Super Bowl parties are victim of economy

The private party circuit that accompanies a Super Bowl won't be as glitzy as in years past when the big game comes to Tampa next year.

A dismal economy is forcing the cancellation of a number of A-list parties, meaning the annual celebrity circus surrounding the game might not be much of a circus at all.

Sports Illustrated spiked its annual Super Bowl party. Playboy may do the same. Cadillac, which has sponsored a celebrity go-cart race the past six years, canceled that event, and may pull its sponsorship of the Super Bowl MVP award.

"The Super Bowl is not immune to the economy, I think that's fair to say," said Reid Sigmon, executive director of the Tampa Bay Super Bowl Host Committee. "I think the event calendar may look a little different this year."

Sigmon compared the atmosphere leading up to this Super Bowl to early 1991, when Tampa hosted Super Bowl XXV, but Operation Desert Storm cast a pall over many of the events leading up to the game.

The NFL has no involvement with any private parties, but league honchos say the economic crisis will no doubt affect the league's signature event.

"The number of visitors to the Super Bowl may take a bit of a hit, which should be expected considering what has happened to the economy," said NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy. "We are not immune. Everyone is feeling it."

Why is this year's Super Bowl scene shaping up to be less-than-sizzling? Those involved give several reasons:

• Jobs are being lost. Time Inc. is reducing its worldwide staff by 600, including about 40 from the Sports Illustrated newsroom, reports the New York Times. The value of Playboy stock has plummeted nearly 85 percent in the past year, and the company recently announced plans to close its DVD division.

"Every year you kind of evaluate whether to host certain events, and as the year transpired, it became apparent that hosting a Super Bowl party, which is something we look forward to doing every year, was not the right thing to do this year," said SI spokesman Scott Novak. The Super Bowl party may not be SI's last cut, either. Novak said SI was still deciding whether to throw a release party for its annual swimsuit issue.

• Sponsors are scaling back. It can cost more than $1 million to throw a top-notch Super Bowl party. Sigmon said "the ability to get sponsors to underwrite the cost" will be a big factor in this year's party scene. And McCarthy said the NFL's Friday-night Commissioner's Ball may not seem as big because the league's corporate partners may not fly as many people to Tampa.

The dearth of sponsorship dollars affects the game in other ways. Consider Cadillac, which typically awards a new car to the Super Bowl's most valuable player. General Motors is scaling back across the board — on Monday, the company said it was ending a nine-year partnership with Tiger Woods — and representatives of both Cadillac and the NFL said it was still up in the air whether Cadillac would continue in the MVP ceremony.

• Tampa isn't Miami. It's tough to hear, but it's true. Hollywood superagency CAA has thrown star-laden Super Bowl parties the last two years, in Miami and Arizona, two prime destinations for actors like Tom Cruise, Alec Baldwin and Billy Bob Thornton. Well before the economy turned south, CAA had discussed skipping this year's game and picking it back up when the game returns to Miami in 2010.

• Super Bowl parties don't mint money. Hosting a big bash doesn't guarantee a club will be rolling in profits. A couple of the clubs that hosted major Super Bowl parties in Tampa in 2001 — including Rain Lounge (Playboy) and FUN (Sports Illustrated, Anheuser-Busch) — have long since bitten the dust.

Carlo Collucci, the owner of Prana, one of Ybor City's busiest nightclubs, says he's had inquiries from athletes, entertainers and companies that want to host a Super Bowl party at his club. But he's turned down most, which he hasn't seen as moneymakers.

"It's all about the numbers for me," Collucci said. "Would it look great to have Playboy there? Yes. Would I want to lose money? Definitely not.

"I had a cigar company from out of state wanting to throw a party, and their budget is $50,000. I'm going to make more than that just opening my doors on a Saturday night."

All those involved say that despite the economy, the Super Bowl will still have a positive effect on Tampa Bay. Maxim and ESPN the Magazine are still planning huge parties, at the Ritz Ybor and in downtown Tampa, respectively. Sean "Diddy" Combs will co-host a party with Deion Sanders and boxer Winky Wright at the Venue in Clearwater. And venues ranging from Ruth Eckerd Hall to the Tampa Museum of Science and Industry are preparing for major concerts and private parties.

And if the game ends up pitting the New York Giants against the New York Jets, which both have winning records, all bets are off.

"Anything New York, big money — that's going to bring the numbers way up," said Collucci. "I love the Bucs, but I really don't want them in the Super Bowl this year. That's going to kill me."

Times staff writer Janet Zink contributed to this report.