Super Bowl Party Planner Left Lasting Impression In Indianapolis

Howard Jaffe

It's quite a web of business dealings that a Boca Raton, Florida sports agent racked up in Indianapolis over the past several years. Howard Jaffe's CV Sports Marketing, Inc. sued the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Indy Racing League in 2011 over millions in unpaid commissions Jaffe said he was owed for securing Izod's sponsorship of the league, as well as for claims that IMS officials had defamed his business' reputation in racing circles. In 2009, Izod signed a 6-year, $60 million dollar sponsorship deal with the racing series but ended its sponsorship before the expiration of the 6-year agreement. Jaffe claimed that the IMS only paid him $25,000 of the 10 percent commission he claimed he was entitled to receive. That lawsuit was ended in 2012 after the parties entered into a confidential settlement agreement.

Last week, WRTV's Kara Kenney reported that Jaffe had been arrested in Florida and extradited back to Indianapolis to face two felony charges of check deception arising out of his work as a party planner during the 2012 Super Bowl in Indianapolis. Jaffe's company served as promoter for the Super Lounge 46 venue created at space owned at 11 S. Meridian by Barnes & Thornburg, which was formerly occupied by the Border's bookstore. Interestingly, Barnes & Thornburg also represented Jaffe in his lawsuit against the IMS over the Izod sponsorship deal. Jaffe's firm hired a local audio and visual company to help convert the space into a nightclub for events held at the venue over the Super Bowl weekend, which were sponsored by Ivanka Trump and co-hosted by actor Nick Cannon and the Colts' Reggie Wayne and which featured musical appearances by Nelly and Spinderella. A $50,000 check issued by Jaffe to Evans Audio & Visual for its work was not honored by the bank. Jaffe is also being charged for a $6,000 check he deposited at a local Huntington National Bank branch in 2008 that was never honored. It's unclear why that latter offense went uncharged for six years. Isn't that beyond the 5-year statute of limitations?

That's not all. WRTV's Kara Kenney also learned that Jaffe was being sued in a number of civil lawsuits for events connected to him during the 2012 Super Bowl. The former Bella Vita restaurant in Circle Center Mall rented out their entire restaurant to Jaffe during the Super Bowl weekend but was never paid. The restaurant's owner, Najem Management, is suing Jaffe for more than $111,000 it says it is owed. A Carmel woman, Mary Shaw, sued Jaffe after she claimed he never repaid money she loaned to him for the Super Lounge 46 venue. Shaw obtained a judgment of over $258,000 against Jaffe and another company he owns, Barjaf Group. It's worth noting that Hulman & Co's CEO Mark Miles and its former head, Tony George, both serve as members of the local Super Bowl committee. Miles, who didn't join Hulman & Company until after the 2012 Super Bowl, has served as the local Super Bowl committee's chairman since its creation. He accompanied most of the board members to Atlanta this week, along with Colts owner Jim Irsay, to pitch Indianapolis as the site of the 2018 Super Bowl. It's interesting that Jaffe was able to become such a big player in Indianapolis promoting Super Bowl parties in 2012 given his relationship with the IMS had already soured by that point.