Q&A with Milo Frank on NBA nightlife, the key to good hospitality and the future of sports venues

June 14, 2024

Nowadays, nightlife in the NBA isn’t just about drinking or going out. It’s about the end-to-end experience, including perks like private entrances, no-photo venues and exclusive access.

“We really take pride in taking care of people’s needs from start to finish,” Milo Frank told The Athletic on the latest episode of Stargazing. “So if it’s setting up hotel rooms, setting up dinners anywhere, all over the world, right? That’s what we do. We want people to feel comfortable. So if that means going through private entrances or anything of that nature, we know how important it is. That’s really what we are very careful about is protecting people.”

Frank is the director of marketing for the Los Angeles-based h.Wood Group, one of the world’s premier hospitality and lifestyle companies, featuring over a dozen upscale venues across the world, including Delilah, The Nice Guy, Poppy and Bootsy Bellows. Chances are you’ve heard one of the venues name-dropped in a song from your favorite rapper (Drake and Delilah are nearly synonymous at this point).

In Episode 7 of Stargazing, The Athletic’s NBA Culture video podcast, Frank spoke about his career, luxury nightlife in Los Angeles, designing a night out for an NBA player, the key to good hospitality, if Kobe Bryant really jumped over that Aston Martin and the future of sports venues, among other topics.

Here is a snippet of our conversation.

Editor’s note: Questions and answers have been edited for clarity.

I feel like there’s no blueprint for how to throw a good party or event, right? Like, it’s kind of a feel thing, you just kind of figure it out. How did you approach throwing parties for the h.Wood Group when you first started with them?

My experience came from throwing house parties. Friends and I would throw parties for Halloween or New Year’s. We just thought it was fun. We would just get a kick out of it. I would DJ from my phone, from my iPad, and we just had a blast with it. But I had no actual experience in throwing a real party and how to throw a party in a venue and what it takes with a bar and with food and all of the things that go into it.

But really it comes down to vibe, right? It really comes down to energy. It’s putting pieces together. So it’s, ‘Hey, let me throw your birthday mixed with this DJ, mixed with this other group and good drinks.’ It’s just like, you have to find a good middle ground for everything. It’s a learning process. I was thrown into the fire. There was no recipe for this. And it’s just a matter of figuring it out. And figuring it out whether it’s a party for 20 people or a party for 100 people. Now we’re getting ready for Super Bowl and we’re gonna have 2,000 people. So it’s very case by case. But you just have to have fun with it and get the hang of it.

You guys work with a lot of celebrities. Did you ever get starstruck when you were first starting? How long did it take you to adapt to being around celebrities and texting them and setting things up? Was there a transition period? Or were you just cool with things right away?

Yeah, I grew up in L.A. So I’m sort of used to it. And whenever I would say, ‘Yeah, I’m from Los Angeles.’ People would be like, ‘Oh, do you see celebrities around?’ And it’s like, yeah, but that stuff doesn’t matter. That stuff comes and goes. For me, it comes down to is this person a good person, and are they genuine and loyal and honest? With anybody — with friends, with family. To answer your question, I’ve never been the type to really get starstruck.

I’d say meeting Kobe at a young age is definitely a starstruck moment. At this point, no. I treat everybody the same, and hopefully, they do the same thing.

When did you meet Kobe?

I met Kobe in 2008. So that commercial when he jumps over the Aston Martin?

Yeah.

So my stepmom directed that, and I was fortunate enough to go on set and hang out with him. And that Aston Martin moment, although it was computer-generated …

I was gonna say, can you set the record straight on that?

So a lot of people think that Kobe actually jumped over an Aston Martin, which he did not.

It looked like it.

Yeah, well, they were testing out the Aston Martin. It was on the roof of a big building downtown. They were testing out the Aston Martin’s driving zero to 60 in three seconds down a parking lot. So I just remember sort of watching the whole thing and be like, ‘Oh, my God, like, is Kobe really going to do this right now?’ And he was the best guy ever.

What, in your opinion, is the key to good hospitality? Why do you think so many athletes and celebrities feel comfortable and safe going to h.Wood venues versus other places? What makes a good night out for somebody?

