Meet The Krewe

Our team is a passionate group of MVPs who are ready to propel the #TampaBayLV movement forward forever. “Together, we will focus on raising the bar for the fan experience in the region, implementing lasting legacy initiatives, showcasing the destination’s recent progress and exciting future, all while delivering a fifth worldclass Super Bowl.” - Rob Higgins

Jenna Grooms Director of Host Committee Events

Jenna Grooms is the Director of Host Committee Events for the Tampa Bay Super Bowl LV Host Committee. Her main focus will be the management and production of the Host Committee’s portion of Super Bowl Experience. She will also oversee operations and production of several other key Host Committee events throughout the Tampa Bay area. Jenna joined the Tampa Bay Sports Commission (TBSC) in 2016 as the organization’s Event Development Institute Manager and in 2019 was elevated to Director. Jenna’s main responsibility is growing the Event Development Institute (EDI), the TBSC’s full-service, in-house marketing and events agency that specializes in growing new and existing events and brands nationwide. Jenna graduated from the University of Central Florida in 2012 with a degree in Advertising and Public Relations and a minor in Sociology. Grooms has spent most of her career in the sports and entertainment industry, beginning with several marketing internships with small, Tampa-based agencies. After completing an internship with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Special Events and Game Operations Department in 2011, she was hired full time in 2012, spending four years as the Events and Entertainment Coordinator. Currently, Jenna is involved in several community-based programs and events, including serving as a mentor for the Positive Coaching Alliance of Tampa Bay and USF Muma College of Business and participating as an active member of the Events Committee for both the Women in Sports and Events (WISE) Tampa Bay Chapter and the St. Petersburg Police Athletic League.

As the Director of Host Committee Events for the Tampa Bay Super Bowl LV Host Committee, what is your primary responsibility and what excites you most about the role you will play in helping bring Super Bowl LV to life in Tampa Bay? Much like the rest of our Host Committee staff, I will wear multiple hats when it comes to Super Bowl responsibilities; however, my main focus will be planning, managing and ultimately producing a portion of Super Bowl Experience, the NFL’s largest sanctioned fan festival. As you can imagine, we’ve been working on the planning for Super Bowl Experience and other Host Committee events for over a year, so it’s very exciting to see some of the plans and ideas come to life now that the game is getting closer. For me, there’s a sense of thrill involved in navigating through the concept phase and getting to a point where the pieces are coming together to form what will be an incredible resume of events for both the visiting fans and locals to enjoy. Tampa Bay is a special community, so I feel very lucky to be able to help make it shine on one of the biggest of stages in February.

You have led the Event Development Institute (EDI), a DBA of the Tampa Bay Sports Commission, for the last four and a half years. For those who are not aware, what is EDI and how has the mission and scope of services morphed over the years? When I first started at the Tampa Bay Sports Commission in 2016, the Event Development Institute was an event incubator that played matchmaker for up-and-coming event concepts to a series of industry specialists in order to generate annual, revenue-generating events. Now, due to the strengths of our incredibly talented team, EDI is able to offer a suite of in-house services that were traditionally outsourced. As a result, EDI has gained a reputation for being a one-stop-shop that functions more like a full-service events and marketing agency. While our mission to bring event ideas to life remains unchanged, EDI has consistently grown and adapted in order to meet the demands of our clients and follow industry trends. Fast forward to today, and EDI’s client resume includes brands such as the College Football Playoff, Under Armour, the NCAA, Wheels Up and the National Hockey League, to name a few. I couldn’t be more proud of our team and the growth that EDI has experienced thus far, but I’m even more excited about what the future holds!

Before your role with the Tampa Bay Super Bowl LV Host Committee and the Tampa Bay Sports Commission, you spent four seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in their events department. What does it mean to your personally to be working side by side with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the NFL to bring a fifth Super Bowl to the Tampa Bay community? I started as an intern with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in their Events and Entertainment Department at 20 years old, so I essentially grew up in that office and owe a lot of my professional experience and development to that organization. To be able to draw on the skills I learned while working for the Bucs and apply them to the planning for Super Bowl LV as a member of the Host Committee is truly a full-circle situation for me personally. It honestly feels like I am getting to plan the biggest party alongside all of my best friends, so being able to call that “work” is a dream come true! The Bucs were incredible partners in the effort to bring a fifth Super Bowl to Tampa Bay and now that we are only about six months out from the big game, it’s all hands on deck for Team Tampa Bay. Having grown up in the Tampa Bay area, what do you hope visitors and fans will remember most about their Super Bowl LV experience? When Tampa hosted the Super Bowl in 2001, I remember being in awe of the spectacle of it all – the Stealth Bomber’s practice flyovers that went over my family’s house, the branding and billboards that popped up all over the city, and the fact that my parents let my brother and I skip school to go to Super Bowl Village at the Stadium - as a young, die-hard football fan, it was overwhelmingly cool to see it all unfold in my hometown. Tampa Bay has such a rich history and culture, but it has also experienced incredible growth since then, so I really can’t wait for visiting fans to experience a totally reimagined region. From the moment they touch down at one of the best airports in the country and step out into our beautiful weather, I hope they are able to feel the passion that this community has for hosting first-class events as they leave town after the big game. At the end of the day, that is what it is all about.