Lingering wind gusts and rain showers "dampened Saturday's Super Bowl festivities in South Beach and elsewhere in Miami-Dade," as crowds "mostly stayed indoors after severe weather Friday night." Corporate-sponsored Super Bowl events throughout South Florida "went on as planned Saturday but had scarce audiences as the forecast worsened over the afternoon." Still, that didn't stop JEFF BEZOS from taking over the turntables at club LIV, nor did it keep BILL BELICHICK from attending ROB GRONKOWSKI's Gronk Beach Party (MIAMI HERALD, 2/2).
PAYING TRIBUTE: SHAQUILLE O'NEAL on Friday night "honored KOBE BRYANT several times during his Shaq's Fun House Super Bowl party," including with a video before coming on stage to perform as DJ DIESEL. DIDDY, PITBULL, CARNAGE, DIPLO and DABABY also performed and paid tribute (N.Y. POST, 2/1).
SATURDAY SOIREES: The annual Fanatics party at the Super Bowl "served as a star-studded tribute" to Bryant on Saturday afternoon. O'Neal "made an emotional speech remembering his late teammate," while party host, Fanatics Founder & Exec Chair MICHAEL RUBIN, "gave out 1,500 Bryant jerseys to everyone in the crowd." POST MALONE "closed out the bash by performing in a Bryant jersey himself," and KEVIN HART also "made a heartfelt toast from the stage" in honor of Bryant (N.Y. POST, 2/2)....N.Y.-based Italian restaurant Rao's by the Beach pop-up event in Miami went out with a bang as DAK PRESCOTT, JONATHAN CHEBAN, KIRK HERBSTREIT, G-EAZY, GREG OLSEN and RICH EISEN attended the invite-only dinner on Saturday night (THE DAILY)....Diddy, on Saturday night, "put on a surprise performance" at the Rolling Stone Live Super Bowl party on South Beach. DJ KHALED, FRENCH MONTANA and CIARA also "performed several fan favorites." Among others in attendance at the event: DR. OZ, LIL JON, FABOLOUS, NICK LACHEY, TIKI BARBER, NENE LEAKES, MARK CUBAN, LORI GRENIER, DAYMOND JOHN, TYSON BECKFORD and PARIS HILTON (N.Y. POST, 2/3).
HONORING THE GREATS: The Pro Football HOF Merlin Olsen Luncheon was held on Friday in Miami, and Dolphins Owner STEPHEN ROSS and DAN MARINO were both honored with special portraits (MIAMI HERALD, 2/1).
YACHT TALK: STAN KROENKE sailed his 281-foot yacht, Aquila, to Miami's Watson Island for Super Bowl week, while JERRY JONES docked his 357-foot Bravo Eugenia next door. Meanwhile, ARTHUR BLANK has brought his 295-foot, $180M Dreamboat, while DAN SNYDER's 305-foot Lady S and SHAHID KHAN's 308-foot Kismet also are docked in the area (MIAMI HERALD, 2/1).
LOUNGIN' AROUND: Among the athletes and celebrities who dropped by the WME Sports lounge over the weekend: CAM NEWTON, CHRISTIAN MCCAFFREY, JOE BURROW, TONY GONZALEZ, WIZ KHALIFA and JARRET STOLL. Meanwhile, execs at the lounge included retired basketball agent BILL DUFFY, Fox Sports' BRAD ZAGER, ESPN's BURKE MAGNUS, the Chargers' DEAN SPANOS, the Browns' JW JOHNSON, the Rams' KEVIN DEMOFF, the NHL Panthers' MATT CALDWELL, the XFL's OLIVER LUCK, the Premier Lacrosse League's PAUL RABIL, the NFL Panthers' TOM GLICK and the Dolphins' TOM GARFINKEL (THE DAILY).
