Conrad Stanley is a Las Vegas-based sales rep who’s been known to us for a while as someone who pursues an interesting avocation: sneaking into events that 999,999 people out of a million only dream about buying their way into.
He’s currently furloughed and is traveling for fun for fractions of a penny on the dollar, due to the amazing deals available while the travel and hospitality industries are begging for passengers and guests. That’s the “caper” that will be the ongoing focus of this new blog.
But to establish his street cred, we thought it would be instructive to provide a bit of background into the other many notches on his caper belt: to wit, his experiences sneaking into events. Then we’ll get to his trips around the country over the past couple of months — at prices that are slightly higher than just staying home.
“My first big gate crash was the 2007 Super Bowl at Dolphins Stadium in Miami, Indianapolis Colts versus the Chicago Bears,” Conrad tells us. “I happened to be in south Florida that weekend, just back from a Caribbean cruise, and I figured I’d go down to the stadium to catch all the pregame hoopla and maybe scalp a miracle ticket. That didn’t happen, but right before game time, I noticed a security guard leave his post at a perimeter checkpoint. So I slipped through. I was still far from the actual gates, but in a similar fashion I got into the game — and got such a rush that I’ve been addicted to sneaking into Super Bowls ever since. It was the first of thirteen consecutive Big Game crashes with no ticket for the game whatsoever.”
Here he is (face blacked out for obvious reasons) at the Big Game in Atlanta’s Mercedes Benz Stadium last year when the Patriots beat the L.A. Rams. Maxim magazine sponsors a pre-party that Conrad also crashed.
“And it’s not just Super Bowls,” Conrad continues. “I’ve also successfully snuck into three different World Series, including two deciding games, plus college national-championship football games, tons of Golden Knights games, including a Stanley Cup Final, two Fights of the Century — Floyd Mayweather vs. Oscar de la Hoya and Mayweather/Paquaio. Should I mention countless Vegas concerts? Private events associated with corporate conventions where I ate and drank for free before being entertained by the likes of Aerosmith, Lenny Kravitz, Sting, Blink 182, James Taylor, the Chainsmokers, Snoop Dogg, Bruno Mars, even Barbra Streisand? The list goes on and on.”
It does indeed. Conrad also crashes all the invite-only Super Bowl pre-parties, which take place either Friday or Saturday night on Big Game weekend in the city where the Super Bowl is played.
“Playboy’s used to be the biggest and I crashed many of those. Then Maxim took over and I was there. I was also there when ESPN made a run in recent years and Shaquille O’Neal has had his ‘Shaq’s Fun House’ parties the last two years; I crashed both of those.”
One of Conrad’s crowning moments was sneaking into the New England Patriots’ private team party after they beat the Seattle Seahawks in the 2014 Super Bowl in Phoenix; here are a couple of photos from that, with Rob Gronkowski and Bill Belichick, both wearing their brand new Super Bowl Champion hats.
Then there was the official NFL party after the 2012 Super Bowl in Indianapolis, when the New York Giants beat the Patriots 20-17. Here’s Conrad with the commish himself, Roger Goodell.
And then there are the other events. Here he is with Jaime Foxx at the 2018 Oscars backstage after-party .
And here’s our guy at the Warner Bros. party after the 2018 Golden Globes at the Beverly Hills Hilton with Heidi Klum (you know, the supermodel). He also cozied up to Paris Hilton (you know, the socialite).
So we’ve established his bona fides, photos and all. But we’re sure not one of you reading this isn’t wondering, Okay, but these are surely some of the most highly secured events on the planet. How the devil does he do it, year after year?
Tune in for the next installment when we answer that Big Question.
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What events has he failed to get into?
I’ve got it figured out. Here’s how I think he gets in. (Please don’t take this the wrong way). White, male privilege. He looks right. Like he belongs at these events. Without even seeing his face. He doesn’t “stand out”. Average height. Average weight. Decently dressed. Dark blazer, crisp white shirt. Clean cut. Probably nice haircut. Some kind of “pass” around his neck. And almost always a drink in his hand. Plus he probably “owns” his attendance at these events. He probably acts like he belongs there. Doesn’t act afraid. Exudes confidence…nobody will question all that, imho…
So are people giving him lanyards/passes to these events? He has them around his neck in many of the photos. He has to get them somewhere, because at most of these events as you go from one special/back stage area, to another, you need them. Just an interesting observation.
