EVENT REPORT   02.03.09 4:05 PM
More Super Bowl Shots: Events From NBC, NFL, Pepsi, and DirecTV
Following yesterday's coverage of some of the biggest parties surrounding the Super Bowl, here's a look at some more events, from big game broadcast network NBC, DirecTV, Pepsi, and the NFL.


  —Courtney Thompson, with additional reporting by D. Channing Muller
Gossip Girl's Blake Lively was one of the many celebrities to participate in DirecTV's third annual Celebrity Beach Bowl, held for the first time in an actual stadium. All the athletes entered the field amid smoke and booming introductions from beneath a 20- by 20-foot LED wall that acted as the scoreboard and replay screen.

Photo: Getty Images
Produced by Event Eleven's Tony Schubert with DirecTV's Jon Gieselman, the game took place atop a sand field at Progress Energy Park.

Photo: Getty Images
Brothers and Sisters actor Dave Annable played for Team Superfan, led by coach Eli Manning. Team NFL Sunday Ticket, helmed by coach Reggie Bush and quarterback Steve Young, took the top honors. 
Photo: Getty Images
LL Cool J was the Beach Bowl's post-game entertainment, performing for a crowd of nearly 7,200the event's largest turnout to date.
Photo: Getty Images
Taking place over five days in the week before the Super Bowl, the NFL Experience was a ticketed event targeting families. Interactive sessions like the Play 60 Youth Football Festival Presented by Nike allowed kids between the ages of six and 12 to learn flag football rules through scrimmages. 
Photo: BizBash
Held in and around the Raymond James Stadium (where Super Bowl XLIII took place), the Experience also offered a Samsung TV bus outfitted with HDTVs and Xbox stations for guests to play with.

Photo: BizBash
NBC's Sunday Tailgate party took place under a 13,000-square-foot tent at Steinbrenner Stadiumthe Yankee's spring training homewhich is across the street from Raymond James Stadium. Football-themed graphics and more than 40 plasma TVs accented the tent, along with pool tables, shuffleboards, and football centerpieces that were repurposed for tossing in the outfield.

Photo: Tight Line Productions
Produced by Angel City Design's Mark Yumkas, the NBC Sunday Tailgate party's open-air tent featured a six-sided spider truss. 
Photo: Tight Line Productions
Lifehouse (pictured), Fall Out Boy, and Rihanna were among the performers at Friday's Pepsi Smash concert at the Ford Amphitheater in Tampa. The LED wall running the length of the stage changed throughout Lifehouse's set, culminating with football game footage during the band's final song. 
Photo: BizBash

RELATED TOPICS Super Bowl, NBC, N.F.L., DirecTV