
Break
Rounds 21-35 - 30 seconds per pick
Break
Rounds 36-50 - 15 seconds per pick

I also would expect many drafters to make their picks before the end of the allotted time.

Anyway, just a thought. Thanks for soliciting feedback and very much looking forward to the 2023 live drafts in NYC and Vegas. Congrats, too, on the 20th Anniversary.

Mike
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Re: NFBC New York 2023: Possibly At Dave & Busters

Post by Greg Ambrosius » Tue Sep 27, 2022 12:29 pm

So I can say that the early feedback from New York drafters is to stay in Manhattan. Ease of getting to a Manhattan venue outweighs anything else, so I'm definitely leaning this way as well. We'll see what other feedback I get, but the early emails from New York drafters is to stay at Dave & Busters if it means staying in Manhattan.

And I LOVE Mike's idea for a live high-dollar Draft Champions league. What that price point is will be decided by you folks, but I think it would be great and I agree that hosting a non-FAAB league would have appeal to those who are coming to New York City for the live events. We could do this Saturday night if people are up for it or even Saturday or Sunday afternoon.

Keep the feedback coming. I'm loving all of the great ideas and opinions about NFBC New York in 2023.
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Re: NFBC New York 2023: Possibly At Dave & Busters

Post by Gekko » Tue Sep 27, 2022 6:09 pm

Regarding NYC, I’d suggest staying in the city, somewhere convenient to Penn Station would be ideal. I drafted at Dave & Busters last month and it was fine.

Regarding a live DC (good idea Mager!), I’d certainly consider joining one if it was offered where I was drafting. Next year leaning LV only for me.

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Re: NFBC New York 2023: Possibly At Dave & Busters

Post by Greg Ambrosius » Wed Sep 28, 2022 1:56 pm

As for Las Vegas, don't book Park MGM at this point. That Sweet Sixteen round at T Mobile Arena is causing all kinds of troubles for us at MGM venues. The space we had been promised at Park MGM has been given to someone else involved with the tournament. It doesn't look good for us there now.

We're continuing to look for space, but the curveball yesterday caught me looking. I'm back to Square One and scrambling for space. I knew this would be a tough weekend, but we'll figure something out. More to come as I find out what hotels still have space. At this point, not many do even though we're still 6+ months out. Bummer.
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Re: NFBC New York 2023: Possibly At Dave & Busters

Post by Edwards Kings » Fri Sep 30, 2022 5:49 am

And to Park MGM for reneging...

Image
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Re: NFBC New York 2023: Possibly At Dave & Busters

Post by Greg Ambrosius » Fri Sep 30, 2022 8:33 am

Edwards Kings wrote:
Fri Sep 30, 2022 5:49 am
And to Park MGM for reneging...

Image
My thoughts exactly Wayne!!! But it's something I saw coming as early as last year and why I said to "never take this for granted" when we were drafting at the Bellagio. The days of having the Bellagio's Grand Ballroom or Bellagio Ballroom may be ending as the economy and conventions market heats up.

MGM has a new mantra and it's to sell all or almost all of their convention space at each of their hotels to the biggest conventions. Their goal is to sell the entire space to one big show and over the last several months they have been very successful at that. I'm pretty sure someone at Park MGM said to hold the space we had for a bigger vendor or maybe they got that already because earlier this month their sales reps were excited to have us back for baseball. But I was told of this new direction last September and so for some of our events I have to be more patient and wait to see if space eventually opens up. Park MGM has limited space and the arrival of two NCAA Sweet Sixteen games across the street likely made that space more valuable than the sales reps expected when we talked two weeks ago.

Unfortunately, the turnover rate among the sales people at these hotels change so often that I sometimes have two different sales reps in the same year. The pandemic took all of the veteran sales people out of this market and I'm dealing with all new young reps. I know we'll find something that will work, but the turnover at MGM properties has thrown a monkey wrench in the history of service we had there before.

