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Exotic Dancers Working It To Make It To The Big Game

Tribune photo by JASON BEHNKEN

The Bay area has 43 strip clubs, according to data compiled by The Tampa Tribune.

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By BAIRD HELGESON

bhelgeson@tampatrib.com

Published: January 16, 2009

Updated: 01/16/2009 12:44 am

TAMPA - Local strip clubs are at work building a national stage for Super Bowl fans who will be arriving soon to test the Bay area's risque reputation.

First, though, come the dancers. They're showing up daily from across the country to persuade dozens of clubs that they deserve a share of the booming trade expected between now and the Feb. 1 Super Bowl at Raymond James Stadium.

In this business, few weeks are as lucrative as the seven days before a Super Bowl. And perhaps no host community is more prepared than Tampa to reap the windfall.

The Bay area has 43 strip clubs, according to data compiled by The Tampa Tribune. That's more than the states of Oklahoma, Kentucky and Tennessee, according to the Ultimate Strip Club List, a Web site billing itself as the nation's top authority on the subject.

"It's going to be a huge economic boon," said Monica Fox, general manager of Secrets Cabaret, a club on Adamo Drive that promises an "unforgettable experience."

Secrets will bring in about 20 extra dancers and extend hours during Super Bowl week, Fox said.

Clubs have updated their bars, lighting and sound systems. Some are finishing new VIP rooms, where customers can spend hundreds of dollars an hour for private dances and a bottle of champagne. A few establishments are wrapping up months-long talent contests that will culminate during Super Bowl week when visitors choose the best dancers.

The Penthouse Club on WestShore Drive, an upscale steakhouse as well as a strip club, has too much to contain it all. The club that's inspired by the men's magazine is putting up a house-sized, 2,400-square-foot tent for expanded operations.

Penthouse has 40 dancers on a normal night. During Super Bowl week, the number grows to 100 at all hours.

"It's going to be ridiculous," said Jim Sparks, a manager.

All those dancers need a place to get ready, as do the additional makeup artists and hairstylists, Sparks said. So Penthouse is bringing in motor homes as dressing rooms.

"We've been preparing for months," he said. "We'll have extra everything."

Many clubs will offer drink and dance specials to woo their share of the 100,000 visitors the game is expected to bring to the Bay area. Some clubs have coupons on their Web sites. Others offer free or discounted admission before busy evening hours.

All this fuss is just what the industry would expect when a town with Tampa's reputation takes center stage.

"Whenever you talk about the areas with the most adult entertainment nightclubs, people talk about Tampa," said Joe Hall, general manager of field operations for Michigan-based Deja Vu Consulting Inc., which owns the largest chain of adult night clubs in the world, including one on Adamo Drive in Tampa.

Askmen.com, an online men's magazine, ranked the landmark Mons Venus on North Dale Mabry Highway among the 10 best strip clubs in the world. The magazine wrote: "For some, it might even be too much of a good thing, but can you really have too much naked?"

Not everyone is carried away by the business opportunities.

"I don't think it reflects who we are, or what this community represents, or its values," said former Tampa City Council member Bob Buckhorn, who championed a local ordinance that requires dancers to stay at least 6 feet away from customers.

Nothing is slowing this buildup, though.

Mons Venus, within walking distance of Raymond James Stadium and Super Bowl activities, is one of many clubs staying open 24 hours in the days leading up to the game.

The staff is auditioning women who work at strip clubs across the nation. Dancers can make $100 to $200 an hour, said Lorry Kasner, a Mons Venus manager, and they can work as many hours as they wish.

The dancers at Mons Venus, like most businesses, are contractors who pay to use the club.

"People are calling all the time for tryouts," Kasner said.

The requests are growing as the game approaches, but the tryouts remain a simple process: A woman comes in anytime during business hours, dances on stage to three songs, and removes her clothing by the last song.

"You can talk to people on the phone, but you've really got to look at them," Kasner said. "You've got to see them."

The staff makes a decision on the spot.

"Our girls are all 8s, 9s and 10s," Kasner insists.

Bottoms Up Gentlemen's Club in Pinellas Park has only been open eight months, but the operators have been preparing for the big game since Day One.

The club is bringing in extra dancers from Miami, New Orleans and Atlanta, said Jonathan Bell, a promoter for the club.

Bottoms Up has been holding contests to find the sexiest mother and the "baddest chick" in the Bay area. Winners will be decided Super Bowl week and they'll get a share of up to $15,000 in prize money.

"All we've been doing is building toward the Super Bowl," Bell said.

Fox, who manages Secrets, knows the kind of money that strip clubs and exotic dancers can make during the NFL championship.

She has traveled to six Super Bowl host cities, including New Orleans and Detroit, to dance in local strip clubs during the week of the game.

Big-spending Super Bowl fans are worth the trip, said Fox, who has worked in the adult entertainment industry nearly 20 years.

In fact, she said, the travel is part of why "this business has given me an extremely good life."

Reporter Baird Helgeson can be reached at (813) 259-7668.

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