The passes could be fake. Printed by Conrad at home. He’s a confidence man. Using his appearance and skills to get in to these events.
In my hometown, there was a panhandler written up in the local newspaper a couple years ago. Rather than be the poor, dirty thing standing by the road with a sign asking for money. He wore nice button up shirts and slacks he got from a charity. Frequented busy downtown office buildings, asking folks for a couple of dollars for some good “reason”. He was very successful at it. Made enough money to rent an apartment In a nearby building.
Cool story. Conrad is probably good at spotting guards off-guard, distracted, “I’m with the band”, etc.. I have a dozen lanyards in a drawer…probably the ‘hoarder’ in me thinking they would be of use some day. Hmm…
Sorry. Strip away the glitz and glamour and he’s a cheat, a thief. I’m surprised and disappointed you think he’s worthy of an LVA blog.
I disagree. He works the system in very creative ways. The only thing you can say he’s “stealing” is the price of a ticket, but that doesn’t hurt anyone and I think the NFL can fade it. It’s about doing it for the adventure, not reaping a benefit, such as getting a ticket then reselling it for a profit. I’ve known Conrad for a long time. He’s given us countless leads and tips that you’ve then read about in LVA. They’re never malicious or harm-causing. They’re just solid money-saving methods. It’s a form of advantage play. We felt his story was extremely interesting and there are plenty of Vegas tie-ins, which is why we created the blog.
I respectfully disagree, Mr. Curtis. Petty thievery is still thievery. And he’s not just stiffing the NFL. One example: Shaq’s 2020 fun house ticket proceeds were donated to the Bryant Family Foundation and the families of the other people killed in the helicopter crash. How much did Conrad contribute?
I don’t think it was this particular event that he was at. Regardless, I highly doubt that his being there would have negatively affected the effort in any way. You’re entitled to your opinion. Mine is that there’s a point where an objection turns into little more than over-the-top nitpicking. This “crime” is about as victimless as it gets.
“This “crime” is about as victimless as it gets.”
Not when stealing from a charity. Sure – he may not have taken money from them, and the odds of folks who paid/donated not getting that last bottled water or snausage treat because he had one are tiny. However, it was a charitable event – I hope he was a decent enough person to donate to that charity after he left.
I would be embarrassed to admit to this, not impressed. This is only newsworthy if you are trying to cheat the system. I sure wouldn’t want to do business with him.
Promoting this crook is defintely a bad look for LVA. You may feel differently because you know him personally and he’s a fun and nice guy to you but lauding and encouraging this behaviour is disappointing. The fact that he wants to show off his celebrity pics makes me think even less of him.
I don’t mind if he gets into an event. But I want to see the management plug up the security holes, so that a violent criminal cannot get into the event.
I’m truly flabbergasted. Did you guys also root for Goliath, the Sheriff of Nottingham, and resort fees?
My opinion of LVA and Anthony diminished significantly after reading this article and his continued defense of this criminal. I guess according to Anthony it’s also ok to steal a t-shirt from Wal-Mart. They are a big corporation so who does it hurt? If it’s a tv, does it matter then? Why a reputable website would choose to promote and then continue to defend this is mind-blowing.
No T-shirts were stolen. No one was deprived an opportunity to purchase a seat. No one was deprived of anything. Complain if that’s what you want to do, but let’s not go overboard with comparisons that aren’t justified. I don’t plan on addressing this again, but this post is very much akin to what we’ve been espousing in gambling and travel strategies for decades. It’s taking reasonable advantage of opportunities when they’re presented. If you think this particular tactic goes too far, I’m sorry. But all I can say is, don’t read the blog. I don’t have any remedies beyond that, because this is part of what we do.