NFL Experience

The NFL Experience at New Orleans Morial Convention Center for Super Bowl XLVII

The NFL Experience is an annual event which has been held since 1992 at a venue in the host city of the Super Bowl. The event is described as an interactive "theme park",[1][2] featuring various fan-oriented attractions, including football-related activities and autograph sessions with current and former players.[1] Proceeds from the sale of NFL Experience tickets go to fund the NFL's Youth Education Towns (YET). The league's official afterschool program was launched in 1993 in Compton, California, and (as of January 2008) had 15 locations built or planned.[3]

In November 2017, the NFL opened an attraction under the same name in New York City's Times Square, in collaboration with Cirque du Soleil. Consequently, the NFL began to refer to the travelling event as the Super Bowl Experience beginning in 2018 for Super Bowl LII in Minneapolis–Saint Paul.

History

The first NFL Experience was held at the Minneapolis Convention Center in January 1992 prior to Super Bowl XXVI. The NFL's interactive theme park was followed by Major League Baseball's first "FanFest" in San Diego, California six months later.

In 2013 the NFL Experience was hosted at the New Orleans Morial Convention Center.[3]

The NFL Experience was not held for Super Bowl XLVIII. Instead, the NFL organized an outdoor festival, Super Bowl Boulevard, along Broadway and Times Square, which featured a similar array of fan-oriented events and attractions (such as an artificial toboggan hill).[4][5][6]

The 2015 NFL Experience was hosted at the Phoenix Convention Center.[3]

The 2016 NFL Experience was hosted at the Moscone Center in San Francisco.[7]

The 2017 NFL Experience was hosted at George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston. The Houston Super Bowl Host Committee also hosted its own outdoor festival, Super Bowl Live, in the adjacent Discovery Green park, which featured entertainment events.[8][9]

For Super Bowl LII, the event was renamed the Super Bowl Experience, and was held at the Minneapolis Convention Center.[10][1]

NFL Experience Times Square

On November 30, 2017, the NFL opened a new, permanent version of the concept, NFL Experience Times Square, within four ground-level floors of the new Edition Times Square hotel in New York City. The 40,000 square-foot attraction is a collaboration with Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group, and features various interactive activities and multimedia experiences, including a 4D film, a simulated locker room and practice area, displays of memorabilia, and a bar and restaurant that will feature a rotation of menu selections from NFL stadiums.[11][12][13][14]

In February 2018, it was announced that NFL Network's Good Morning Football would move to a studio at the attraction in April, having previously used a CBS studio in New York City.[15]

See also

  • Hoop City

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Tickets for Super Bowl Experience 'theme park' go on sale Tuesday". TwinCities.com. 2017-12-05. Retrieved 2017-12-05.
  2. ↑ "L.A. Gets The NFL Experience". Advertising Age. 1993-01-25. Retrieved 2017-11-01. a ‘theme park’ event held outside game gates called the NFL Experience, which for the second year will bring sponsorship opportunities for national NFL advertisers and their local partners
  3. 1 2 3 "NFL Experience". fanhospitality.com. Retrieved 2017-11-01. s
  4. ↑ "New Jersey takes backseat in Super Bowl XLVIII billing". USA Today. Retrieved 2017-11-30.
  5. ↑ "Super Bowl 2014 fan guide: NFL 'Boulevard' on Broadway". NJ.com. Retrieved 2017-11-30.
  6. ↑ Jeff Briggs (2013-02-13). "2014 Super Bowl will not have NFL Experience in New York". SB Nation. Retrieved 2017-11-01.
  7. ↑ Roberts, Chris (October 15, 2014). "Super Bowl 50 Gets Financial Boost from Big Tech". NBC Bay Area. NBCUniversal Media. Retrieved March 25, 2015.
  8. ↑ "Super Bowl LIVE Kicks Off at Discovery Green". Houston Press. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
  9. ↑ Barron, David. "Super Bowl LI "Opening Night" at Minute Maid on Jan. 30". Houston Chronicle.com. Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 13 February 2017.
  10. ↑ "Twin Cities setting stage for Super Bowl LII in grand fashion". Star Tribune. Retrieved 2017-12-05.
  11. ↑ "This New Times Square Hotel Will Be Wrapped in New York City's Biggest Billboard". Travel & Leisure. Retrieved 2017-11-30.
  12. ↑ "The Future of Cirque du Soleil Isn't the Circus". Bloomberg Businessweek. 2017-11-29. Retrieved 2017-11-30.
  13. ↑ Cox, Gordon (2016-06-23). "Cirque du Soleil, NFL Team Up For Massive Times Square Attraction". Variety. Retrieved 2017-11-30.
  14. ↑ "The NFL opened up a football theme park in the middle of Times Square". SBNation.com. Retrieved 2017-11-30.
  15. ↑ "Good Morning Football moving to new NFL Experience in Times Square". Awful Announcing. 2018-02-13. Retrieved 2018-02-13.
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