In the week leading up to Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas, Nev., The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz broadcast two episodes live from Circa Las Vegas, a hotel located downtown off of the main strip. One of the means through which the Meadowlark Media-owned program is distributed is the DraftKings Network, which had its own setup from Media Row at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center. Le Batard’s program, however, broadcast from the remote location and welcomed fans to watch the episodes from the hotel’s Stadium Swim pool complex.
Even so, show producer Chris Cote found himself missing the buzz of Media Row on Monday morning while broadcasting back in the Miami-based studios. In reflecting back on the proceedings, he identified the busiest times as Wednesday and Thursday before informing Le Batard that he was thinking about it all wrong. Cote believes that Le Batard envisions the setup back when the show was broadcasting locally and presumably not as respected.
“You’re a top dog now,” Cote told Le Batard. “You get respect now, and I know Stugotz was kind of complaining about these parts of it. Even though I don’t believe him, he misses being just one of the shows, but I just feel like nowadays if you went there for the entire week like Stugotz, you get left alone for the most [part]. You’re in your bubble, and the people that you want get brought to you. I just don’t think it’s as sad as you remember it being all those years ago.”
The memory of Media Row that Cote affirms Le Batard has maintained despite alterations in the show is not the reality of the situation, Cote continued to express. In fact, he believes that Le Batard needs to experience how the show is received among other programs in today’s era. Show producer Billy Gil was disappointed not to be at Media Row on Friday, describing the scene as “Dope AF,” which led to Le Batard expressing his gratitude for Circa.
“My logic in choosing what it is that I chose I had reinforced when I met the people who came out to see us,” Le Batard said, “and so many of them were genuinely moved by the symbolism of us choosing something far away from Media Row to specifically be downtown.”
Gill mentioned that Le Batard did go on Media Row for an interview, to which he spoke to people about the logistics. They largely kept his presence concealed, trying to keep him hidden in the bushes knowing that he would otherwise be swarmed. Simply getting him in and getting him out was the goal that they achieved to ensure that he would have a seamless experience.
“I loved the live shows,” Cote said. “I just think the way you think of radio row is just not the experience you would have.”
