Bar Gives Patrons the Big Picture

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It was standing room only last Monday night at Legends Sports Bar. Drinks were flowing and, occasionally, fists pounded the bar. The main attraction was a football game.

No surprise there – except it just about covered an entire wall.

Welcome to the latest attraction at the popular Long Beach restaurant and bar: a 326-inch – that’s a 24-by-13-foot – TV screen displaying larger-than-life events in clearer-than-life HD.

It’s believed to be the largest projection screen in a bar or restaurant in the United States.

“We wanted to raise the bar for sports viewing in Southern California,” said manager Mike Suarez of the $90,000 addition, which was installed earlier this month. “This is an eye catcher you can see from the street that will definitely bring people in.”

Not that business had been suffering at the Belmont Shore establishment. It’s always been a big draw since it was founded in 1979 by a Los Angeles Rams plauyer and his business partner.

The bar already had 38 smaller screens, and one 220-inch projection TV that would be tops at most bars, but current owner Gene Rotundo wasn’t content. So he installed the new screen, custom built by Da-Lite Screen Co. of Warsaw, Ind., a leading manufacturer of projection screens worldwide.

Brian Schwartz, the company’s marketing coordinator, said Da-Lite has made bigger screens for venues such as auditoriums but Legends’ screen is likely the biggest that has ever ended up in a bar.

Suarez said he expects patronage to increase once word gets out. Judging from the reactions to last week’s Monday Night Football game, during which a full house cheered as the New York Jets beat the Minnesota Vikings, that may not be farfetched.

“This is wild,” said Gary Ward, 53, a visitor from Wyckoff, N.J. “I’m completely blown away.”

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