8 Most Lavish Celebrations In Sports
We see athletes play hard on the field and on the ice, but these sports stars and their team owners know how to party hard, too. Case in point: When the Lakers won the 2009 NBA Championship, there was no stopping them from putting on a two-million-dollar parade, even amidst a city budget crisis. The festivities started at the Staples Center and ended at the Coliseum, which had been rented at great cost, for a celebratory rally with 95,000 Lakers fans.
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While it might be expected for a star like Lindsay Lohan to drop $100K on a party to celebrate her 20th birthday, what about spending $110K after winning the NBA Championships? That's what Dallas Mavericks team owner (and billionaire) Mark Cuban did after beating the Heat this year. The team headed to Liv at Miami's Fontainebleau Hotel, where Cuban bought teammates Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Terry, Brian Cardinal, and Shawn Marion a $90K, 15-liter bottle of Armand de Brignac's Ace of Spades. At least they left a $20K tip.
For hockey players, winning the Stanley Cup is a dream come true. We know some funny things happen when the silver and nickel alloy cup is paraded around by the winning team, but this year, the Boston Bruins opted for something lavish: spending $100K alone for one (albeit giant, at 30 liters in volume) bottle of Champagne for a party at Foxwoods Casino. After passing the giant, metallic-colored bottle of bubbly around for each player to drink from, even more Champagne was sipped from the Stanley Cup itself.
Winning the Super Bowl is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for many football players, but does that justify spending $2,100 for the Ying Yang Twins' song Halftime (Stand Up & Get Crunk) to be played at a Mardi-Gras-style victory parade celebration that already totaled over $330K? If you ask the New Orleans Saints, it sure does. There were 12 marching bands, one float from each of 10 krewes, and a Champagne toast with the mayor and governor. It was a celebration that many New Orleans residents will remember for years — some even thought it was wilder than Mardi Gras. Was it worth the cost?
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