Ideas + Inspo

The Other Winner of the Super Bowl? Experiential

At this year’s Super Bowl, there were some clear winners: The Philadelphia Eagles. Kendrick Lamar. Kendrick Lamar’s jeans. Not on the winning list (besides the obvious): The much-hyped commercials, which over-featured celebrities and under-featured creativity — to the tune of about $8 million per 30-second spot.  Meanwhile, Adam Richman and Joe Silberzweig, XLISTERs and co-founders of Medium Rare — the biggest producer of Super Bowl events outside the NFL — told Fortune they expect to rake in more than $15 million in revenue and around $4.5 million in profits from three epic parties, produced in partnership with Guy Fieri, Shaquille O’Neal and Sports Illustrated. AT THE SUPER BOWL, EXPERIENTIAL STEALS THE SHOW Part carnival, part music festival, Shaq’s Fun House is the O.G. celebrity collab for Silberzweig and Richman, whose business model is based on I.P. co-ownership and brand sponsorship. The event was right at home at Mardi Gras World, which hosted some 5,000 attendees, a ferris wheel, Ludracris and custom activations for Shaquelicious, Carnival, BeatBox and more. Guy’s Flavortown Tailgate wasn’t the only food festival in town — see Pepsi’s NOLA Eats Fest, Complex’s Family Style Food Festival — but it was certainly the biggest, with main stage cookoffs,...