From Zero to 85,000 People — How to Build a Tailgate Entertainment Empire | Wayne Verschuere

He launched his tailgating company in January 2020, picked up his first trailer on March 15th, and COVID shut everything down two days later. Most people would have quit. Wayne Verschuere spent those months setting up his tailgate rig on beaches, in parks, and in his housing community — inviting anyone who'd come — until the world reopened and Tailgate Pro Entertainment exploded.

From 4 events in 2020 to 315 events in a single year. From parking lots in Tampa to Gasparilla Bowl alongside ESPN. Wayne, a Marine Corps veteran and self-described "life of the party," joins Luke to tell the full origin story — and explain why Mike Alstott has an open invitation to any Tailgate Pro event, forever.

What we cover: Launching a business in January 2020 — and what happened next · Using COVID to build the brand before anyone was watching · Growing from 4 events to 315 in a single year · Doing every Bucs home game, every Gator game, NFL and bowl events · The ESPN partnership and the Gasparilla Bowl · What it takes to run great tailgates across multiple markets · Mike Alstott's open invitation

Transcript

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Intro

Luke 0:00

Welcome back to the Tailgate Connect podcast. I'm your host, Luke Lorick with Tailgating Challenge. I love all things tailgating. And in today's episode, we're going to speak with Wayne with Tailgate Pro Entertainment. And he has done a tailgate up to 85,000 people and everything in between. You're going to want to hear the dedication and the amazing stuff he has going on at his tailgates every single home game. Stay tuned. Anytime I get to talk tailgating, like it's a good day. So I know we both have a love for tailgating. And that's why I'm going to start the show tonight, Wayne. Tell me, answer this question, why do you love tailgating?

Why do you love tailgating? "I'm the life of the party"

Wayne 1:20

Um, well, for personal reasons, I'm the wife of the party and I just love to be that way. I just, I'm, I'm out there. I want to, I want to meet everybody, I want to dance, I want to shake hands, I want to have fun, um, things of that nature. That's that's where that's where my love for tailgating came in.

Did this start in childhood? Later in life

Luke 1:41

Excellent. So now, Wayne, does this go back to like this is like starting to your childhood? Did you develop this like later in life? Like where when did you really start to be like, you know, I'm gonna be that tailgate guy?

Post-Marine Corps — started going to games, became the tailgate guy

Wayne 1:52

Well, uh I would say probably a little bit later in life. I mean, I didn't have a uh, you know, growing up, there wasn't a whole lot of opportunities to go and tailgate and stuff like that. Um, and then as I got out of the Marine Corps um and started living my life and doing things and uh and stuff, I just started going to football games and concerts and stuff, and that's how I like amongst all my friends became the tailgate guy. Everybody knew me as you know the one that had the tables and the chairs and the canopies and the games and figured out how to have a TV, you know, out of the tailgate, you know, years and years and years ago. And it was just all these things, and it was just it was so much fun. Like we all we would all love it. Um, and and kind of kind of is the backstory of the birth of Tailgate Pro Entertainment

The garage full of gear → why not start a business

Wayne 2:38

because I would, you know, keep everything in my garage. It was sitting over in a corner. It would take me an hour or so to load up into the you know, bed of my pickup truck, and then I was the first one to get there and set it all up and you know, you know, all the all the things. It was so much work, you know, the logistics to it, getting food, getting drinks, getting ice, getting cups, getting all the things. And and I'd be like, man, I love doing this, but I just I would pay somebody to do this. Like, just let me just show up to the party, let me just show up and be the life of the party. Um, and then after saying that so many times, that's kind of where I was like, you know what? I throw good parties, I throw good tailgates, I know what I'm doing. Why don't I actually start a tailgating company? Um, and then over time I did. I I started tailgate pro entertainment, and here I am, couple hundred tailgates under my under my wings.

Thank you for your service

Luke 3:33

So so Wayne, first off, thank you for your service. I didn't know you served in the Maries, but thank you so much for what what you do for our country. Thank you. Second, when when did Tailgate Pro Entertainment start? When when was this kind of inaugural year of getting out there being official?

January 2020 — launched Tailgate Pro

Wayne 3:47

Well, I I think it couldn't have been any better timing than uh 2020. So January of

Perfect timing (sarcasm)

Wayne 3:54

2020.

