September 22, 2016: The N.F.L. is Selling Super Bowl Tickets Directly to Fans, Marriott Builds Renovation Buzz With Upside-Down Installation, New York ESports Event Will Be First to Stream Live in VR

1. THE N.F.L. IS SELLING SUPER BOWL TICKETS DIRECTLY TO FANS: The National Football League is selling Super Bowl tickets directly to fans online for the first time. Super Bowl LI tickets went on sale yesterday on a website run by Ticketmaster. Bloomberg: "For as little as $5,500 and as much as $12,000, fans will get to pick their specific seats, attend parties before and after the Feb. 5 championship in Houston and, in some cases, get on-field access after the game. 'Now you have certainty that what you’re buying is what you’re getting, right down to the seat location,' said John Collins, chief executive officer of On Location Experiences, which is assembling the packages for the league. The company, which began as a specialized travel-and-entertainment arm of the NFL, will get 9,500 tickets to sell. Until now, tickets for the Super Bowl have only been distributed through the NFL and its 32 teams. For Super Bowl 50, the participating teams received 35 percent of the tickets, the host San Francisco 49ers got another 5 percent and the remaining 29 franchises were allocated 1.2 percent each. The league claimed the final 25 percent. Regular people who want to go to the game have turned to the secondary market, where tickets can be expensive—top seats can sell for more than $25,000—and deals can fall through." http://bloom.bg/2cK924y

2. MARRIOTT BUILDS RENOVATION BUZZ WITH UPSIDE-DOWN INSTALLATION: To build excitement around its nationwide guest-room renovations, Marriott has debuted #MGravityRoom, an upside-down replica of the new guest room in Brooklyn. Adweek: "Marriott designed the new guest room based on feedback it received from surveying 5,000 customers, such as requests to replace bathtubs with walk-in showers, as well as update the floors and furniture. 'The design is much more multifunctional, and it's steeped in what our guests are looking for,' said Matthew Carroll, vp of global brand management for Marriott Hotels. In the installation, a closet, desk and TV appear to float on the walls and ceiling, and guests can position themselves to take photos so it looks as if they're walking on the ceiling. The goal is to have people post photos of the upside-down room on social media and therefore build enthusiasm for the renovations. To create #MGravityRoom, Marriott worked with design teams and partners including Marriott I + A Design Studio, Fairmont Designs, Brookline Furniture, Belstone, Wolf Gordon, Mosaic Tile Co., Historic Timber and Plank, Sandler Seating, and Designtex." http://bit.ly/2d0p1tz

3. NEW YORK ESPORTS EVENT WILL BE FIRST TO STREAM LIVE IN VR: Virtual-reality live streams will enter the world of eSports next month. The ESL One New York Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament at the Barclays Center will be the first eSports event to be live streamed in VR. Mashable: "Fans will be able to watch either from a viewpoint in the Barclays Center or from in-game viewpoints above the action with a first-person point-of-view hovering to the side. Viewers will be able to look around in full, 360-degree VR but won't be able to choose exactly where they're viewing from—vantage points are selected by the broadcaster, similar to how broadcasters decide which player's viewpoint you are watching. Sliver.tv will be broadcasting the event on any platform that supports VR, including iOS, Android, Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and Gear VR through each platform's Sliver.tv app or the Sliver.tv website. Along with Sliver.tv, ESL has partnered with Wonderworld VR for the live CS:GO VR experience. Wonderworld VR is handling the video stream from the Barclays Center and Sliver.tv is doing the in-game stream. Both streams will be viewable through Sliver.tv." http://on.mash.to/2cSdASw


* INDUSTRY NEWS *

Shiftgig, the mobile marketplace that connects people with jobs on their mobile phone, has acquired BookedOut, a logistics platform connecting experiential marketing workers with experiential agencies and brands.

* LOCAL NEWS *

BOSTON:  Mark Jeffery has been named general manager of the Sheraton Needham Hotel in Needham.

CHICAGO:  The 52nd edition of the Chicago International Film Festival will take place October 13-27. The festival will be sponsored by American Airlines and Chloe Wine Collection.

