The Super Bowl. Arguably, the biggest event of the year. And Nikki Epley ’93/97 was right in the middle of it.
As director of special events for the Jacksonville, Fla., Super Bowl Host Committee, she’s focused on Super Bowl XXXIX for the past 18 months. While it’s been fun, it’s also been a whale of a lot of hard work.
A multitude of public, private and celebrity events and press conferences in the weeks leading up to the Super Bowl kept Epley running. “She acted as liaison for more than 70 sanctioned events that happened during Super Bowl week alone,” says Michael Kelly, president and COO of the committee.
Epley joined Kelly, with whom she had worked as an intern at Wake Forest University while pursuing her graduate degree, to oversee committee-sponsored events. She says this translates to being in charge of “organized chaos.”
Kelly reports that “it was a real win for Jacksonville” to have Epley on board. Her skills were key to making the diverse events a success. He says, “She’s a real pleasure to work with and has been a great asset to our team.” While Epley’s work background features planning college events, including WSU Alumni Association events during her tenure as the association’s events director, her abilities have proven effective in the professional sports arena as well.
She says her proudest moment as a host committee staff member was the media party she organized at The Players Championship at Sawgrass on the 17th hole of the Stadium Course — the most photographed hole in golf. A massive tent was set up on the course, and Hootie and the Blowfish performed. The hit of the night, however, was the chance to take a shot at the famous green. Of the 4,500 in attendance, nearly 1,700 teed off under the lights.
“Only about 100 actually hit the green,” Epley says with a laugh. “Most of the shots went into the water, even though it’s only a par 3!”
What was living in Jacksonville like for Epley, who’s spent most of her life in the Midwest? “It’s amazing,” she says. “It’s kind of a sleepy, little town and the people are so friendly.” Jacksonville, one of the smaller markets considered by the National Football League, worked on its Super Bowl preparations for five years before the host committee was in place. “You really become passionate about the city,” Epley says.
Did she meet any of the many celebrities who visited the city? “I was too busy with all the events,” she good-humoredly laments. “But I did sit only 20 feet away from Paul McCartney at his press conference.” About the Super Bowl halftime show, she reports: “I’m a huge McCartney fan. I had chills the whole time.”
Of course, one has to ask if the “wardrobe malfunction” of last year’s Super Bowl had an effect. Epley says that although her office did field calls about the incident, host committee members and staff focused on recruiting volunteers and supporting NFL professionals in their plans for the halftime show.
Epley went into this job knowing it was temporary — so what’s next for her? First, she’ll volunteer at the Final Four, hosted this year in St. Louis by the Missouri Valley Conference. From there, she’d enjoy working for a college again, but she won’t rule out any possibilities, including trying her hand at another Super Bowl to “see if I could do it better.”
For now, she’s happy that whenever she’s asked where she’s from — she says, “Wichita State” — everyone responds with “The Shockers!”