There’s a few things. We really take pride in taking care of people’s needs from start to finish. So if it’s setting up hotel rooms, setting up dinners anywhere, all over the world, right? That’s what we do. We want people to feel comfortable. So if that means going through private entrances or anything of that nature, we know how important it is. That’s really what we are very careful about is protecting people.

For instance, Nice Guy and Delilah are both no photos, right? You can’t take any photos inside. And we just like to keep it that way because it’s almost a safe space for people. And yeah, sure, may miss out on some marketing opportunities. But we’re fine with that because we want people to trust us and know that we are going to make sure that their night is done the right way and without paparazzi, without people flashing in their face. Like nobody wants that. That’s a really important part for us.

But yeah, attention to detail is the biggest thing. It’s really like, ‘Hey, we know all of your dietary restrictions. We know exactly what you like for dessert. We know exactly where you want to go next. We have a spot for all of those things.’ And so, fortunately, we have a bunch of venues where we can choose from and we can say, ‘Hey, like, is this the vibe that you want? Do you want to do a nice night at Delilah? Do you want to do a cocktail thing at Harriet’s?’ And it’s sort of like we keep it very intimate. But we want everybody to have something tailored to their needs in a night.

Let’s say I’m an NBA player and it’s Monday, and I hit you up and I say, ‘Hey, I’m coming into town. Gonna have an off day Friday. Can you help set me up with a fun night?’ How does that get set up? And what would it look like with you designing the perfect Friday night for somebody?

There’s a lot of ways to do it. Fortunately, we have our hand on the pulse at all times. So we know what’s going on at every venue, whether it’s an h.Wood venue or not, every night. So I can tell you, like, ‘Hey, this party is going to be great. This party might not be so good tonight. It’ll be better the next night. That type of thing. It’s really just a text message. It’s really just to say, ‘Hey, like, I want to do this, I have a friend’s birthday, and we want to have a blast and eat pizza.’ Great. Let’s go to Nice Guy and I’ll put 10 pizzas on the table. Or we want to go listen to some great music, or The Weeknd’s album just dropped and we want to go listen. Cool. Go to Delilah. It’s those types of things. And we’re very good about knowing what’s happening all over the place. And so that’s sort of what we do.

But yeah, I mean, on a Friday, my suggestion is always like, ‘Hey, go to Nice Guy, have a pizza. Go to Delilah, grab a drink at the bar and then you can go out to Poppy or Bootsy and spend the rest of the night there. We’re gonna, fortunately, fingers crossed, have another club in the next year or two, have a couple more restaurants and some more options for people on Fridays.

Looking back at your career, what is one piece of advice for someone who wants to follow in your footsteps?

My career so far has been slow and steady. There’s nothing that’s been a fast rise to anything. And so the thing I’ve learned is really to just stick with it, is what it comes down to, for me. Sticking with your craft, trusting that you know what you’re doing and that you’re getting better and that you’re learning and asking questions and listening. But it’s really, you have to have a stick-with-it mentality. No one’s path is just clean-cut, right? No one just goes straight there and there’s no problems.

There’s always going to be things that come up or hurdles or barriers and you got to just keep pushing it and telling yourself that you’re going to get through whatever it is and there’s going to be dark times. It’s weathering the storm. The same thing applies to anything. Like that’s always gonna happen. But if you’re consistent and you’re focused and dedicated on your craft, you can’t lose.

What are you doing in 2025?

Well, I’m an athlete at heart and a hospitality guy. So I want to see the combination of the two. I don’t know how long it’ll take. I don’t have a specific timeframe for it. But the merge between hospitality and sports is a big thing for me. So we just opened the Bootsy Bellows suite at SoFi Stadium for the Rams games. And seeing the intersection between sports and this ‘hot-club hospitality world’ is pretty cool.

So what I would love to see is expansion of the lounge, the loungey nightlife-ish vibe that you get when you get to a venue in arenas, in stadiums. And while you’re experiencing watching your favorite player, watching your favorite team, you’re able to also like enjoy being in some sort of atmosphere. I think that is something that I’m looking forward to.

(Photo: The h.Wood Group)

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