LAS VEGAS:  The grand opening of rock concert experience "Cherry Boom Boom" will take place September 29 at Tropicana Las Vegas.

LOS ANGELES:  Taste of Italy will take place October 1 at the Italian American Museum of Los Angeles. The event will feature tastings and demonstrations from regional Italian restaurants.

The Silver Pixel Awards, the second annual award ceremony from Hollywood in Pixels, will take place October 5 at the Walter Maciel Gallery. The event will feature a fireside chat with Dwight Caines, former president of domestic marketing for Sony Pictures, and Andrew Wallenstein, co-editor-in-chief of Variety.

For information on upcoming events in Los Angeles, visit Masterplanner: http://www.masterplanneronline.com/losangeles

MIAMI/SOUTH FLORIDA:  Boys & Girls Clubs of Miami-Dade will host the 10th annual black tie Wild About Kids Gala on November 12 at the Ritz-Carlton, Key Biscayne.

CycleBar Davie will open on November 14 in Davie. The indoor cycling studio will invite local businesses and charities to participate in private sessions from November 14-27, and then host a CycleBlast event to celebrate its grand opening by offering 50 free rides to the public.

NEW YORK:  The Greater New York Chamber of Commerce Expo will take place Friday at the New York Hilton Midtown.

Outreach and the John Brower, Jr. Foundation will host its second annual 5K walk on October 8 at Jones Beach. The event raises funds and awareness about substance and alcohol abuse in New York.

New York magazine's 18th annual New York Taste, presented by Citi, will take place November 1 at Waterfront New York. The event will feature food and drinks from restaurants including Amada, Gramercy Tavern, Dinosaur Bar-B-Que, the Meatball Shop, and Toro.

Brooklyn restaurant 21 Greenpoint is now open. The restaurant, which is owned by Sydney Silver and Homer Murray, is headed by chef Sean Telo who brings Italian, New England, and Southern influences to a menu that changes daily. The restaurant serves dinner Tuesday through Saturday, and features a Sunday menu with dishes made with unused ingredients from the previous week.

For information on upcoming events in New York, visit Masterplanner: http://www.masterplanneronline.com/newyork

ORLANDO/CENTRAL FLORIDA:  The International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA), the trade association for the $39 billion worldwide attractions industry, will relocate its global headquarters office from Alexandria, Virginia, to Orlando beginning in 2017. IAAPA also announced plans to host its annual conference and trade show (IAAPA Attractions Expo) at the Orange County Convention Center through 2030.

TORONTO:  The 16th annual Reelworld Film Festival will take place October 12-16 at Harbourfront Centre. The festival—which is dedicated to using the visual medium as a force for social good—will launch the new Conversation Room where audiences can meet before and after screenings to meet with activists, leaders, and nonprofits that work on issues addressed in the films.

WASHINGTON, D.C.:  Eric and Ian Hilton are slated to open the Brighton, a waterfront pub at the Wharf. Washingtonian: http://bit.ly/2cKKtEH

The Cordish Companies will open a flagship Live Lofts hotel at 7491 New Ridge Road in Hanover, Maryland. The recently acquired property will transform from the Hilton Garden Inn Baltimore/Arundel Mills and rebrand as Live  Lofts, after it undergoes an extensive $3 million renovation project. The 11-story hotel has 250 rooms, including more than 100 suites, and about 3,400 square feet of meeting and banquet space. Rooms will remain available to guests as renovations begin in public spaces beginning in late 2016 to early 2017, with final improvements to the hotel expected to be complete by mid-2017. In 2018, Cordish is also opening a Live Hotel at Live Casino in Hanover.

YOUR NEWS: What are you doing? Tell us: [email protected]. 

JOB BOARD: Post a job or find a job: http://jobs.bizbash.com

With contributions from Jenny Berg in Chicago, Alesandra Dubin and Claire Hoffman in Los Angeles, Mitra Sorrells in Orlando, and Carla Hay, Beth Kormanik, Michele Laufik, Jill Menze, and Ian Zelaya in New York.

BizBash Daily is the must-read digest of event industry news from BizBash.com.

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