But I'm on it and we'll find something that works, while getting a room block that is affordable during an expensive weekend in Las Vegas. We've been at the Rio, the Stardust, the Flamingo, the Bellagio, Park MGM and likely other spots I can't even remember, so we'll adjust and find a good spot for our 20th anniversary season. It will likely be a new spot, but that's okay. We know how to adjust. Hell, we just weathered a 99-day MLB lockout, so I think we can handle any other curveball that is thrown at us.

Stay patient everyone and we'll figure this out in Las Vegas and New York City.
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Re: NFBC New York 2023: Possibly At Dave & Busters

Post by Rickerbocker » Fri Sep 30, 2022 7:31 pm

D&B seems good to me. A Friday night DC would grab my attention.

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Re: NFBC New York 2023: Possibly At Dave & Busters

Post by Ando » Sat Oct 01, 2022 11:18 pm

Time to stroke a relationship with Derek Stevens and make that our home in Vegas. Fuck the strip and it's overpriced/overbooked bullshit.
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Re: NFBC New York 2023: Possibly At Dave & Busters

Post by Wolfpac » Sun Oct 02, 2022 9:59 am

Circa is a great casino and that sportsbook is amazing!

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Re: NFBC New York 2023: Possibly At Dave & Busters

Post by Baseball Furies » Sun Oct 02, 2022 10:32 am

I will work on doing whatever it takes to make the 20th Anniversay of the NFBC in NYC a smash success. There should be no fewer than full live Main event leagues. Quite frankly, they should have condemned and demolished the Stewart Hotel and Penitentiary a long time ago. So Dave & Busters is fine, but cutting a hotel deal with the closest place near by would be good since we obviously can't stay at the venue. The MTM Ultimate moving back to Friday night is fine as long as we have the coverage again and can get a private room. They really should send a live team there this year. No more pandemic or labor dispute excuses to use anymore.

And what about the Aria or Caesars? Preferably some place close to the Bellagio since this is where the annual MTM NFBC bash & Midnight Madness Draft will again be held despite their unceremonious bullshit convention policies. Possibly another event as well. Hopefully this all gets worked out sooner rather than later.

And we all know the Strip is a ripoff, but it's the place to be, so please don't set us up in the boondocks. Thanks.
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Re: NFBC New York 2023: Possibly At Dave & Busters

Post by Greg Ambrosius » Tue Oct 04, 2022 8:36 am

Baseball Furies wrote:
Sun Oct 02, 2022 10:32 am
I will work on doing whatever it takes to make the 20th Anniversay of the NFBC in NYC a smash success. There should be no fewer than full live Main event leagues. Quite frankly, they should have condemned and demolished the Stewart Hotel and Penitentiary a long time ago. So Dave & Busters is fine, but cutting a hotel deal with the closest place near by would be good since we obviously can't stay at the venue. The MTM Ultimate moving back to Friday night is fine as long as we have the coverage again and can get a private room. They really should send a live team there this year. No more pandemic or labor dispute excuses to use anymore.

And what about the Aria or Caesars? Preferably some place close to the Bellagio since this is where the annual MTM NFBC bash & Midnight Madness Draft will again be held despite their unceremonious bullshit convention policies. Possibly another event as well. Hopefully this all gets worked out sooner rather than later.

And we all know the Strip is a ripoff, but it's the place to be, so please don't set us up in the boondocks. Thanks.
We're excited for the 20th anniversary season as well and I plan on letting the entire industry know what we've accomplished since 2004. Counting baseball, football and basketball, we'll have awarded over $82 million in prize money during our first 19 seasons, which is amazing. Let's give another $10-11 million away in 2023!!! :D

If we can get four full Main Event leagues in New York City on Saturday and 1-2 on Sunday that would be a lot of fun. We haven't had 5-6 Main Event leagues in New York City in quite a few years, so let's do it in 2023 and have some fun. There's just nothing like the live events and I get it that drafting Online closer to Opening Day may feel safer, but c'mon, smack talking during a live draft with MTM is twice as much fun (is that number too low?) :lol:

The Ultimate draft is the only draft scheduled on Friday night at this time, so we'd have both rooms open. We are at the mercy of SiriusXM and how they handle the live broadcasts, but I'll take announcers live or at home. They love the content for the channel, so hopefully we get 3 more hours this year.