Luke 3:54

Oh week perfect air quote timing,

Business license January 2020, trailer March 15, COVID March 17

Luke 3:57

right?

Wayne 3:57

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Uh so January of 2020, got the got my business license, um, had my first trailer that I I I sp I built out, had built out, um, you know, spec'd out to to to to exactly what I wanted. Um went and picked it up in Georgia in March on March 15th of 2020. And if I'm not wrong, I think March 17th is when COVID shut everything down. Um right around there for sure. Yeah, so it was it was right there. And uh that was that was the birth of Tailgate Pro Entertainment, but Tailgate Pro Entertainment really didn't start taking off until coming into 2021, um, when things finally started to open back up. Um, and you know, I spent that I spent that time though, man, where when it was COVID, I used to go set my, you know, my train set up and my tailgate setup. I would go set up on the beach at the parks

Using COVID to build — beaches, parks, housing community setups

Wayne 4:57

alongside the road and my housing community. I would just go and set up any and everywhere that I could and invite people to come and hang out and just party, right? Um, you know, at first people didn't want to do it because it was COVID time. But then as time went on and it was an outdoor activity, people started to see it. We we were posting on you know social media, things like that. And and and it just it really started to blow up because when ever coming out of COVID, that's what everybody wanted to do, something outdoors. They nobody wanted to go to an indoor space, nobody wanted to be in a confined space, so they were looking for outdoor opportunities. So we started out, you know, doing corporate events, like you know, holiday parties and Christmases and you know, things like that. They were booking us for you know to run a tailgate for their corporate event because we could do it outside. And and it just it just kind of kept growing and growing and growing. And you know, now here we are, we do every home bucks game, every gator game, a lot of the USF games. We've done we've done New Orleans Saints games, we've done Atlanta Falcons games, we've done uh gosh, man. I mean, I've bowl games where we're you know, we're we're with ESPN, so we do Gasparilla Bowl every year. I do a couple other um, you know, events with with ESPN and some of those guys. And um it's it's just it's it's fantastic, man. It's just it's really just grown and gone to to levels that I could have never imagined, to be honest with you.

Markets and expansion — Tampa, New Orleans, Atlanta, Jacksonville, Miami

Luke 6:28

No, that's amazing. And that was one of the questions I was gonna ask to kind of rewind of where are your tailgates? You hit on some of those. Now, my other question for that too, Wayne, is gonna be because it sounds like you're starting to get further and further out from maybe the home base of that Tampa area. Are you looking to continue to expand further? Or are you gonna be really focused in the markets that are close to you to give the best maybe tailgating experience? What are your thoughts on that?

Fly fishing approach — throw it out, see what bites

Wayne 6:53

A little bit of both. So we've I've I've ventured out. It's uh it it's it's been like fly fishing right now, right? So we're throwing it out there, we're seeing what happens. If we don't get a bite, then we're pulling it back in and we're tossing it somewhere else. So we've really done that. We've we've gone to New Orleans, uh, I've done some stuff in Miami, I've done some stuff in Jacksonville, and I've done some stuff um uh up in Atlanta there. Um, so what we're doing is we're feeling it out as to where's the best spot. Um, because I'll be honest, one of the biggest things to tailgating is having a good connection with where you're at, right? You've gotta you gotta have somebody that can set up and break down. You gotta have staff, you gotta have vendors, you gotta know where you can go get ice. You know, you're in the middle of a tailgate and you gotta go get more food or drink or this or that. You gotta know where you can go get it, you gotta know what to do. Um, and that's not always easy. So um what we've been doing is feeling out where we can go, and then you also gotta have that that good location. Um, and sometimes the good locations aren't available, so you gotta you gotta wait. You gotta wait till you can find that great spot, you know. You don't want to be at the last parking lot, you want to be at the first parking lot. So that's what we're trying to accomplish now. And um, tailgate pro entertainment in whole is just growing in in in in in a sense of of number of of events. I mean, kind of said, you know, started in 2020. I ran four events that year. Um, and then we've grown to where now I have 315 events on the books this year.

315 events this year — not just the Wayne show

Luke 8:31

Wow, that is progressive growth to say the least, right? You're a busy man. Yeah. So, so Wayne, like I feel with 315 tailgates scheduled, like this this is more than just the Wayne show, right? There has to be like a cast of people helping to sit, like make this amazing, right? How many, how many people like right now are helping with Tailgate Pro Entertainment to make sure all of these tailgates are rock star status and successful?

