The ESPN Super Bowl Party




Update Jan 21, 2008 1:29 AM By Jeff Townsend

ESPN is known for throwing exclusive, VIP-only Super Bowl parties that are very difficult to buy tickets for and that draw a large number of celebrities, athletes and models.  This year is no different.  ESPN The Magazine’s NEXT Big Weekend Presented by Ford F-150 kicks off with ESPN The Magazine’s NEXT Super Bowl party which is taking place on Friday, January 30 and will be a serious contender to be the hottest party of the entire Super Bowl week.  The NEXT party is meant to promote ESPN’s annual NEXT issue which focuses on who and what will be hot in 2009.  ESPN’s Super Bowl parties tend to be private events which means there is no way for the general public to purchase tickets for this party and there is no official party website. 

We have read the official press release for this party and we can tell you definitively that the party will be held at 202 South Morgan Street in downtown Tampa.  ESPN will be pitching a huge quad-saddle tent that will end up creating a 22,000 square foot party space on what is normally a parking lot.  

Once again, ESPN will go head-to-head with the Maxim party, and while ESPN had its fair share of celebs last year, the Maxim party clearly attracted more big names to its red carpet. This year's party, as last year's, will be invite-only, catering to athletes, stars, and high rollers.  Last year in downtown Scottsdale, Ludacris and Ciara put on a great show in front of notable guests such as Spike Lee, Josh Duhamel, LaDainian Tomlinson, Michael Bay, and many other figures from sports and the big screen.  This year, Grammy Award winner Wyclef Jean will be performing and celebrity DJ Samantha Ronson will be spinning throughout the night along with ESPN analyst and special guest DJ Marcellus Wiley. 

The celebrity guest list has not yet been announced but we expect there to be a lot of A-List celebrities and sports stars attending this party.  Check back to SuperSundayHQ.com for updates as they become available.  To give you some idea of what to expect, ESPN has issued a casting call for female models that are interested in attending this exclusive party for free.  Just how many models will ESPN be hiring for this event?  Try 400.  That sounds like a lot of eye candy to us. 

The only way to buy a ticket to ESPN The Magazine’s NEXT Super Bowl party is to purchase a ticket on the secondary market.  We suggest searching on Craigslist.com, ebay and StubHub but you are clearly going to have to work hard if you want to attend this Super Bowl party. 

ESPN The Magazine’s NEXT Day Tailgate
The second event of ESPN The Magazine’s NEXT Big Weekend will be the ESPN The Magazine’s NEXT Day Tailgate which is happening on Saturday, January 31.  This is a free event that is open to the public and will take place at the same location as the NEXT Super Bowl party.   There will be live performances by hip-hop singer Sean Kingston, the University of South Florida Marching Band and Impulse, a local reggae band.   There will be numerous exhibits and events to check out including a live skydive stunt performed by the Red Bull Energy Drink Aerial Skydive team, volleyball matches that will be played on a sand court between members of the AVP Pro Beach Volleyball team and the Gibson Guitar Bus.