Aria has space right now, but they aren't allowing us to secure it at this point. We have to be patient there. Caesar's is full, but there is one option available among their hotels on the other side of the street. I'm talking with one more MGM property that could work out nicely, but I'm asking for a little better space. We suddenly have some options, so stay patient everyone. I'll probably fly out there in the next couple of weeks to look at everything and see what works best for us. I reached out to Circa about availability, but haven't heard back yet. Hosting live events downtown would be quite a diversion for us, but inquiring about that space never hurts.

The places I'm talking with do have affordable hotel rates for that weekend, so I feel better about that. Aria hasn't quoted me anything yet, but I think getting slightly away from T Mobile Arena will help with prices this year. Park MGM quoted me room rates of $400-$500 a night with resort fees and taxes and I didn't like that initially anyway. I think we can find something better, so give me some time to keep looking. Sometimes a little patience works with these hotels as sales reps get a little nervous about having unused convention space. I think we'll be okay.

We will likely be at a new hotel in 2023 for NFBC and people will have to make travel plans early because having the Sweet Sixteen IN LAS VEGAS is going to bring a lot of people there this year. I hope I can get us good space with good rates on our room block as I know we're going to have to have a room block at the host hotel going forward. But if the hotel is nice and the rates are going, having the majority of our participants at the same hotel could be a blast in Las Vegas.

I'll probably fly to New York City too to check out space and hotels there soon. I see a Doubletree on 39th Street that looks good and is only three blocks away and the Intercontinental Hotel is on 44th Street. I'm pretty sure I've stayed there. Let's find a hotel that might work for many of us coming from outside the area. Sound good?

I'm on it. We just need to work through some things and have some patience and then we'll be good to go. Thanks all and finish strong this season before planning for next season.
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Re: NFBC New York 2023: Possibly At Dave & Busters

Post by Greg Ambrosius » Wed Oct 26, 2022 11:35 am

So I flew to New York City yesterday and met with representatives at Dave & Busters on 42nd street in the afternoon. The two rooms will have more than enough space to host two separate events at once and the airwall really separates the two rooms if we want two different styles of events at once.

We are securing space for Friday, Saturday and Sunday, March 17-19 and should have a finalized contract soon. Unfortunately, there is another event in both rooms on Saturday starting at 7 pm ET, so we won't have space at that time. It's a heck of a bummer and I did everything I could to keep that space, but there's an event with 300 people coming in that night and they couldn't do anything for us.

We always had one NFBC Auction Championship league on Saturday night, so we'll have to get creative to still get 3-5 auction leagues there that weekend. But I think we can still get 4 events on Saturday if we host them at 10 am and 2 pm, finishing before 6:30 pm.

Okay, let me know what you think of this schedule at Dave & Busters:

Friday, March 17th (St. Patrick's Day):
9 am - $1500 Auction Championship league (there's room for 2 if demand is there)
2:30 pm - $2500 Auction Championship league
2:30 pm - $1500 Auction Championship league or $1,000 Draft Champions league
8 pm - MTM Invitational Ultimate League

Saturday, March 18th:
10 am - Main Event (2 leagues at once in open room)
2 pm - Main Event (2 leagues at once in open room or one Main and one $1,000 Draft Champions league)

Sunday, March 19th:
10 am - Main Event (could host 2 at once, but we've always filled one at that time)
2 pm - $1500 Auction Championship
2 pm - anything else?
6 pm - nothing planned but space is available if needed

Mike Mager suggested a non-FAAB Draft Champions League and I'd love to host one if there's interest. I'm not sure what day would be best for that contest, so I've listed it at multiple times. By hosting the Main Event twice on Saturday, it could give people on the East Coast two alternative times to do at least one and it's possible that some folks would like a second option on the same day. But the idea is really to give East Coast players two time options and again hopefully we can fill 3-5 Main Event leagues that weekend and get back to the numbers we had prior to Covid in 2020.