350+ people employed through Tailgate Pro

Wayne 8:58

I employ and pay over 350 people a year. Um, I've got, yeah, I've got I've got a book of people that we that we, you know, and look, some of them work one time, some of them work once a year, some of them work for me six days a week. Um, it just kind of it depends. And sometimes they're working five events this week for the next three weeks, and then they don't work for me for three months because they've got other things going on or the the events stuff that that we have going on. You know, our our events, and you know, again, 315, right? It is a whole lot. Some of them are as simple as 10 people, right? It's a small little intimate, you know, party tailgate, something, you know, backyard barbecue type deal that we put together. Um, and then others of them are huge. You know, we've we've got last weekend we threw a tailgate for 4,000 people. You know, I mean, we that's the type of, and we're anywhere in between. Um, the largest one that we've done that was just a tailgate was 12,000 people. Um the largest event. What

Largest single event — Gasparilla Bowl, 85,000 people

Wayne 10:05

a bit?

Luke 10:05

What a bit?

Wayne 10:06

That was um uh the Gasparilla bowl uh two years ago or something like that. Um so that's the largest one. The largest event that I've done in total was we did um uh they call it the pineapple drop, which is their Sarasota's New Year's Eve version of the big apple drop. 85,000 people that we helped the city of Sarasota run the entire event. We brought us, you know, we brought a carnival in, worked with food trucks, the local vendors and restaurants, and this whole sit the whole city streets were all shut down, and we had a huge stage in production, and I mean everything. We samba dancers walking around. We had a 14-foot LED robot. We had, you know, uh the masked fat head and uh a pit bull fat head walking around the streets. It was just it was it was huge.

Scale: 85K to 12K to 4K — all different events

Luke 11:08

No doubt, no doubt. So I mean, that's a lot of people, right? We're talking 85,000 to 12,000 to 4,000, like all of that is like bigger than most tailgates people go to, right? So what I'm taking from this too is that like, you know, if you can do 4,000 people, like, you know, 300, 1,000, like whatever that looks like, like you're ready, you're set up for success, like bring it on. Is that what I'm

Leap of faith — first big event at Penn State/Arkansas Outback Bowl

Luke 11:31

hearing?

Wayne 11:31

Absolutely. Uh, you know, it it it it was a leap of faith, right? Like um, one of the first bigger ones that I did was about 1,200 people. Um, and that was for um it was it was called the outback bowl, which is now the Relia Quest bowl, but it was the last Outback Bowl, and it was Penn State versus Arkansas. Um, and that was the first time that I was gonna have more than like 500 people at a tailgate. Um, and it was it was like, all right, can I do this? And the numbers got up to be about 1200 or so, and and it was like, okay, here we go. And and and and we got through it and we did it all, and everybody had a fantastic time and tons of compliments, and it just it, I won't say that there wasn't problems, but from a customer's perspective, they didn't see the problems, right? And that and and that's what it is. Like, my job is to maintain the problems that come up and make it where the customer never has to even uh experience that, right? You know, you you run out of you run out of sprite. Well, if you get sprite in before you get that last bit of sprite out, then nobody never knew that you were running out of sprite.

The customer doesn't know it's a problem if you handle it

Luke 12:41

Yeah. No, that that that's amazing. I I'm a believer too, that the customer doesn't know it's a problem, it's not a problem. It's only it's only a problem if the customer knows it's a problem. So good job on that. Now, now wait, let's uh so somebody goes to tailgateconnect.com, they buy some tickets for one of the Buccaneers games. Like, tell like what can someone expect like when they show what does that experience look like for the tailgate or the buys a ticket to one of your events?

