Rich Rose oral history interview, 2024 November 14

Oral history interview with Richard “Rich” Rose conducted by Claytee D. White and Stefani Evans on November 14, 2024 for the Game On! The Oral History of Las Vegas Sports project. In this interview, Rose recalls his childhood in Chappaqua, New York, where he played soccer, football, and golf and performed in band and summer theater at Horace Greeley High School. He describes his own public relations and marketing firm focusing on sports, primarily boxing, at a time when Las Vegas, especially Caesars Palace, was the boxing capital of the world. In 1988 Henry Gluck and Terry Lanni recruited him to Caesars World in Los Angeles, California. In this role, he wanted to do new things: he brought the Formula 1 race to Las Vegas; he overcame the National Hockey League's prohibition against cities that allow sports betting and in 1990 signed the contract for Las Vegas's first outdoor NHL game in 1991 featuring Wayne Gretzky. He also discusses working with Vince McMahon to bring Wrestlemania IX (1993) to Caesars. He worked with Caesars World until a management change in 1998. Digital audio available; no transcript available.