We have only four Auction Championship league options and that might not be enough since we filled 5 Auction Championship leagues in the past. But losing Saturday night hurts us. Could we fill both options on Friday afternoon and the Sunday league? Would anyone come into the City to do a Monday 5 or 6 pm $1500 Auction Championship league? The space is available if we want it, but I'm not convinced that Monday night is a good alternative. Let me know what you think, but I'd love to get at least four auction leagues in New York City and it's tight now.

This is just a tentative schedule after I learned about Saturday night being eliminated. Post your thoughts and we'll do all we can to get the schedule of events finalized and a fun weekend of live events in New York City.

Oh, and a brand new Hilton Times Square is opening on Thursday right next door to Dave & Busters. And I mean RIGHT NEXT DOOR. There's also a Hampton Inn on 41st street that I stopped at and it looks nice. Rates there are about $279 per night for the weekend. I'll see what the Hilton is charging once they go live on Thursday. But there are plenty of other options around 42nd and 8th, so go online and check them out if you plan on staying overnight. I'll let you know where we're staying once we book our flights and hotel. Thanks everyone.
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Re: NFBC New York 2023: Possibly At Dave & Busters

Post by Bronx Yankees » Wed Oct 26, 2022 2:51 pm

Greg - The schedule looks good. Last year, I did the Friday 9 am AC, the MTM Ultimate, and a Saturday Main Event in NYC. Count me in for those three again come March. I'd happily add a $1,000 DC to my dance card if we can fill it. Given that I'm already planning to do an AC and the Ultimate on Friday, I'd selfishly vote to do a live DC on Saturday afternoon as opposed to Friday afternoon. A Main Event/Live DC double-header on Saturday sounds great to me. 80 rounds of drafting! Lol. Thanks.

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Re: NFBC New York 2023: Possibly At Dave & Busters

Post by mdecav » Thu Oct 27, 2022 11:32 am

I’d be up for a $1000 DC on Saturday.

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Re: NFBC New York 2023: Possibly At Dave & Busters

Post by Greg Ambrosius » Tue Nov 01, 2022 8:18 am

I know this isn't a Las Vegas thread because we haven't announced our host hotel yet, but just a heads up for anyone who is planning to come to Las Vegas for the March 23-26 events that it's going to be VERY BUSY that weekend and even busier than we first thought.

The NCAA March Madness Sweet Sixteen games will be held at T Mobile Arena March 23-26 and hotel rates near that arena are already very high. Now today Taylor Swift announced her latest tour and her second stop will be in Las Vegas at Allegiant Stadium on Saturday, March 25th. That's going to put even more pressure on flight and hotel costs, so plan ahead early if you can.

I hope to have more details on a possible host hotel and a room block that we'll have there in the next couple of weeks, but don't be afraid to get your flights taken care of soon. Thanks all and good luck.
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Re: NFBC New York 2023: Definitely At Dave & Busters!!

Post by Greg Ambrosius » Wed Nov 09, 2022 9:30 am

NOW OFFICIAL: The 20th anniversary NFBC drafts in New York City will be at Dave & Busters March 17th through the 19th. We have two rooms on the third floor with an air wall and can host two drafts at once in the open room or close off both rooms and have two separate auctions at once.

The contract is signed and not only will we be at Dave & Busters for the NFBC live events, but we have agreed to return to Dave & Busters for the NFFC live events Sept. 1st and 2nd. Again, we'll use both rooms for the football drafts and hope to have multiple drafts at once in the open area.

The rooms are available to us as follows:

Friday, March 17th: 9 am ET to midnight ET
Saturday, March 18th: 9 am ET to 7 pm ET (another event follows ours, unfortunately)
Sunday, March 19th: 9 am to 8 pm ET

I posted the tentative schedule above and those events are listed on Registration. If there's a chance to add anything to the schedule on Friday or Sunday, we will, but Saturday is going to be tight. If you want to draft in the New York Main Event on Saturday at 10 am or 2 pm, please don't delay because we are limited to 30 Main Event teams at 10 am and only 15 at 2 pm, unless demand tells us we need to change Saturday's 2 pm schedule. We also could add a Main Event on Friday at 8 pm if interest is there.

