Life At Levy
NBA All-Star Shows Levy’s Home Court Advantage
When the buzzer sounded on Team LeBron’s narrow 157-155 victory over Team Giannis at United Center, one of Levy’s busiest weekends in a single city officially concluded.
During NBA All-Star 2020, celebrities and local diners mingled at Spiaggia and River Roast, which served VIP parties amidst a busy Valentine’s Day rush. Navy Pier kicked off one of Levy’s newest partnerships in style with concerts and fan events. Rank + Rally created All-Star retail experiences at hotels and entertainment venues across the city, at United Center, and online. And, United Center hosted three consecutive days of basketball, culminating with Sunday’s Team LeBron triumph.
All-Star Games have evolved over the years into citywide celebrations, and this year’s festivities showcased Levy’s home court advantage – which extends beyond Chicago roots. Levy chefs, operators, managers, and hourly team members from as near as Arlington Heights, Illinois and far as Los Angeles lent support in producing the Chicago All-Star experience. United Center’s events also drew influence from the 2019 All-Star gathering Levy hosted at Spectrum Center in Charlotte, while Levy’s leaders from Bankers Life Fieldhouse will no doubt take home inspiration for All-Star 2021 in Indianapolis.
From February 14-16, Levy helped define not just the experience inside United Center, but Chicago’s All-Star celebration. Below is a look at the highlights.
All-Star hospitality by the numbers
- 13 Levy locations, including retail pop-up shops, serving All-Star guests and fans across Chicago
- 1,100 hospitality team members
- 60 chefs and managers supporting from other Levy locations in Chicago and around the country
- 3,700 covers at Spiaggia, Café Spiaggia, River Roast, and Jake Melnick’s Corner Tap
- 275 catered private All-Star events at United Center and Navy Pier
- 17,000 square feet of retail space at 8 retail locations around the city
United Center All-Star Events
The heart of All-Star 2020, United Center hosted NBA All-Star Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Chicago Tribune and other media outlets buzzed about the signature All-Star food and beverage menu, which featured tastes of Chicago like a three-foot submarine sandwich, lobster rolls from Gibsons, and Stephanie Izard’s iconic Goat Tacos. At the weekend’s peak, 900 team members delivered the food, beverage, and hospitality experience, including a star-studded roster of nine executive chefs and culinary leaders from other Levy venues.
In addition to concessions and VIP suites, the arena’s restaurants, clubs, and social gathering spaces – Queenie’s Supper Club, Chicago Stadium Club, Event Level Clubs, Atrium, and more – hosted an incredible 263 private All-Star events for more than 12,000 guests.
Rank + Rally Retail Experiences
Between the United Center’s Madhouse Team Store and concourse shops – where Rank + Rally serves as official retail partner – and seven other retail pop-ups around the city, 120 Rank + Rally team members served guests across more than 17,000 sq. ft. of retail space. R+R also operated the official All-Star online shop, and brought curated shopping experiences to Water Tower Place, Wintrust Arena, and Westin Michigan Avenue, Hyatt Regency, and Sheraton Grand hotels.
Fans flocked to the specialty “store-within-a-store” pop-up retail experiences at United Center and Navy Pier from Mitchell & Ness, Tissot, New Era, Herschel, ’47 Brand, Sportique, and Stahls.
Navy Pier Fan Events
NBA Crossover brought fans to Navy Pier, one of Levy’s newest partners, for an immersive, pop culture event. Between fan festivities and music performances from the likes of DJ Khaled and Megan Thee Stallion, Levy’s hospitality team of 80 culinarians, operators, managers, and servers hosted thousands of guests at restaurants and cafés, and catered nearly a dozen VIP celebrity events. The Navy Pier team welcomed support from Huntington Convention Center in Cleveland, Los Angeles Convention Center, Georgia World Congress Center, and Dallas Market Center, in addition to Chicago locations and Levy’s Home Office.
Chicago Restaurants
All-Star events combined with a normally busy Valentine’s Day kept Levy’s Chicago restaurants busy all weekend. Spiaggia appeared on ESPN Radio’s Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz, fitting a “special reservation request” into an already packed weekend of holiday outings, private events with NBA teams, and celebrity sightings. In total, Spiaggia, Café Spiaggia, River Roast, and Jake Melnick’s Corner Tap hit more than 3,700 covers for the weekend.
Posted in: Events Innovation Our People