Home
Portal
Latest images
Log in
ESPN Party: A night for them, a day for you
By Jay Cridlin, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Friday, January 30, 2009
What it is: ESPN the Magazine's
Next Big Weekend 2009, a two-day party constructed around a
22,000-square-foot quad-saddle tent in the middle of downtown Tampa. On
Friday night, it's the ESPN the Magazine NEXT VIP Gala,
featuring some of the biggest stars in sports and entertainment. On
Saturday, the Worldwide Leader brings the party to the fans with the ESPN the Magazine
NEXT Day Tailgate. This is ESPN's fifth year hosting a Super Bowl
party, and this year it'll be one of the biggest of the weekend.
They've been scouting locations since last March — and on Monday,
they'll head to Miami to start scouting locations for next year's game.
When and where:
The Friday party starts at 9 p.m.; the Saturday tailgate is noon to 5
p.m. Both events will take place at 202 S Morgan St., at the corner of
Morgan and Bell streets.
Who will be there see (on Friday):
More than 200 athletes and dozens of entertainers are expected to
attend. A partial list: Lindsay Lohan, Jimmy Fallon, Alyssa Milano,
Jeffrey Wright, Christian Slater, Jordin Sparks, Cuba Gooding Jr.,
Maria Menounos, Joel and Benji Madden, Howie Dorough, John Cena, Ian
Ziering and a host of athletes, including Terrell Owens, Warren Sapp,
Ryan Sheckler, Justin Tuck, DeAngelo Williams, Antonio Gates, Dwight
Freeney, Travis Pastrana, Clinton Portis, Jerry Rice and many more.
Wyclef Jean is the headlining performer; Samantha Ronson will DJ, as
will ESPN analyst Marcellus Wiley. And ESPN blogger (and occasional
rapper) Lil Wayne will interview celebs on the red carpet.
Who will be there (on Saturday): Sean Kingston, American Idol's
Michael Johns, Tampa reggae-rockers Impulse and the USF marching band
will perform, but there will be a ton of attractions and guests,
including: pro beach volleyball exhibition matches; Red Bull skydivers;
Tony Stewart's Old Spice NASCAR racer; appearances by drivers like John
Force, Scott Sharp and David Brabham; golf swing and NASCAR simulators;
food from Skipper's Smokehouse; and a celebrity cookoff between the
Jaguars' Reggie Williams and the Saints' Bobby McCray. Get more
information at espn.com/next.
Can you get in? On Saturday,
yes. The event is free, family-friendly and open to the public. Just
take traffic and parking into consideration. But the VIP gala is
invite-only — and it's a tricky ticket even if you're an athlete. ESPN
is trying to cap the guest list at 1,400, but as other parties this
year have been canceled, demand for access to the ESPN party has gotten
even more intense. "Up until the night of, we're all kind of pulling
our hair out dealing with invites," said Blandine JnPaul-Reid, ESPN's
director of magazine and event marketing. "Our motto is, we don't turn
away athletes — or we try not to. We go through struggles every year
with the entourages; one guy RSVP'd for 75 people. It's a consistent
process of management, because we obviously want them all, and they all
want to be there."
What else? Wait a second — Lil Wayne isn't performing, but blogging?
Apparently so. He'll have a tent where he'll be pulling celebrities
from the red carpet and interviewing them on camera. "He's definitely
going to be fully engaged in becoming a reporter," JnPaul-Reid said.
"We've never had a celebrity or musician or athlete completely take
over our red carpet, so this is a first for us." — Jay Cridlin
cridlin@tampabay.com
By Jay Cridlin, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Friday, January 30, 2009
What it is: ESPN the Magazine's
Next Big Weekend 2009, a two-day party constructed around a
22,000-square-foot quad-saddle tent in the middle of downtown Tampa. On
Friday night, it's the ESPN the Magazine NEXT VIP Gala,
featuring some of the biggest stars in sports and entertainment. On
Saturday, the Worldwide Leader brings the party to the fans with the ESPN the Magazine
NEXT Day Tailgate. This is ESPN's fifth year hosting a Super Bowl
party, and this year it'll be one of the biggest of the weekend.
They've been scouting locations since last March — and on Monday,
they'll head to Miami to start scouting locations for next year's game.
When and where:
The Friday party starts at 9 p.m.; the Saturday tailgate is noon to 5
p.m. Both events will take place at 202 S Morgan St., at the corner of
Morgan and Bell streets.
Who will be there see (on Friday):
More than 200 athletes and dozens of entertainers are expected to
attend. A partial list: Lindsay Lohan, Jimmy Fallon, Alyssa Milano,
Jeffrey Wright, Christian Slater, Jordin Sparks, Cuba Gooding Jr.,
Maria Menounos, Joel and Benji Madden, Howie Dorough, John Cena, Ian
Ziering and a host of athletes, including Terrell Owens, Warren Sapp,
Ryan Sheckler, Justin Tuck, DeAngelo Williams, Antonio Gates, Dwight
Freeney, Travis Pastrana, Clinton Portis, Jerry Rice and many more.
Wyclef Jean is the headlining performer; Samantha Ronson will DJ, as
will ESPN analyst Marcellus Wiley. And ESPN blogger (and occasional
rapper) Lil Wayne will interview celebs on the red carpet.
Who will be there (on Saturday): Sean Kingston, American Idol's
Michael Johns, Tampa reggae-rockers Impulse and the USF marching band
will perform, but there will be a ton of attractions and guests,
including: pro beach volleyball exhibition matches; Red Bull skydivers;
Tony Stewart's Old Spice NASCAR racer; appearances by drivers like John
Force, Scott Sharp and David Brabham; golf swing and NASCAR simulators;
food from Skipper's Smokehouse; and a celebrity cookoff between the
Jaguars' Reggie Williams and the Saints' Bobby McCray. Get more
information at espn.com/next.
Can you get in? On Saturday,
yes. The event is free, family-friendly and open to the public. Just
take traffic and parking into consideration. But the VIP gala is
invite-only — and it's a tricky ticket even if you're an athlete. ESPN
is trying to cap the guest list at 1,400, but as other parties this
year have been canceled, demand for access to the ESPN party has gotten
even more intense. "Up until the night of, we're all kind of pulling
our hair out dealing with invites," said Blandine JnPaul-Reid, ESPN's
director of magazine and event marketing. "Our motto is, we don't turn
away athletes — or we try not to. We go through struggles every year
with the entourages; one guy RSVP'd for 75 people. It's a consistent
process of management, because we obviously want them all, and they all
want to be there."
What else? Wait a second — Lil Wayne isn't performing, but blogging?
Apparently so. He'll have a tent where he'll be pulling celebrities
from the red carpet and interviewing them on camera. "He's definitely
going to be fully engaged in becoming a reporter," JnPaul-Reid said.
"We've never had a celebrity or musician or athlete completely take
over our red carpet, so this is a first for us." — Jay Cridlin
cridlin@tampabay.com