Meet the L.A. firm behind Shaq’s bash before the big game
For Los Angeles business Medium Rare, Super Bowl LVI is a game changer.
The live-events company on Friday night was set to produce a giant pre-Super Bowl party, with 5,000 tickets sold out at the Shrine Auditorium — hosted by NBA star Shaquille O’Neal.
At the party, which was expected to generate seven figures in gross revenue, guests were to snack on food from local businesses such as Pink’s Hot Dogs, with musicians including Lil Wayne performing as part of Shaq’s Fun House.
Medium Rare is among several small businesses in the Los Angeles region that are banking on the Super Bowl to give them a boost after the pandemic halted live entertainment and battered the local economy.
“L.A. is the entertainment capital of the United States, a place where people love to come visit,” said Adam Richman, one of Medium Rare’s co-founders. “Thankfully, it feels like we’re turning a little bit of a corner on COVID.”
Fans coming to see the Los Angeles Rams and the Cincinnati Bengals battle it out at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood on Sunday are expected to bring in $477.5 million in economic benefits, according to Micronomics Economic Research and Consulting. Many Super Bowl attendees will look for ways to entertain themselves outside of the game, eating at local restaurants, staying at hotels and checking out concerts.
“It’s very rare that they’re only going to come for that one event,” said Mazen Bou Zeineddine, a manager at the research firm Beacon Economics. “They’re going to stay a couple of days, and as such, they’re probably going to go around Los Angeles.”
Medium Rare aims to cash in on some of the spoils that come from the big game.
Formed in November 2018, Medium Rare hosts a range of live and virtual events, partnering with celebrities such as Shaq, chef Guy Fieri and football star Rob Gronkowski.
The business was the brainchild of two executives with years of experience in the live-events industry.
Richman was a former executive vice president at LiveStyle, overseeing business for New York music festival Electric Zoo; co-founder Joe Silberzweig was previously a senior director of business development at Live Nation. Through their past work experiences, the pair saw that it took a minimum of three years to launch a big music festival and for it to turn a profit.
“We said there’s something wrong with that ... you need to find a way to be profitable out of the gate,” Richman said. “That’s when the light bulb went off.”
To test their idea, the two partnered with O’Neal on a carnival-themed music festival in March 2018 during Miami Music Week. The festival drew 2,500 people and had revenue that matched that of much larger events, Richman said.
“We quickly realized the power of a celebrity partner and not just booking him for an appearance like so many others do, but actually starting a joint venture business with him,” Silberzweig said.
The business took off. Medium Rare projects $30 million in gross revenue this year, up from $21 million in 2021, and says it is profitable.
General admission ticket prices for Shaq’s Fun House ranged from $300 to $600, with VIP tickets selling for around $1,000 to $1,300. Tickets sold out on Wednesday, and the event is expected to be the most profitable to date for Medium Rare.
“I’ve been going to the Super Bowl for about 30 years and mostly all the parties, I hate to say it, are boring,” O’Neal said. “I want people to have the same type of enjoyment that I would do in my own regular house.”