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In the United States, a tailgate party is a social event held on and around the open tailgate of a vehicle. Tailgating often involves consuming beverages and grilling food. Tailgate parties usually occur in the parking lots at stadiums and arenas before, and occasionally after or during, sporting events and rock concerts. People attending such a party are said to be tailgating. Many people participate even if their vehicles do not have tailgates. (Note that the term tailgating can also be used to describe the (totally unrelated) process of driving too close to the vehicle in front. This is competely separate from the use of the term in relation to a tailgate party) Tailgate parties have become popular in the United States as social gatherings events that take place in stadium parking lots before football games. The use of the tailgate party has spread to the pre-game festivities at sporting events of all kinds (e.g. football, basketball, hockey, and baseball) and is also used at non-sporting events such as weddings and other non-sports-related barbecue gatherings. The previously underground subculture is now a part of the mainstream sports media. In 1993, ESPN's pre-game college football show College GameDay took on a tailgate-party atmosphere by placing the hosts on a portable stage set at the campus of the school hosting the week's marquee rivalry matchup with fans gathering around it to celebrate. The Fox network's NASCAR on Fox and Fox NFL Sunday have also used similar setups. Veteran broadcaster John Madden has brought attention (and cameras) into the tailgating lots for years. Madden is the author of a book entitled John Madden's Ultimate Tailgating, released in 1998.[3] For twelve years, Joe Cahn has been traveling the country from stadium to stadium, as the self-declared Commissioner of Tailgating.[4] He has tailgated and tasted with fans of both college and NFL teams, and to many is the face and the voice of the tailgater. He calls the tailgating lot "the last American neighborhood" and refers to tailgate parties as "the new American community".[4] In 2007, the NFL angered many football fans by banning tailgating at Super Bowl XLI in Miami.[5] The NFL cited security risks, though many suspected it had more to do with corporate sponsored events than any real threat.[6] In 2008, an online petition[7] began circulating to encourage the NFL to lift the no tailgating at the Super Bowl policy. Members of the sports media[8] also questioned the validity of the NFL's claim that security concerns was the real reason for the ban. In the Simpsons episode "Any Given Sundance" (episode 19, season 18, aired on March 4, 2008), Homer takes his family to a tailgate party. He makes them get up early in order to be at the stadium hours before the football game, and states that "the game is nothing", the tailgate party being the only reason for their venue. In 2010, Tailgaters Only Publications began the Official Census of the Tailgate Nation [9] that will provide the first true glimpse into the phenomenon of the tailgating culture and lifestyle as well as give tailgate advocates like Joe Cahn "The Commissioner" [10] and Jay "The Tailgate Guy" DiEugenio [11] a stronger position from which to uphold the rights of tailgaters. [9]
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