LIV (nightclub)

LIV is a nightclub located in both the Fontainebleau Miami Beach and the Fontainebleau Las Vegas, with the latter of the two also hosting a dayclub named LIV Beach. Founded in 2008 in Miami Beach by David Grutman, the club has been compared to a present-day incarnation of New York City's Studio 54. The club attained its name from the Roman numerals for the number 54, named for the opening year of the Fontainebleau Miami Beach as well as being a reference to Studio 54.^[1][2] LIV has become a celebrity hotspot with its hip hop programming "LIV on Sunday" in particular often being referenced in music and media today.

The Vegas location first opened in 2023, before entering into a renovation in November 2024, reopening in 2025. LIV is owned and operated by Grutman's Groot Hospitality, formerly known as MMG Nightlife.^[3] In 2019, 51% of Groot Hospitality was acquired by Live Nation Entertainment.^[4]

LIV originally opened as the main new addition of the Soffer family's billion dollar renovation of the Miami Beach Fontainebleau hotel. Its opening event in 2008 was a Victoria's Secret fashion show.^[5]

By 2011, LIV was the seventh-highest grossing nightclub in the United States as well as the second best in the world according to Reuters,^[6] and by 2015, LIV, and a sister nightclub also owned by Grutman named Story consistently made it into America's ten highest grossing nightclubs. In 2012, LIV also expanded to the Hard Rock Stadium, then known as the Sun Life Stadium, as the brand name for a level of club suites.^[7] That year, Nightclub & Bar magazine estimated that LIV made $40-$45 million, making it the fifth highest grossing nightclub in 2015, with Story not too far behind at $25-30 million estimated.^[3]

In 2013, 80% of LIV's then-parent organization Miami Marketing Group (MMG) was acquired by Robert F. X. Sillerman, alongside the and The Opium Group, another major club operator in Miami Beach, though the deal with Opium fell through.^[8][9] Sillerman's company, SFX, imploded by 2016 and filed for Chapter 11, and by 2018, Grutman had acquired the club back and reorganized it into Groot Hospitality.^[10][11]

In 2016, LIV entered into a two-month and ten million dollar renovation which added a steel truss lighting structure nicknamed "The Spider" with 410 video screens. 100 people worked on the renovation. The first acts to perform after the renovation was complete were Travis Scott and Skrillex.^[12][13]

In 2019, 51% of Groot Hospitality was acquired by Live Nation Entertainment for $25.5 million at a valuation of $50 million.^{[4] [14]}

LIV on Sunday is a hip hop party held on Sunday nights at LIV Miami, usually used by rap artists for special concerts or releases, and regarded by many in the hip hop world as a cultural institution. LIV on Sunday is hosted by Michael Gardner's Headliner Marketing Group.^[15] The weekly party, nicknamed "church" within the rap community, first started in 2009, when Grutman invited Gardner to host a Sunday rap party.^{[16][17][18][19]}

In 2024, LIV on Sunday started its very own hall of fame, with Lil Wayne as its first inductee.^[20]

When the long-unfinished Fontainebleau Las Vegas was reacquired by Donald Soffer's son Jeffery in 2021, work resumed, and at the time, Grutman was prepared to sign a deal with another Las Vegas megaresort. Soffer called Grutman, saying "Do not sign this deal. I'm going to get the Fontainebleau Las Vegas back. I'm going to need you".^[21][22] Grutman noted that Soffer would have been the one man to make him not sign his other deal, and Fontainebleau plus Groot Hospitality entered into a strategic partnership where Groot would not only bring LIV but also his Asian fusion concept Komodo and steakhouse Papi Steak to the Fontaienbleau. As part of the expansion to Las Vegas, LIV would also get a dayclub, LIV Beach.

