944 Sued over Superbowl Party

Well - Well - Well, look what we found here by Peter Corbett of The Arizona Republic. It was Scottsdale's biggest Super Bowl party, and promoters hoped to cash in on the much-hyped event that included Hollywood celebutante Paris Hilton and hip-hop star 50 Cent.

But when it was over, two California businessmen claim that the 944 Super Village lost close to $1 million. They blame their partner in the venture, 944 magazine, for more than doubling the event budget and giving away close to $1 million in tickets to promote its own interests.

In a recently filed lawsuit, Explosive Productions promoters Steve Weiner and Ira Klein also claim the magazine executives refused to advertise in Hispanic-targeted media because they feared it would attract the wrong crowd and kill the event. "We will have a bunch of gangbangers and get shut down," wrote 944 executive Steve Kushnir in an e-mail days before the Feb. 3, 2008, Super Bowl in Glendale, according to the lawsuit filed March 27 in Maricopa County Superior Court. The 37-page complaint spells out Explosive Productions' claims that 944 executives hijacked the Super Bowl event to promote their lifestyle magazine and took over the naming rights without paying the $500,000 price tag.

The suit filed by Phoenix attorney Michael Manning names Eric Crown and one of his companies, Orbitron Holdings LLC, as defendants, along with Crown's spouse. Crown, a founder and former CEO of Insight Enterprises, has been a major investor in 944 Media LLC for four years, according to the suit. Crown's attorney, Colin Campbell, disputes Crown's connection to 944 Media. "This dispute is between Explosive Productions and 944 Media, and we don't know why we were sued at all," Campbell said. The main legal battleground, he added, is between Explosive Productions and 944 Media in an arbitration proceeding.
"I can tell you that my client denies the claims, and we will contest the lawsuit," Campbell said.
Suit claims unpaid tickets The suit claims that Crown took $180,000 worth of tickets and a VIP cabana for three nights at the 944 Super Village without paying for them. It also alleges that Crown's "primary interest in 944 Media and 944 magazine was the access it gave him to young, attractive models and other women, whom he hoped to date.

"Tickets for the 944 Super Bowl Village ranged from $100 to $1,000 with entertainment that included 50 Cent, Wyclef Jean and Velvet Revolver. Appearances by Hilton, Justin Timberlake and Vince Vaughn also were touted, as well as a boxing match featuring Hector Camacho Jr., who is popular in the Hispanic community. Explosive Productions urged 944 executives to promote the boxing match on Spanish-language radio stations. But Kushnir nixed that idea. "There is no (expletive) way we are going to advertise to Mexicans," Kushnir said at a meeting in 944 Media's Scottsdale office, according to the suit. Kushnir did not return a phone call Friday after speaking briefly with The Republic. Group formed for event Months before the Super Bowl, Explosive Productions and 944 formed a separate company called SB Green LLC to organize and operate the event at the Scottsdale Waterfront.

Each entity had a 47.5 percent interest in SB Green. South Bridge developer Fred Unger had the remaining 5 percent interest. Unger said Friday that he could see the two corporate cultures of 944 and Explosive Productions were not a good match, and he decided to withdraw from the partnership after a small initial investment. "It looked like a train wreck about to happen," Unger said of the two groups.

Explosive Productions said in its claims that 944 Media had assured Weiner and Klein all along that ticket sales were strong. SB Green anticipated $1 million in sponsorships and ticket sales of $1.9 million. As it turned out, 18,000 attended the four-night event but only 1,000 tickets were sold because so many were given away, the suit alleges. On the night before the Super Bowl, 944 Media accountant Jim Kebert reportedly asked Weiner to go outside the 944 Super Village tent where Kebert told Weiner that he "would not be happy" with the bottom line numbers for the event.

An initial $1 million budget had grown to $2.4 million in expenses, and revenue totaled less than $1.6 million. The plaintiffs are asking for unspecified damages and attorney fees. Campbell, Crown's attorney, said he has an open extension on his response to the suit until the arbitration with 944 Media is completed.