Prime location for Bucs games

Wayne 13:05

Well, first off, I talked about it earlier, location, location, location. We are in the prime location for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. I mean, we are directly across the street, corner of Himes in Tampa Bay. Uh you can throw a football and hit the stadium. It's less than a three-minute walk from our tailgate to the like the the you know, scan your ticket, get into the into the stadium. Um so super close there. Um uh tons of people in the area, tons of things going on. Um, we we have a lot of sponsors. Um, so we've got uh for one example, 98 Rock, um, which is part of iHeartRadio, is out there. Um, so 98 Rock, uh they broadcast live from our tailgate for the first hour and a half of every one of our tailgates. So there's the radio personalities are out there, they've got swag, they're doing giveaways, contests, stuff like that. Um, we've got um, you know, tons of of of shade and seating, DJs blasting music. We've got the bathrooms out there for people. Uh, I mean, um, it's it's just it's such a fun time. Like you come in and and we're in we're such an inviting environment, also, because we have Bucks fans, we'll have the opposing team fans, we have fans of teams that aren't even playing that day or that game or whatever, that are in there with their jerseys on. And it's it's it's just like a big family party. It's um, I always tell people I like our tailgate, it's not corporate y. It's very authentic. It's like you and all your buddies got together and threw a party and you you just showed up to it. And that's the type of that's the type of feel that I have at my environments.

Are opposing fans welcome? Yes in Tampa

Luke 14:58

So, like, a little bit friends. So I love that. One of my questions is always like, if you're an opposing fan, are you gonna go get put in the corner over there? Nobody's gonna talk to you, but it sounds like it's a very open and inclusive environment, which I love. And I believe most tailgates are like that. So I'm glad that you're embodying that mission as well. Too. Now, random question here before we talk more about your tailgate. You brought it up. NFL, fans wearing opposing teams jerseys for neither one of the teams that are playing. I feel like that in college that doesn't really happen, but in the pros it happens like every single game. Why wait, why is that? I don't know. I need to know why.

Tampa has a welcoming culture

Wayne 15:33

All right. So I think that it's uh uh a lot of where you live. Um, so I can say Tampa, especially. Tampa has traditionally been a very transient city. Um, you you don't have a lot of people that are born and raised here. I'm I'm actually born and raised in Tampa, so I've been a Bucks fan all my life, but many, many, many other of my friends were were born up in Chicago or Philadelphia or, you know, uh, you know, out in the Midwest or wherever it may be. So their loyalties are to those teams of where they were born at and where their fathers and parents and grandparents were all born at. Um, so what's happening, I feel like I've seen over several years here, is you're starting to get more uh true Tampa fans. Um, so those one-off jerseys become less and less as time goes by. But for we're we are Florida, so you also have all the snowbirds that are here because they're and they're New England Patriot fans. And so because we have such a melting pot of people, that's why we tend to see these other team jerseys and other fans that are that are the tailge, but they love football and they want to go out and have the experience. I I get a ton of people that come to the tailge that aren't even going into the game, they just want to come and be in that environment and hang out around all the all the fun stuff. And let's be honest, 75 bucks for all you can eat, all you can drink for four hours? That's not bad. That's not bad. I mean, you you can't go to any bar and get that, you know?

Food at Tailgate Pro — Boss Ross BBQ on site

Luke 17:18

No, that not with environment right beside the stadium as well, too. So I I love that part, and that gets us right into the next part of bringing it back to your tailgate. Because for some people, like the food and the drinks, like that's what makes the tailgate. What can someone like expect when they come to your like do you have like bartenders, like custom menus? Like, what does that look like from a food and drink perspective?

Boss Ross BBQ food trailer and smoker

Wayne 17:38

Yeah, so food. Uh we have a Boss Ross barbecue. Um, uh, so he's on site with his with his food trailer, uh, smoker on the back. He's nice, I mean, guy, guy's an animal. He wakes up at two o'clock in the morning, you know, for these early games and he's he's cooking food. I mean, I'm telling you, like, and and and his food is just phenomenal. Everything from his ribs, pork, chicken, beans. He's got some amazing mac and cheese. Um, I mean, so we've got several meats, several sides, um bread, cookies, or brownies, or some type of dessert all the time. There's always just good food that's there. Um, in terms of in terms of um beverages, we're sponsored by Bacardi. So Bacardi is um part of that family is Gray Goose, Patron, Casadores Tequila, uh, Angels Envy Whiskey, uh, obviously Bacardi, Bacardi Spiced, um uh Bombay uh gin. Um, so some good name brand liquors. Um, and then locally we're sponsored by JJ Taylor, which is the local uh liquor um uh local beer distributor. So that's you know, Yingling, Ying Ling Light, Ying Ling Flight, High Lie, uh Twisted Tea, uh, you know, tons of other, you know, popular, you know, Miller Light, Coors Light, things like that. So um, so we've got everything you want from Full Wicker to beers to seltzers to waters and sodas, you know. Um, you know, we're we're we're we're also inviting for any age group, right? I don't care if they're five months old or 105 years old. Everybody's welcome into our tailgates. Um matter of fact, if you show up in in and you've got you know a kid under the age of 10, man, we're not even charging them to come in. We want you to come in and show your kid a fun, safe environment and and and be able to hang out. Um, and and that's that's what we are. Like again, going back to the roots of we wanted to be a uh a bunch of friends got together and are tailgating type environment.

