NFBC To Host 2026 Live Events At The Rio Las Vegas

[Greg Ambrosius]

I'm happy to announce today that we have secured a host hotel for NFBC 2026 Live Events in Las Vegas. It was very tough to find the space we needed this year because of several big conventions that are already booked on the Strip for March of 2026, but we are reaching back in time and going back to an old friend in Las Vegas.

The 2026 NFBC Live Events will be hosted at the Rio Hotel & Casino. It was our first host hotel in 2004 and 2005 for the NFBC in Las Vegas and we'll actually be in the same ballroom as '04 and '05. We have the entire 20,000 square foot Brasilia Ballroom for Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, March 19-22, 2026. That amount of space will allow us to host up to 9 Main Event drafts at once on Saturday morning and will allow us all the space we need for drafts, auctions, podcasts, Welcome Receptions and more during all four days. We also have two big Palma Ballrooms on Wednesday, March 18th for our kickoff draft and auction, and we're in the Palma Ballrooms on Monday and Tuesday, March 23-24, as well.

The Convention Center space is perfect for what we need. The Rio also has some nice options for our Friday Night Party, which will be held there, and our entire room block is in the Ipanema Tower. This is important because the Rio officially became part of Hyatt in 2021 and the property joined the World of Hyatt Loyalty Program in March of 2024. The first phase of the renovation included $340 million in improvements, starting with the Ipanema Tower. All of the suites in the Ipanema Tower have been renovated and all of our rooms are in that tower.

The other tower at the Rio is the Masquerade Tower and that one hasn't been renovated yet. The Masquerade Tower is the tower that has the VooDoo Lounge on the 51st Floor overlooking Las Vegas. If you've never been to that bar you MUST go. It's a fantastic sight and a good time. But again, book the Ipanema Tower under our room block if you get the chance.

Anyway, we are booked to host Live Events at the Rio from Wednesday, March 18th to Tuesday, March 24th. Schedule will be similar to this year and we have enough space to add events if needed. Here's the room block we have for that week:

Tuesday, March 17th - $129 (not counting $50 Resort Fee)
Wednesday, March 18th - $129
Thursday, March 19th - $129
Friday, March 20th - $229
Saturday, March 21st - $229
Sunday, March 22nd - $129
Monday, March 23rd - $129
Tuesday, March 24th - $129
Wednesday, March 25th - $129
Thursday, March 26th - $129

This is Opening Weekend of March Madness again, so getting room prices of $129 per night on Wednesday and Thursday is a good deal. Even the Saturday and Sunday room prices are affordable for that weekend. Unfortunately, every hotel in Las Vegas now has those pesky Resort Fees, but at the Rio that includes free WiFi, free parking, 50% discount for on-property show tickets and some 2-for-1 beverages at select places on the property. The sportsbook is also newly renovated and has plenty of seating and a quick-food restaurant now right next door. The old buffet area has been renovated and redesigned to now include 5-6 different restaurants.

Oh, and there is a great center bar for our customers to hang out at after the drafts. It's called the Lapa Lounge and it has plenty of TVs and is near Registration.

Now for the obvious question: Why aren't we staying at Park MGM or the Bellagio? Trust me, we tried to renew our contract with Park MGM in March and I actually had the exact same space secured right after our March 2025 event. However, another convention that had all of the space on the Second Floor requested all of the space on the First Floor as well and before I could sign our contract the space was sold to someone else. There apparently is a big financial convention there that weekend that is taking up space at multiple Strip hotels and there are other conventions that have secured space that weekend this early as well. Finding space for March 2026 was much, much harder than I expected.

I flew out to Las Vegas in May to meet with multiple sales reps and I was just amazed at how every hotel was booked already with their convention space. There wasn't a single Caesar's property available (not even Planet Hollywood, Paris or Flamingo) and all MGM properties were booked or we were too small for them to book us out this early. Aria is one property that has the type of space we need, but they have $450 room nights, a huge room guarantee and even then they wouldn't book our smaller space until 30 days out because they are trying to sell all of their space to bigger conventions. The Bellagio was a no again as well. I did look at other hotels farther off the Strip than the Rio, but at the end of the day the Rio Convention Center space is exactly what we needed and its location will work for most of us.

We hope you stay with us at the Rio because it will be easy to go from the draft room to your room and then to meet up with others downstairs. But if you are comped at the Bellagio or Caesar's or Wynn or the Venetien, that's fine. I took an Uber to the Bellagio and it was $15. Uber to Wynn or Caesar's or the Venetien is similarly priced or lower. While the Rio isn't on the Strip, it's certainly close enough to get anywhere you want on the Strip or downtown via Uber or a cab. It will work for us and for you.

Again, we hope you stay with us, but if not you'll easily find the Convention Center once you arrive at the Rio. See you there.

In 2004, during our debut NFBC season in Las Vegas, we had 6 Main Event leagues and two Auction Leagues. In 2005, we had 9 Main Event leagues in the Brasilia Ballroom and multiple auction leagues on Friday. We hosted our first ever Ultimate Draft League and Ultimate Auction League on that Sunday, but the Rio didn't have space for us that Sunday and we hosted both of those across the street at the Gold Coast. That was wild. Anyway, the rock star Meat Loaf was in auctions on Friday and Sunday and in the Main Event on Saturday. After Sunday's auction, he said "Greg, do you have any more auctions today? I just love these!!!" I said no, Meat, we don't, but I'm glad you had fun. Those were good times!!!

I can't tell you how happy I am to finally have space for March of 2026 locked up. It's now the fourth different host hotel in Las Vegas over the last five years (Bellagio 2021, Mirage 2022-23, Park MGM 2024), which sucks. I loved when we were at the Bellagio every year from 2010-2018, but things have changed in Las Vegas. March is an extremely popular time to host big conventions and the Bellagio, Aria, Caesar's and other big Strip hotels are now concentrating on getting one big convention rather than hosting guys like us in a smaller space. That space just isn't there, and in the case of the Mirage, the hotel just isn't there.

We will definitely look for a Strip hotel in 2027, but if the Rio works for us then we'll consider that spot again. We want a hotel that wants us back and understands our needs for big space on that Saturday of a busy weekend. We have the correct space for 2026 and we'll have a BLAST in Las Vegas. Follow us to the Rio and I promise a fun, fun week of drafts, auctions and camaraderie. See you at the Rio March 18-24, 2026 for our 23rd season of the NFBC. Thanks all.

[Greg Ambrosius]

We also have our space for New Jersey 2026 locked up and ready to go. I'll post all of that information in a separate thread soon, but we are back at the Hampton Inn & Suites in Robbinsville, New Jersey.

This year I've secured that ballroom for Friday, March 13th (Friday the 13th), Saturday, March 14th and Sunday, March 15th. We'll figure out the potential schedule for Sunday morning and afternoon, but I think there's enough demand on the East Coast for two Auctions on Friday, two Mains and the MTM Ultimate on Saturday and one Auction and one Main on Sunday. We'll see, but let's push the envelope!!!

Plan accordingly and I'll see you there.