After years of muted social lives during the pandemic, big live experiences are roaring back, especially for younger crowds who feel like they have time to make up for. That rebound has created a booming market for premium parties that blur the line between concert, carnival, and celebrity hangout. Fortune recently spotlighted how some companies are packaging these nights as the ultimate status symbol, complete with eye popping price tags. In this world, the goal is not just to attend, but to be seen attending.
One of the biggest players in that space is Authentic Live, launched by Authentic Brands Group to produce and run live events and immersive experiences tied to more than 50 brands in its portfolio. Those brands include Sports Illustrated and Shaquille O’Neal, and the events orbit massive tentpoles like the Super Bowl, Formula 1 weekends, and the Kentucky Derby. The model is simple in concept and intense in execution, with celebrity power, premium pricing, and data driven results built into the pitch. As executive vice president Dan Dienst put it, “After Covid, the generation coming after me craves real, tangible experiences and wants to be at the center of what is happening.”
A clear example is Shaq’s Fun House, a pre Super Bowl event that Dienst describes as part music festival and part outdoor carnival. It is built around rides and booths, plus sets from Tiësto, T Pain, and Disco Lines, and it is designed to feel like a spectacle rather than a standard party. Tickets run roughly $250 for general admission and climb to about $1,560 for shared VIP tables, using recent European Central Bank exchange rates that place one euro at about $1.18. Dienst argues the energy is the product, saying, “When someone buys a ticket with their hard earned money, whether regular or VIP, they usually have a really good time, and that energy lifts the atmosphere for everyone.”
The following night, Authentic Live also puts on SI: The Party, another Super Bowl week event with headliners like The Chainsmokers and Ludacris. Entry starts around $450, and then the numbers get surreal. The most talked about option is an on stage VIP table priced around $133,000. At that level, the table is not a purchase so much as a statement about proximity, access, and brag worthy footage.
@bagatelleworld Champagne? #bagatelleworld #courchevel ♬ Matcha mix – nastyagalax
Brands are not just slapping logos on the backdrop, either, because the experience itself is built to carry the partner’s identity. Justin Toman, Verizon’s vice president of partnerships, told Fortune that understanding what the audience expects and what the culture is doing helps shape the entire feel of the night. Verizon’s role is an example of how corporate partners want more than impressions, they want moments people will share. Toman praised the approach by saying, “Authentic Live excels at preserving the essence of a brand while also driving new ways to engage consumers.”
The numbers attached to that strategy are enormous, even when the company does not publicly break out revenue. Authentic Live said that in 2025 its events drew 65,000 consumers, generated 324 million social media impressions, and produced more than 35 billion media impressions. Those metrics explain why the luxury ticket price can coexist with mass reach. It is a premium room that still feeds the public conversation.
The company is also active around Formula 1, particularly in Austin, where fans pay thousands of dollars for one day and weekend passes that promise a better view and a better story. It is similarly involved with Churchill Downs to elevate the Kentucky Derby experience and attract a younger generation. Casey Ramage from Churchill Downs described what the partnership adds, saying, “They bring a deep understanding of what draws a modern sports audience and combine it with a meticulous, collaborative approach to creating unforgettable live experiences.” In other words, the event is treated like a product launch and a cultural moment at the same time.
This trend sits inside a broader shift toward the experience economy, where companies spend on real world activations to deepen loyalty. Brands from Coach to Netflix have been building interactive experiences that people can walk through and film, from a Coach cafe designed to pull in Gen Z to Netflix rooms that recreate sets from shows like ‘Stranger Things’ and ‘Squid Game’. Eventbrite has reported that nearly 80 percent of Gen Z and millennials expect to attend more events in 2026 and that they want to participate rather than just watch. Dienst frames Authentic Live’s advantage as speaking to multiple age groups at once, saying, “We are really good at communicating with Gen Z and millennials, without ignoring my generation, and we know how to build the right mix of people.”
Behind the hype is a blunt reality, access is the new luxury, and it can substitute for older markers of wealth that feel out of reach. Empower’s 2024 study found that Gen Z respondents believed financial success meant an annual salary of €500,000 and a net worth around €8 million, which works out to roughly $590,000 a year and about $9.4 million. That mindset helps explain why a night out priced near $1,000 can feel like identity building rather than indulgent. Dienst even calls his business “reverse Disney,” adding, “Disney started with content, we go the other way,” and he insists these are not stiff corporate mixers but “healthy” fun that benefits both consumers and brands.
More broadly, experiential marketing is the idea that a brand becomes memorable when people physically live it, not just when they see it on a screen. VIP tables are the extreme end of that concept because they sell not only service and comfort, but also scarcity, placement, and social proof. Authentic Brands Group is known for licensing and managing iconic names, and live events are a way to turn those names into moments you can touch and record. Super Bowl week in particular has become a major hospitality market where companies and producers compete to offer the most exclusive access, because attention is concentrated and celebrity appearances are common. If you have ever wondered why people chase these nights, the simplest answer is that in an era of endless scrolling, being in the room still feels like the rarest content.
What do you think about luxury events turning access into the ultimate status symbol, and would you ever pay for a VIP experience like this, share your thoughts in the comments.
