Founder Wayne Kostroski Appears in Sports Business Journal

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Let's use Super Bowl to offer hope when it's needed most

Published January 19, 2009 : Page 21

When Tampa Bay was awarded the Super Bowl four years ago, no one could have predicted the magnitude of economic need and hunger facing our country in 2009.
Sadly, here we are. The pigskin hype is imminent. The traditionally lavish show will go on, but, because of the economic downturn, not all the parties will be staged. Some parties that are still being planned may have a different look, both in size and in the extent of their flair.
I view this as an opportunity for everyone involved in the Super Bowl this year, on a national level and locally in Tampa Bay and every NFL city. Let's use this game that has created so many memories as a moment to pause and find a way to make a difference in families' lives when they need assistance the most.
You may be traveling to Tampa Bay on an expense account to be part of America's largest party. You may be watching at home with friends or clients on big-screen TVs, surrounded by chips and dip. Or, you may be preparing to slide into your luxury-box leather seat at Raymond James Stadium or even strap on your shoulder pads and take the field to adoring spectators. Stop now and think how you as an executive or staff person or athlete in a sports organization can make even minor adjustments to your game and party plans to benefit your neighbors, customers and fans who are having a harder time of things since the last Super Bowl.
Many of the parties during Super Bowl weekend are labeled as charity events. For the most part, they are. But this year even more contributions should be turned over to the charitable organization associated with your event. Encourage your sponsors and even your guests to help raise a few additional dollars in support of your event. In the planning and presentation, reduce an unnecessary amenity or two. Contribute those saved dollars to your cause.
In my 17 years of hosting the Taste of the NFL at Super Bowl, as well as the development and coordination of many NFL local team events, I have gained a deeper awareness of just how generous and involved every NFL franchise is in its community. The majority of the events each team supports is visible. But it's also quite impressive and enlightening to see how much more is contributed quietly and behind the scenes. From ownership on down through the executive level, the coaches and the players, teams find ways to help their communities improve on many levels.

Current players like Larry Fitzgerald (top) and
former players like Pete Banaszak (holding tray)
and Scott Brantley (with football) party with
a purpose at Taste of the NFL.

Still, this year's Super Bowl and the charitable events attached to it offer an especially timely chance for all the teams and their players to "step up" their level of support and involvement. Contributions of memorabilia? Add more. Personal contributions from your wallet? Give more. Socialize more with your guests as you entertain them and talk about the pressing needs our country faces. Do more. Consider matching a donation to the charity event you support. Impact more.
If you're not heading to Tampa, take a look at the parties and activities that support a cause closest to your heart. Visit its Web site. Check out how you might best make a contribution directly to that charitable organization that is designated as the recipient. You may not be one of the lucky ones in Tampa to experience all that the Super Bowl has to offer, but you can certainly still be a "player."
Of course, in my subjective (even humble!) opinion, Taste of the NFL is one of the most important events to take place each year at the Super Bowl. It attracts 3,000 guests who enjoy great food so others can also eat. It is, we like to say, a "party with a purpose." It began in 1992. It started and continues to exist only to raise awareness and dollars for hunger relief. We've raised more than $10 million for hunger relief since our first Taste of the NFL in Minneapolis.
The Super Bowl host city benefits from the event, and money is also distributed to food banks in each NFL city. This year, in particular, the Taste of the NFL party is critical to the issue of hunger relief. The statistics about needs of food banks during these economic times are staggering. It's historic. It's enough to starkly put a football game into a sobering perspective.
More than ever, Taste of the NFL's party is needed this Super Bowl. Our party has been feeling the pinch of the economy, too. But our show most definitely must, and will, go on. Thousands of families across the nation are counting on us.  Our volunteer chefs and players, the celebrities, and the entertainment for the night will be bringing their A-game. It's our biggest game in 18 years.
My message is a simple one, and one that can get lost amid the sports business jargon of revenue streams, secondary ticket markets, premium seating, salary caps and cost containment. Teams, owners, players, agents, celebrities, the NFL and the media need to look at this year's Super Bowl and the events surrounding it a bit differently. Keep an extra charitable eye and ear about you.
The need is greater than ever.
The winners of the Super Bowl will be crowned champions on the field of Raymond James Stadium on Sunday, Feb. 1. We can all be winners if we give as much as we can and transform this Super Bowl into a game with a purpose.

Wayne Kostroski is co-owner and president of Cuisine Concepts, a restaurant company in Minnesota, and the founder of Taste of the NFL.

Article Found in Sports Business Journal Vol. 11 Issue 37