Derek Stevens Publicity Stunts

The D and Golden Gate hotel owner Derek Stevens has a knack for getting his name in the newspaper. It might be unfair to call them publicity stunts, but over the years he has had a number of creative marketing efforts gaining him and his hotels massive media coverage.

- In September 2012 The D refunded losing wagers on the controversial Packers at Seahawks Monday Night Football game commonly known as the Fail Mary. The game was decided on a blown call by the NFL's replacement referees. For a relatively low investment, The D got a ton of publicity from sports media outlets around the world.

- In early 2014 The D and Golden Gate begin accepting bitcoins as payment for hotel rooms and related purchases. This allowed Stevens to appear in a prime time interview on CNBC along with getting lots of press from other financial and technology publications.

- Before the 2015 Final Four Derek Stevens revealed that he had placed a $20,000 bet on the long-shot Michigan State Spartans that would pay $1 million if they won the championship. Michigan State ultimately lost - but not before ESPN, USA Today, The New York Times, and every other newspaper known to man wrote about Derek's big bet.

- On July 8, 2015 Stevens tweeted saying someone had stolen The D's Blarney Stone after playing Sigma Derby. The theif returned the Blarney Stone the next day blaming his bad decision making on Tequila. The man was not charged. When asked if this was a planned publicity stunt, Stevens was quoted as saying "I wish I were smart enough to have come up with something that good, but no."

- In September 2015 Derek Stevens and The D unveiled their newest attraction - a replica version of the famous Manneken Pis statue in Brussels, Belgium. To hype up the arrival of the statue The D published a wacky video of Derek Stevens holding an "executive board meeting" announcing that The D had signed the longest entertainment contract in Las Vegas history.