Now, if you are coming from out of the area and want to stay in Manhattan, hold off on your hotel arrangements just now. Tout Wars is also looking to host their industry auctions that same weekend in Manhattan and we may partner with them on a room block at their host hotel. That hotel may be only 4 or 5 blocks away from our event on 42nd and 8th, so it would be ideal. I would definitely stay there as well and the price could be under $200 a night. Hang tight as I'm working with those guys on the details, but it sounds promising.

So are you ready for our 20th straight season of live events in New York City? The space will work well, but demand could exceed the space we have. Plan ahead, secure your spots and remember that we don't need any payments for these live events until February 15th. But secure your spots now and be ready to join us in New York City for a fun, fun, fun weekend of live events. Oh, and it's St. Patrick's Day on Friday, so the city should be hopping. See you there.
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Re: NFBC New York 2023: Definitely At Dave & Busters!!

Post by Greg Ambrosius » Wed Nov 09, 2022 9:48 am

I am still working on Las Vegas, but I feel very confident that we have a perfect venue for that weekend. I'm still waiting on the contract details after touring places on Monday in Las Vegas, but we have two good options and hopefully we can whittle that down to one final destination soon.

Don't book your hotels yet for Las Vegas because I think you're going to want to stay at the host hotel and we should have an affordable room block for everyone. Unlike at the Bellagio, we will have to guarantee at least 200-250 room nights, so we will be encouraging everyone to stay at our host hotel if they can do it and we think it will be ideal to have everyone at one venue and hanging out together. Plus it will be easier to find our convention space, which isn't far from the Guest elevators.

This is going to be an especially CRAZY weekend in Las Vegas. Not only is Las Vegas hosting two Sweet Sixteen nights at T Mobile Arena, but Taylor Swift is playing on Saturday, March 25th at Allegiant Stadium. There will be 100,000+ people in town for those two events and hotel rooms are going to be at a premium, especially on that end of the Strip. We may try to avoid some of that craziness, but we'll see. Again, I think our room block will be affordable and convenient for everyone staying in Las Vegas that weekend, so be patient with us while we finalize this contract.

And I think I have something special for the Friday Night Midnight Madness party, which I know is important to a lot of folks. Again, hold tight on all plans and hopefully we'll have some news coming soon. I just got back in Wisconsin and we're still working on the final details, but during a busy, busy weekend in Las Vegas, we may have gotten lucky with this space.

Just as a backdrop to how busy Las Vegas is going to be that weekend, I reached out to all of these hotels and their convention space was full:

Bellagio (180,000 square feet, SOLD OUT)
Aria (500,000 square feet, SOLD OUT)
Caesars (300,000 square feet, SOLD OUT)
Park MGM (120,000 square feet, SOLD OUT)
Planet Hollywood (100,000 square feet, SOLD OUT)
Circa (ALL SOLD OUT)

I could go on and on. I mean even the Flamingo is SOLD OUT. We honestly are looking at two options on the Strip because convention space is at such a premium that weekend with the NCAA Tournament in town. In 20+ years of hosting conventions in Las Vegas, I've never seen space so limited. It's why I flew to Las Vegas on Monday to see for myself and every sales rep was honest with me about that weekend. It's an unprecedented weekend even for Las Vegas and I'm begging everyone to plan accordingly.

Please don't wait until the last minute this year to get flights or hotels. You will want to plan ahead this year for March 2023 NFBC in Las Vegas. Thanks all and I promise to have some good news soon.
Greg Ambrosius
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Re: NFBC New York 2023: Definitely At Dave & Busters!!

Post by Greg Ambrosius » Fri Dec 02, 2022 1:49 pm

Okay, here's an update for my NFBC New York live event participants: Hold tight on booking your hotel room just yet.

