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The Motown Cafe at New York-New York closed its doors Sunday evening. An ESPN Zone restaurant is to open in its spot. REVIEW-JOURNAL FILE PHOTO

Tuesday, October 24, 2000
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Motown Cafe can't find R-E-S-P-E-C-T at casino

The Motown Cafe at New York-New York closed at 10 p.m. Sunday, but an informed source said Monday that an ESPN Zone restaurant will replace the themed eatery.

About 100 employees lost their jobs when the restaurant closed, said officials at Rogich Communications Group, a minority investor in the Motown Cafe's mostly local ownership mix.

"Business was fine," said Sig Rogich, who refused to explain why the cafe closed.

But an informed source said that Motown Cafe's owners were paid an undisclosed sum by New York-New York or ESPN Zone's parent Disney Corp. to relinquish their lease.

"Negotiations took close to a year, but the deal is done to bring an ESPN Zone," the source said.

The 700-seat, 33,000-square-foot Motown Cafe opened in January 1997, following the 1996 opening of the chain's first music-driven restaurant in New York City.

The newly out-of-work Motown Cafe employees met Monday with the personnel department of New York-New York owner MGM Mirage to see if they could be hired at other MGM Mirage properties, said Dan Bradley, a hotel spokesman.

Bradley refused to confirm the identity of the new tenant but said he expects an occupant to be in place by late summer. He said the property wants a high-energy business with a restaurant.

An ESPN Zone would be the second major connection between ESPN and MGM Mirage. The cable sports network's annual awards show -- the ESPYs -- was held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in February, and is scheduled to return next year.

The first ESPN Zone opened in Baltimore in the summer of 1998 followed by outlets in Chicago, New York, Atlanta and Washington, D.C. An Anaheim, Calif., ESPN Zone is scheduled to open next to Disneyland early next year.

Each one has a restaurant that serves diners amid replicas of ESPN studio broadcasting sets; a video wall of live sports games and updated scores; and a sports arena with a number of interactive and skill-based sports games.

ESPN Zones around the country have been used for live television broadcasts for ABC Monday Night Football and ESPN telecasts, and a source said it is likely such broadcasts will emanate from a Las Vegas ESPN Zone.