Downtown businesses now have a new, sports-oriented meeting space that will allow them to take clients and staff to view major local events on huge screens while enjoying a lunch or snacks. That’s because ESPN Zone L.A. Live, owned and operated by AEG, features the Championship Lounge, which overlooks the 700-capacity restaurant.
The lounge can be reserved for corporate and special events or it can be divided into three skyboxes and reserved individually. Rates depend upon the popularity of the broadcast event.
Teams based at Staples Center may also use the Championship Lounge as a meeting space or for press conferences and fan appreciation events. For example, the Los Angeles Kings will use the lounge for its Jan. 29 Business Alliance event, where AEG Chief Executive Tim Leiweke will be speaking.
The restaurant differs from other ESPN Zone locations because it is the first branded restaurant that is owned and operated by an outside partner. All other locations are owned by Disney Regional Entertainment. AEG and its catering partner, Wolfgang Puck Catering and Events, manage the downtown restaurant. AEG licensed the ESPN Zone name and the concept from Disney.
In order to create the same atmosphere as other locations, employees from ESPN restaurants were brought in to train the local ESPN Zone chefs on the menu and restaurant operations.
“People flew to Los Angeles to do the training. We went to school and worked with the rest of the ESPN Zones learning the products,” said Bill Matthews, vice president of operations for ESPN Zone L.A.
One other unusual feature is a radio broadcast booth. Los Angeles-based ESPN-AM (710) will move its headquarters into the L.A. Live complex next month. Matthews expects the station to broadcast about 20 hours of live programming a week from inside the restaurant.
“We will have a live broadcast booth in the restaurant that will have athletes being interviewed live on air,” Matthews said.
Knock Out
ESPN Deportes, the Spanish language sports television network owned by Walt Disney Co., launched a new program in Los Angeles last week geared toward Hispanic boxing fans.
The 30-minute live program called “Golpe a Golpe” (“Blow by Blow”) will feature legendary boxer Marco Antonio Barrera as host. It is set to debut on Jan. 23.
“L.A. fans are hungry for more boxing content,” said Oscar Ramos, general manager for Los Angeles-based ESPN Deportes Radio, KWKW-AM (1330), which already has a daily boxing radio show. The radio audience will be drawn to the TV show through promotions. Ramos said that the station is also trying to add broadcasts of live fights.
Los Angeles accounts for approximately 15 percent of the U.S. Hispanic market.
The “Golpe a Golpe” show is a new concept for ESPN Deportes. Advertisers see the strong affiliation that Hispanics have toward the sport, but can be reluctant to buy time during a live boxing match because the fight could be over in the first round. “The studio show allows advertisers to take advantage of boxing’s popularity without the risk of live events,” said Lino Garcia, general manager for ESPN Deportes. He reported that Ford Motor Co. already signed as an advertiser.
Presidential Pick
Die hard Kings’ hockey fans have an opportunity to travel with a hockey legend to a road game on Jan. 21. The team’s media partner KLAC-AM (570) has chartered a Southwest Airlines flight to Denver that will take 137 fans with team Luc Robitaille, the team’s president of business operations and hockey hall-of-famer.
The sold-out event costs $570 for two tickets, a hotel room and the flight. Fans will leave on Wednesday morning and attend the game on Jan. 21 against the Colorado Avalanche, returning the following afternoon.
“We chose to make the $570 mark because it has value for our listeners.” said Dave Weiss, director of marketing for KLAC. “We are a losing a pretty good amount of money on the promotion.”
The marketing departments for the team and radio station came up with the idea for “Party with the President” as a way to piggyback on the excitement of the inauguration of President Barack Obama.
“It will be a fun atmosphere where fans will be able to interact with a hockey legend,” said Jonathan Lowe, senior director of marketing for the Kings. “We’re going to bring the mascot, ice girls and Luc will have people dressed as the Secret Service surrounding him as he makes his way onto the plane.”
Staff reporter David Nusbaum can be reached at [email protected] or at (323) 549-5225, ext. 236.
