NEW YORK, Nov. 7, 2025 – Dave Cantin Group (DCG), today announced that Grammy Award-winning artist Nelly will headline its 2026 NADA event taking place on Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026, at LIV Las Vegas Nightclub at the Fontainebleau Hotel. This year’s format features a 1,500-person capacity including 100 tables that will be individually reserved for industry leaders from automotive groups, manufacturers and other industry-related organizations. Individual VIP access will be available for non-table guests.
Joining Nelly on stage will be hip-hop heavyweights Fat Joe and Rev Run, making this year’s invite-only event the most anticipated night of the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) conference.
“The vision for this year’s event is bigger than the Dave Cantin Group. We are bringing together influential people from across the industry to celebrate our collective success and to honor the resiliency of the greatest industry in the world,” said Dave Cantin, CEO of Dave Cantin Group.
DCG, a leading mergers and acquisitions advisory company to retail automotive groups and their owners, has been crowned “The Undisputed Kings of the Afterparty” by Automotive News for hosting some of the industry’s most legendary celebrations. Past NADA events have featured performances by Third Eye Blind and Almost Queen as well as fireside chats with Mike Tyson, Sugar Ray Leonard, and Grant Cardone.
This year’s headliner, Nelly, whose chart-topping hits “Country Grammar,” “Hot in Herre” and “Dilemma” helped bring hip-hop into the mainstream, will deliver what promises to be one of the most talked-about performances at NADA.
Joining him are two icons synonymous with hip-hop history: Fat Joe, the Bronx-born rapper and actor behind the hit “Lean Back” and countless collaborations that defined the late 90s and 2000s; and Rev Run, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee and founding member of Run-D.M.C. whose anthems “It’s Tricky” and “Walk This Way” continue to transcend generations.
“The format and the talent are both very intentional. The large venue with tables allows us to extend invites to entire organizations who can bring their guests to share in the experience, said Brian Gordon, President of Dave Cantin Group.” He continued, “our talent is universally known, and their music is the kind that gets people up to sing along as if it were a room of 1,500 close friends.”
Event Details
Date: Thursday, February 5, 2026 – Private Invite Only
Time: 9:00 p.m. until the early morning
Venue: LIV Las Vegas Nightclub at the Fontainebleau Hotel
To request a VIP invitation or inquire about an exclusive table, reach out to your DCG contact or email specialevents@davecantingroup.com.
About Dave Cantin Group
The Dave Cantin Group is a leading automotive M&A advisory company specializing in acquisitions, divestitures, intelligence and other advisory services. The company is the M&A services provider of choice for North America’s top automotive dealership groups, advising on approximately 40 transactions annually. DCG is differentiated by its advisory approach, long-term client relationships and commitment to market intelligence tools that inform client strategy.
Through its M&A intelligence division, DCG produces automotive insights and delivers timely market intelligence including the Market Outlook Report (MOR) and the Inside M&A studio show and podcast with CBT News. DCG’s proprietary AI-enabled platform Jump IQ anchors its advisory services to help retail automotive dealers make smarter data-driven M&A decisions.
The company’s nonprofit initiative DCG Giving funds child and adolescent cancer research and treatment across the United States and supports other charitable causes.
For more information, visit www.davecantingroup.com.