Komodo, Papi Steak, and LIV were supersized as part of the Fontainebleau Las Vegas, and both LIV Las Vegas and LIV Beach would be built around the DJ booth and stage tables, which would be sold for up to $25,000. The design of LIV Las Vegas, though, would differ from most other Las Vegas clubs where the average patron would congregate around the middle of the club. The capacities of both LIV Beach and LIV Las Vegas would also be about half the Strip average at 2,000 people. LIV Beach would also offer six bungalows, each with their own private pool.^[21]

John Summit was named as the first resident DJ at LIV Las Vegas.^[23] LIV Las Vegas' demand was overwhelming; during its opening show, Grutman noted that LIV had to turnaway over 1,000 people to see Summit peform; LIV knew it needed to immediately expand, and entered into a months-long renovation, closing in November 2024 before reopening in March 2025.^[24][25] LIV also made the decision to unify operations between LIV Las Vegas and LIV Beach, creating an experience more akin to a music festival than a traditional club. Groot also introduced a "GA+" premium backstage ticketing option, giving fans access to a private bar^[25]

LIV is a 19,000 square foot^[12] two-story nightclub with a mezzanine in the rear of the club, with a maximum capacity of 1,100 people. The club has an 80-foot dome and 870 light fixtures within it full controllable by the club.^[26][27] The DJ booth is centered in between a grand staircase that glows plus classical chandeliers. The upper level contains private skyboxes available for bottle service and three bars. The rear mezzanine's railing is removable, able to convert it into a stage. Some of the lighting was supplied by Focus Lighting and SJ Lighting of , with SJ's owner Steve Lieberman commenting that LIV was "an extremely fast-track project, probably at most three-and-a-half-months, which is pretty quick from design to development."^[28]

In 2016, the $10 million renovation added "The Spider", a steel truss with 400 LED screens. The Spider, also designed by SJ, has seven "legs" with 400 staggered screens that extend across the breadth of the ceiling. The legs are connected to columns which have their own LED screens attached to each also and border the dance floor, and the installation of the Spider alone cost $3 million.^[29] LIV also upgraded to an L-Acoustics L-Series sound system in 2024.^[27]

LIV Las Vegas features a design emphasizes sleek lines, luxurious furnishings, and cutting-edge technology, including a custom-built video system with articulating panels and rings, and a sophisticated sound system utilizing Funktion-One speakers.^[30][31]

After the 2024-2025 renovation, the new and expanded LIV made it an 80,000 square foot venue, lowered the stage, and expanded the dance floor. LIV Beach also expanded its table count by an additional 33 tables, and with the merged venue, LIV Beach has turned into overflow for LIV nightclub. The venues have also started serving pizza and improved their LED screens.^[25]

The club is often the site of numerous celebrity encounters, with one particular night right after Florida lifted its COVID-19 pandemic hosting Diddy, Jamie Foxx, Floyd Mayweather, 2 Chainz, Anuel AA, Lil Baby, Lil Wayne and Jake Paul, the last of which joined right after scoring a boxing win.^[32] Some people who have worked at LIV have become famous in their own right for working with the club, such as talent director Sarah Lucey (also knwon as Irish Sarah) and Grutman himself.^[33][34] Grutman further views LIV as a "Disney World for champions", with it hosting the Miami Heat, Dallas Mavericks, and many UFC fighters and boxers after their victories.^[2]

In 2012, LIV was ranked as the fifth highest grossing nightclub in the United States, and the only one from Miami within the ten highest grossing, estimated by Nightclub & Bar Magazine to generate between $35 and $45 million that year.^[35] The club is regarded by Time Out as a club which has set the standard for other megaclubs worldwide as "opulent and turnt beyond belief".^[36]

LIV on Sunday has been particularly impactful on hip hop. Various rap songs have referenced the Sunday night party by name, including "Hustle Hard" by Ace Hood and Lil Wayne in the lyric "LIV on Sunday, King of Diamonds Monday", and Meek Mill's song "Amen" which references the party in the chorus "do LIV on Sunday like a church".^[37] Meek Mill also filmed the music video for "Amen" at LIV.^[38]

In 2014, when LIV was hosting a birthday party for DJ Khaled, Drake was allegedly punched by Sean "Diddy" Combs. The allegations, made by north Miami DJ Sam Sneak among other witnesses, detailed that Combs shouted to Drake "you will never disrespect me" before Drake left LIV. Neither Drake nor Combs filed a police report.^[39]

In 2023, upon the arrival of the Saudi-backed LIV Golf tournament in Miami to compete against the PGA Tour, Grutman's nightclub filed a notice of opposition to LIV Golf's trademark applications. Groot Hospitality alleged that LIV Golf's brand is highly similar to the nightclub in "sight, sound, meaning, and overall commercial impression", and successfully blocked LIV Golf from filing its trademarks.^[1][40][41]

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