MGM Resorts Partnering with Flavor Flav on Las Vegas Bash for US Women’s Hockey Team

• MGM Resorts and rapper Flavor Flav will co-host a massive Olympic celebration in Las Vegas this summer
• The July 16-19 event will honor the women’s hockey team after they declined a White House invitation
• Just hours after Flav set up a GoFundMe to raise $50K for direct athlete bonuses, it raised over $42K

MGM Resorts International announced on Thursday, Feb. 26, that it will serve as a “full partner” with rap star Flavor Flav in a Las Vegas celebration of the victorious U.S. women’s Olympic hockey team this summer. “She Got Game” will be a weekend-long celebration, tentatively including a victory parade and concert, from July 16-19.

After Flav, who has lived in Sin City for decades, took to X (formerly Twitter) on Monday to demand a “real celebration” for the team, the resort giant committed to providing more than 100 hotel rooms from its Las Vegas portfolio to accommodate the athletes.

“Planning is underway, and details will be shared soon as we get ready to celebrate our incredible USA athletes in a way only MGM Resorts knows how: World-class hospitality, high-energy fun, and memorable experiences,” MGM wrote in a statement, indicating that women-led sports media company The GIST will also serve as an official partner.

Cold as Ice

The alternative celebration was born out of a moment of historic success and political friction. On Feb. 19, the U.S. women’s hockey team defeated Canada 2-1 in a thrilling overtime victory in Milan. However, the victory was soon overshadowed by a public exchange involving President Donald Trump.

After the U.S. men’s team also won the gold, Trump called the men’s locker room and joked that he would “probably be impeached” if he did not also invite the women’s team to the White House.

The remark drew immediate fire from the athletes. Captain Hilary Knight appeared on SportsCenter to call the joke “distasteful and unfortunate,” noting that such comments “overshadow the amazing feats” of female athletes. (USA Hockey officially cited “academic and professional commitments” for the team’s decision to skip the State of the Union address.)

The players moved independently to accept Flav’s offer.

Corporate support and donations keep coming; the Palms Casino Resort pledged “over-the-top” luxury suites and fine-dining experiences to supplement MGM’s. Alaska Airlines responded to Flav’s request for travel assistance by confirming they are coordinating flights to bring the athletes to the desert.

And StubHub also responded on social media by stating it would be “happy to help with tickets to shows.”

To gift the athletes more than a fleeting weekend of hospitality, Flav also launched a GoFundMe on Thursday to provide direct financial “victory bonuses.”

Recognizing that many Olympic athletes must juggle second or third jobs to fund their training, Flav set a $50,000 goal to put cash directly in their pockets on Thursday.

Hours later, more than $42K was raised from over 800 donors.