PHOENIX – The winter and spring months are Arizona’s tourist season, with visitors descending into the Valley of the Sun to escape the cold and enjoy the great outdoors.
The Super Bowl adds another level of revelry, with over 100,000 additional people filling bars, restaurants and parties across the desert.
Throw in the Phoenix Open, the PGA Tour’s version of a boozy grass mosh pit, and the Phoenix area turns into a week-long Valley of Fun.
“The excitement is definitely there,” said Jay Parry, president and CEO of the Arizona Super Bowl Host Committee. “It’s going to be bigger and better than the last.”
The last one, in 2015, was a smash hit.
The New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks played an epic Super Bowl that spun on the goal line in the closing seconds. The Phoenix Open was already establishing itself as the biggest show on grass and Tiger Woods heated up the celebrations by attending the event for the first time since 2001.
This year’s Super Bowl has the ingredients for another memorable mix.
The Kansas City Chiefs are back in the Super Bowl for the third time in four years, trying to win their third championship overall the Philly Eagles fight for their second title in six years. There will also be two of the NFL’s most dynamic quarterbacks in Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes and Philadelphia’s Jalen Hurts.
Sunday’s game is obviously the centerpiece, but the build-up is a hilarious week-long party.
At previous Super Bowls, Glendale — where the stadium is located — Scottsdale and downtown Phoenix have been the focal points of celebration. Celebrations have spread across the valley for this year’s game.
The NFL and the hosting committee have 20 sanctioned events in the four days leading up to the Super Bowl that are part of more than 200 events in the Phoenix area.
This Super Bowl has not one, but two NFL Experience sites for fans. One is at the Phoenix Convention Center, where fans can score field goals, throw passes, or run through a gauntlet of tackling dummies.
The Hance Park experience on the north side of downtown features live music in the evenings and hosts an outdoor clock party with the largest video screens in Arizona. The Navy flyover for the Glendale game will also pass over the park shortly after the national anthem.
“It’s great,” said Eagles fan Sean Duffy, who traveled from Philadelphia with his family to watch the game. “We go to every game and it’s great to be here, especially the weather.”
That’s the music.
Rihanna is making an appearance at halftime and will likely have a surprise guest or two. Country singer Chris Stapleton sings the national anthem while Oscar winner Troy Kotsur sings it in sign language. Babyface will sing “America The Beautiful”.
For those not going to the game there are many other well known acts performing at the Valley such as Snoop Dogg, Cardi B, Paramore, Machine Gun Kelly, Dave Matthews Band, Tim McGraw and numerous others.
“This time the Super Bowl has had a really big fan interest and it was incredible to be a part of it,” said Parry, who also attended Super Bowl 2015.
The Phoenix Open contributed to that.
The tournament at TPC Scottsdale has transformed from just another stop on the PGA Tour’s west coast swing to the party venue of the circuit. Hundreds of thousands of fans flock to the desert course each year — a record 216,000 in 2018 — to cheer and hoot at decibel levels better suited to a football game.
The par 3 16th hole is the rowdy epicenter, a three layer cake of pandemonium with more than 20,000 often drunk fans creating the golf version of a party cruise.
The Phoenix Open are even more important this year.
The PGA Tour has boosted the purses of four tournaments in response to the Saudi-sponsored LIV Golf League. The Phoenix Open is one of them, with a prize pool of $20 million and $3.6 million for the winner – up from $8.2 million and $1.4 million last year.
Another change: beer is sold in mugs instead of cans on the 16th hole after fans started a beer rush for a pair of aces.
Don’t expect it to slow down the scuffle.
“I don’t think it’s everyone’s favorite,” said PGA Tour player Jon Rahm, who played in nearby Arizona. “I guess you either love it or hate it. There is nothing in between. With my case I love it.”
If you find something you don’t like in Phoenix this week, there’s likely something else just around the corner in the Valley of Fun.
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