Apparently, Mark Cuban and Andrew Friedman weren’t content conquering professional sports.
asserted
Cuban → conquer → sports
Now they’re coming for your neighborhood sports bar.
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they → come → bar
Tucked inside a sprawling 8,500-square-foot former pawn shop that dates back to the 1930s, L.A.’s newest reinvention on sports, luxury, and fine dining is born.
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reinvention → tuck → sports
Located on the corner of Melrose and Cahuenga sits Pawn Shop, a new restaurant and sports bar that features more than 60 televisions, two enormous media walls, private suites, and high-end cocktails galore.
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that → locate → televisions
It’s led by founder and CEO Diego Torres-Palma and James Beard Award-winning chef Tony Messina.
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It → lead → Palma
Together they’ve made the standard sports bar menu of chicken wings, nachos and mozzarella sticks look insulting by comparison.
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menu → make → comparison
A housemade wagyu hot dog, beef tallow fries, chicken liver mousse, caviar and charbroiled Maine oysters are just some of the menu’s highlights.
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dog → charbroile → highlights
But the most interesting thing about Pawn Shop isn’t what’s on the walls or plates.
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what → ’ → walls
It’s who is behind it.
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who → ’ → it
The list of names interested in either investing or being a part of the business is longer than a CVS receipt.
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list → interest → receipt
“We literally traded emails when Aaron announced he was coming back,” Torres-Palma said.
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Palma → trade → emails
Donald isn’t the only Dodgers-or-Rams-adjacent star circling the new sports bar.
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Donald → circle → bar
Dodgers’ shortstop Mookie Betts met with the company and will now feature his Tequila Providencia behind the bar.
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Betts → meet → bar
Torres-Palma said Providencia’s CEO Rodd Rafieha’s tequila impressed his beverage team enough to earn a place in the well.
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tequila → say → well
Kendall Jenner’s 818 Tequila also wanted in on the fun.
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Tequila → want → fun
“We’re excited to have 818 Tequila featured at Pawn Shop LA,” said Lanay Jacobs, President of 818 Tequila.
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Jacobs → ’re → Tequila
“It’s a lively destination that brings together sports, cocktails, and community in a way our audience will love.”
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audience → ’ → way
Torres-Palma has other meetings set up with L.A. superstar athletes as well.
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Palma → have → athletes
That collection of names helps explain why Pawn Shop has quickly become less a sports bar and more a hangout spot for athletes and celebrities alike.
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Shop → help → athletes
Former NBA player Chandler Parsons, now the co-host of the online show “Run It Back,” makes a point to stop by at least once a week.
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Parsons → run → point
“Pawn Shop is exactly what LA needed,” he said.
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he → need → what
“Great food, great energy, amazing people, and a genuine love for sports that you can feel when you walk in.”
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you → feel → that
Sportscaster and radio host Rich Eisen recently held his fantasy football draft there.
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Eisen → hold → draft
The entire LAFC team did the same.
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team → do → same
Actor Anthony Ramos has stopped by several times.
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Ramos → stop → ?
Several entertainment executives have used the space, while nearby Paramount staffers have turned its private upstairs suites into off-site work rooms.
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staffers → use → rooms
Cuban recently visited with his son and was in awe.
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Cuban → visit → awe
“Of all the investors, Mark is probably the one that I communicate with the most,” Torres-Palma said.
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Palma → communicate → that
“He’s so pumped.
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He → ’ → ?
It arrived during the 2026 FIFA World Cup, instantly giving an unknown sports bar the kind of crowds and atmosphere most restaurants spend years trying to manufacture.
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restaurants → arrive → years
Torres-Palma compares those first weeks to hosting a wedding every few days: hundreds of customers arriving together, watching the same event and wanting food and drinks at virtually the same moment.
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hundreds → compare → moment
The peak came during Mexico’s wild Round of 16 match against England.
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peak → come → England
“I’ll never forget the roars in here,” Torres-Palma said.
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Palma → forget → roars
“That feeling is why you build these things.
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you → build → things
It’s such a crazy, loud, energetic feeling that everybody experiences at the same time.”
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everybody → ’ → time
He even has a phrase for it: “monetizing moments.”
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He → have → it
It sounds cold until you stand inside a room filled with hundreds of strangers collectively losing their minds over a goal.
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you → sound → goal
When fans of El Tri or the Three Lions look back on that historic match, they’ll remember being at Pawn Shop and sharing a memory they’ll never forget with others.
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they → look → others
That’s what “monetizing moments” is all about.
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moments → ’ → what
It’s also a pretty good description of the entire sports business.
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It → ’ → business
…and 33 more, not listed.
The Aporia
