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$85 Mil Slam Dunk? All-Star Spending Over NBA All-Star Wknd
Photo by BanyanTreeProductionsy via LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr
DtLA businesses are hoping to score big in the profit game when the2011 NBA All-Star weekend slam dunks the Staples Center next weekend "drawing thousands of big-spending celebrities, professional athletes and die-hard hoops fans for four days of basketball, dinners and parties," reports the LA Times.
This year's event is expected to generate more money than LA's last hosting gig seven years ago. In 2004, the majority of the VIP guests and athletes trucked in from Beverly Hills hotels and were found (w)hooping it up at Hollywood nightclubs. Now, NBA players and celebs "are expected to stay at the new 1,001-room JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotel tower, within walking distance of the arena," reports the LA Times, and visitors are likely to "spend throughout the city but particularly at the trendy clubs, shops and restaurants at the L.A. Live entertainment complex."
The LA Sports and Entertainment Commission estimates the event will generate upwards of $85 million in spending with 100,000 fans flooding the downtown area despite Staples Center only holding 19,000 spectators. The All-Star game is set for Sunday, Feb 20 at 5:00 p.m.
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