by Joe Wilhelm Jr.
Staff Writer
What started out as a casual game between friends on Super Bowl Sunday last year turned into the “2009 Bud Light Bar Brawl” at the Jaguars practice facility next to Jacksonville Municipal Stadium on Jan. 25.
Bigger and better were two words that described what will now be an annual competition between Downtown bars and restaurants. Teams from Maverick’s, Mark’s, Dive Bar, Square One, Burrito Gallery, Twisted Martini, Ivy Ultra Bar and The Pearl participated in a seven-on-seven, coed flag football tournament that was held on the artificial turf field at the Jaguars’ practice facility.
“We wanted to make it bigger and better this year,” said Marco Munroy, one of the organizers of the tournament and co-owner of Burrito Gallery. “I was really impressed with the response we got.”
The “tournament” was held last year on Super Bowl Sunday and played between four teams.
“We played on a playground last year,” said Mark Hemphill of Mark’s. “Everyone couldn’t believe we were playing on the Jaguars field (this year). The event was a lot more polished this year.”
Improvements to the tournament included hiring referees, North Florida Sales provided Icelandic Glacier water, juice, Anheuser-Busch draft beer and energy drinks for the cost of one or more canned goods; Mojo’s BBQ catered the event for free and the donated canned goods were given to the Sulzbacher Center. North Florida Sales also provided prizes and a Bud Light Bar Brawl 2009 Tournament trophy.
“Considering the struggling economy and recent decline in restaurant and bar sales, we took this opportunity to show our retailers how much we truly value their business. Bar owners make up a large portion of our sales and without them we wouldn’t be where we are today,” said Gina Bulgin, marketing manager for North Florida Sales. “We’re continuously looking to find creative ways to increase awareness of our expanding brand portfolio. This amazing venue provided us with the ability to engage our retailers to say thank you as well as showcase additional products that are sometimes overlooked.”
Something that couldn’t be missed was the play of the team from Ivy Ultra Bar.
“It was a great day. There was a lot of good football and no problems,” said Lee Spell, co-owner of the Ivy Ultra Bar. “We had a good atmosphere with families and kids running around, just an overall great event.”
The team from the Ivy Ultra Bar was just too much for the competition, winning three games en route to the championship, a 30-0 win over Square One, and only giving up eight points during the tournament.
“We are a bunch of hacks,” said Munroy jokingly when assessing the skills of the bar teams. “And (Ivy) showed up with play books.”
The tournament may be moving if it gets bigger than an eight-team field, but there are plenty of opportunities for groups to take their functions to the next level at the stadium. It is not only home to motocross and monster truck shows after the football season. The facility has a variety of rental opportunities available through homefieldevents.com.
The Web site was developed to provide one place for people to go to find out how to utilize all the unique rental properties around town.
“It was a little confusing when people wanted to find out about renting a facility. Do they ask SMG, the Jaguars, Levy Restaurants, the City?” said Bill Prescott, Jaguars senior vice president stadium operations and CFO. “We developed the Web site to eliminate the confusion.”
The Pepsi Cabana Village, MPS Group Terrace Suite, Bud Zone, Crown Royal Touchdown Club, The Sky Lounge, Jaguars Field and practice field, and team meeting and locker rooms can be rented out for special events or conferences.
Prescott can remember about a dozen weddings that have taken place on the field at the stadium over the years and said the MPS Group Terrace Suite is the most requested property at the stadium. Prices for rentals depend on the size of the event and food and beverage needs.
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