These Were The Top Events During Superbowl Week in Atlanta

Abesi Manyando
6 min readFeb 8, 2019

From Shaq’s Fun House, Future’s Dior party, The Women of Football and the most luxurious Celebrity Gifting Suites ever- its safe to say the most exciting moments happened outside of the stadium

photo courtesy of Shaq’s Fun House

Superbowl week in Atlanta was beyond lit. With a week worth of spectacular pre-events that overlapped one another and a few eye-brow raising post events that ended just yesterday its safe to say that Atlanta was definitely the place to connect, interact, build and thrive this week. While news reports state that the Superbowl had record low rating one thing that is for sure is that the events and parties surrounding the Superbowl were lavish, unforgettable and activation dreams for brands, sponsors and notable publicists around the world. We know everyone is getting ready for all the Grammy festivities but lets rewind to this past weekend, Here are our 2019’s Top Events During Superbowl.

Abesi & London at Davidoff of Geneva photo by Tim Rogers Photography :TWR

If you love cigars, exclusive gifts and luxury is what you seek, the LUXURY EXPERIENCE & CO ULTIMATE SUPER BOWL CELEBRITY & ATHLETE GIFTING LOUNGE at Davidoff of Geneva was the only place to be. Guests mingled with Atlanta and Hollywood celebrities as well as the Who’s Who of sports at the gifting lounge honoring celebrities and athletes during Super Bowl Weekend. Curated with a style that commensurates the definition of sophistication, the ultra exclusive Davidoff of Geneva had the best gifting lounge Superbowl weekend. Located in The Shops Buckhead, I enjoyed the laid-back atmosphere and the ultimate one on one intimate customer service that was provided to me and others.

I got to experience the taste of their curated cigars specifically made for Super Bowl Llll. The Davidoff gifting lounge was unmatched, very organized and well executed. The L E & Co experience included grooming, gaming and gifting, featuring Mortal Kombat 1, Interactive Entertainment and NetherRealm Studios, a grooming bar by Bloomingdale’s with the Art of Shaving, to help the fellas get ready for the evening’s driving experience by Rolls-Royce who launched the Cullinan SUV. HEMP Hydrate kept guests hydrated as they gamed and got groomed up-all while indulging in the handcrafted Atlanta 2019 Exclusive cigar from Davidoff of Geneva. While I was there I met someone from the IM Foundation who spoke to me about the non-profit organization. IM is dedicated to helping people become the best versions of themselves. The organization helps individuals find life balance both personally and professionally through physical wellness, emotional connection, intellectual scholarships, financial literacy, and spiritual balance.

Photo courtesy Sasha Reports

BRANDed Management made sure that women were not left out of the testosterone driven Superbowl week as they held their fourth annual Women of Football event presented by Women Rising and sponsored by Spanx and other brands. Located inside the very swanky, savory and delicious American Cut Steakhouse the beautifully empowering affair featured Paramount Pictures’ new film, the Taraji P. Henson’s WHAT MEN WANT. NFL players and celebs discussed the importance of the women in their life to me, many of them crediting their mother’s and wives for their success.

Will Packer: photo courtesy Sasha Reports

Will Packer talked to me about the importance of diversity and gender equality, saying “It important for us to be able to tell our own stories and get the opportunities and platform such as film to do so especially as people of color. Women are an important piece of this and deserve the same opportunities that men do.”Founding Member, Kelli Masters said “Women make incredibly important contributions to the professional football industry, and play such a critical role in the lives of NFL players that it’s important for them to be celebrated.” Special VIP & celebrity guests, NFL industry influencers chatted and enjoyed live music from Atlanta’s DJ Hourglass and 13-year-old Lauren Mckenzie at the packed and inspiring event.

The Stars were shining bright and left with a whole lot of drip and diamonds as Gavin B. Keilly’s GBK Productions partnered up with the lucurious Icebox Watches and Diamonds for a private two-day celebrity gifting lounge at their Atlanta, GA location. Icebox Watches and Diamonds is the ATL’s top custom jewelry location for celebrities.The Migos, Maroon 5 minus one, The City Girls, OSBS, Backstreet Boys own Howie Dorough, Lil Baby, Drumma Boy and sports stars Brandon Carr, Michael Montgomery, Devante Smith, Devon Kennard, Jonathan Ogden and many more came through. On Friday, GBK participated in their 2nd Super Bowl event with an exclusive Gifting Lounge as part of Ray Lewis’ Ray of Hope Foundation’s ‘Gold Jacket Party For A Purpose’ event.

Future at Dior Collection

Dior presented their summer 2019 Men’s collection during the week. Rapper, Future played host at the intimate gathering featuring his Freebandz family and his brother Casino as well as Atlanta’s influencers and celebs. Guest sipped on champagne and appetizers as they mingled and viewed Dior’s newest collection at Jeffery. The Caren West PR’ed event was classy with a beautiful atmosphere and enough space to sip and shop with Atl’s favorites. Future who is Atlanta’s King also headlined about three other spectacular events Superbowl week including the annually buzzed about Maxim party.

For the 19th straight year, Maxim returned to the biggest weekend in sports with the ultimate pre-Super Bowl bash: the Maxim Big Game Experience.This year, Future, Jamie Foxx and Diplo headlined the musical set with additional performances by Zaytoven, Yo Gotti, DJ Ruckus, DJ Rootsqueen, Ariana Gavrilis and Barachi on Feb. 2 across 19,000 square feet of event space at The Fairmont in Atlanta.

The Blu life at the Maxim Superbowl Party

BEGREAT Sports, MVP Productions & JetLux presented The 7th Annual BEGREAT Experience hosted by NFL legend Jerome Bettis and Texans Wide Reciever Demaryius Thomas. They managed to snag hip hop’s hottest new acts as they had special performances by chart toppers Lil Baby and Gunna with sounds by DJ Irie. Players, celebrities and Atl’s top inflencers danced the night away at Atl’s Ambient Studios.

Shaq’s fun house

Shaquille O’neal shut down Atl’s, The Battery with his enormous Circus-themed Shaq’s funhouse. The Battery is home to the Atlanta Braves and is the newest hotspot in Cobb County filled with restaurants and shops. It also just happens to be where you can always find me since I live here. Shaq said his party was the LARGEST EXTRAVAGANZA EVER AT BIG GAME WEEKEND and this was not an understatement. Shaq completely transformed Live at the Battery into a fantasy circus world with performers, fortune tellers, live games, multiple dance floors and food from Papa Johns, Waffle House and some places that my cocktail won’t let me remember. I felt like I was in Alice in Wonderland. There were so many characters both unusual and fascinating and it felt like the entire world had chosen to attend this particular party. I could barely move until I found a spot by the bar to chill and watch the performances. Migos, Tiësto, Diplo, Lil Jon, T-Pain, Cirque du Soleil and MORE made this party one to remember. Kudos to Shaq to living up to the Funhouse’s “Part music festival, part carnival, part circus, and all in all an interactive unforgettable live experience!- Abesi Manyando

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