It looks like Tout Wars will be hosting their live events at Hotel Edison on 47th Street, which is just five blocks from Dave & Busters. They are working on a room block now and we will have a few rooms for staff and participants among that room block. Prices look good and the hotel looks good.

Here's the link to Hotel Edison:

https://www.edisonhotelnyc.com/

Again, hold off for now and we'll get that special room block link to everyone soon. It will be great to have a host hotel in the heart of Times Square where NFBC and industry writers will be staying. Could be some wild nights!!!

Speaking of wild nights, for anyone coming into the Big Apple on Thursday I think we should celebrate St. Patrick's Day one day early!! Andy Saxton always did a good job of getting folks together that night at Mustang Harry's and I think we can find another watering hole nearby this year as well. Dave & Busters has a nice bar upstairs or we can find another spot between 47th and 42nd. There are plenty of good spots among those five blocks and we can hook up for a drink or three that night!! :lol: Sound good? Andy, are you game?
Greg Ambrosius
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Re: NFBC New York 2023: Definitely At Dave & Busters!!

Post by mdecav » Sat Dec 03, 2022 3:37 pm

I haven't been there but this could be a good hangout on 41st:

https://www.yardhouse.com/home

Another place with a good beer selection is District Tap House on 38th:

https://www.districttaphouse.com/

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Re: NFBC New York 2023: Definitely At Dave & Busters!!

Post by Greg Ambrosius » Fri Dec 09, 2022 10:35 am

Okay, Tom and I have booked our rooms at Hampton Inn on 41st and 8th. This is exactly one block from Dave & Busters and I'm positive I can get there in 4-5 minutes and I'M OLD!!! :lol:

I just paid $231 a night for a King bed in the Broadway district, which is a damn good price. It's a nice, clean, newer hotel with a clean lobby and free breakfast. I think we can find a bar close by to drink at on Thursday night and then stumble home.

Here you go:

https://tinyurl.com/3tbp6ujc

Tout Wars is still negotiating for rooms at Hotel Edison on 47th Street, but I'm still waiting for that price. Initial numbers were higher than we expected, so I jumped the guy and took this while the price was right. It was $289 last week, so for some reason the price went down and I chose to dive in. Good luck everyone and hopefully you find the right hotel for you.
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Re: NFBC New York 2023: Definitely At Dave & Busters!!

Post by Philly High Hopes » Tue Jan 31, 2023 6:50 pm

Forgive me if you posted this elsewhere but are there any updates/suggestions on NY hotel arrangements? Greg - are you still locked in at the Hampton Inn? You also mentioned the Holiday Inn earlier in this thread? What are most people doing? Unfortunately I cannot make it to Vegas this year so I want to try to make it to NY if possible.

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Re: NFBC New York 2023: Definitely At Dave & Busters!!

Post by Bronx Yankees » Wed Feb 01, 2023 8:59 am

I booked at the Hampton Inn on 8th Avenue as Greg recommended. I don't think there was any special NFBC room rate, but the rates were very reasonable for NYC when I booked (early December). I got a room for Thursday and Friday nights for a little under $240 per night (not including all of the fees and taxes, which do add up!). No idea what rooms are going for now. Hope this helps.

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Re: NFBC New York 2023: Definitely At Dave & Busters!!

Post by Greg Ambrosius » Wed Feb 01, 2023 11:39 am

Philly High Hopes wrote:
Tue Jan 31, 2023 6:50 pm
Forgive me if you posted this elsewhere but are there any updates/suggestions on NY hotel arrangements? Greg - are you still locked in at the Hampton Inn? You also mentioned the Holiday Inn earlier in this thread? What are most people doing? Unfortunately I cannot make it to Vegas this year so I want to try to make it to NY if possible.
Yes, I'm staying at Hampton Inn. It's one block from our host venue. The link is two posts above yours.

Tout Wars is staying at Hotel Edison and has a room block there. I don't have that link, but I can reach out to Todd Zola if you're interested and get that. Here's that hotel:

https://www.edisonhotelnyc.com/

Hope to see you in New York City and a bummer that you won't be in Las Vegas. Good luck with the travel plans.
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