Kids at the tailgate — life-size Jenga, cornhole

Luke 19:56

No, I love that about kids because again, like I'm a believer. I started uh tailgating. Obviously, my tailgate looks a little bit different now than what it did as a kid at the University of South Carolina, and I still remember that, right? So I still have those memories. So I think like inviting that, making it easier for families to have their kids there, I think is an amazing thing you're doing too. So thank you for doing that, sir. And it sounds like for the parents or other people, it sounds like uh they won't have a hard time finding something they might like to drink or eat at your tailgate either.

Tons of games — kids love it all

Wayne 20:24

That's right. And we've always got tons of games too. You know, the kids love everything from we've got life-size Jenga, Giant Connect 4, we've got, you know, uh, you know, yard pong out there, just all the fun games for people to just enjoy and have have a great

What's coming next? Not giving too much away

Wayne 20:41

time.

Luke 20:41

Excellent. Excellent. No, it sounds like a great time. I'm ready to come down. I know I need to still come down to one of your tailgates. I'm definitely going to make sure that happens in the near future. Um now, Wayne, let's get to know you a little bit better now, too. So it sounds like I it sounds like you do a lot of tailgating or focused on this tailgate pro entertainment as a business, but do you do you get out sometimes and and get to go across the country and do any tailgating for fun?

Possibly some news in the works

Wayne 21:06

Uh not really. Um, obviously, this time of year is super busy. Um I I don't want to give too much away, but I am in the works of doing what would be a year of complete travel uh for tailgating and traveling in a different city for every single pro and college game for a whole season.

Lambeau Field — dream tailgate venue

Luke 21:31

Wait, it sounds like I know you want to tip your hand, but I feel like I need to talk to you off a camera about it. It sounds like a very interesting thing and hope to learn more in the future when you're ready to uh maybe share a little bit more of that. That sounds like sounds like like one of these Guinness World Records behind me, like something like amazing like that that you're out there trying to do too, which I can appreciate. Anything in the tailgating uh vibe for sure. All right. So, with that being said though, Wayne, is there one venue, whether it's college or pro, that you're like, I really want to go tailgate there one day? Like, do you Bucket list.

The Lambo Leap — would he do it?

Wayne 22:03

Um I feel like Lambeau Field is is just a phenomenal place. I mean, there's so much uh you know backstory to the NFL with that facility. I'd love to go there. Um and then uh the other one is is some of these newer stadiums that are getting built, uh, they just look cool, like the the the new Raiders stadium, the new uh Rams stadium, like those stadiums just look super cool. So I'd like to go check those out.

Yes, absolutely — if you don't ask, the answer is always no

Luke 22:35

Now, wait, if you had the opportunity to get on the field and they said, Wayne, you can go do the Lambo leap, would you be up for it? Would you be ready to make that jump into the crowd? Heck yeah. I feel like I say yeah, but I'm like, how tall is that thing? Can this 40-plus year old guy get up over the top or am I gonna look silly? I don't know, but I would try. I would try as well.

Wayne 22:57

I would. I mean, why not? Right. I mean, if if if you don't do it, the answer was always no. If you don't ask the question, the answer's always no, right? And and that's some that's something I learned pretty early on in my business, right? Like I could say no to somebody and never get the chance again, or I can say yes and I can figure out a way to figure it

Most fun tailgate Wayne has run

Wayne 23:18

out.

Luke 23:18

For sure. I love I love that mentality. All right, Wayne, tell me this. What has been your the most fun tailgate that you've ever hosted? Is there one that really I I know you say all of them, Luke, but is there one that really stands out? You just like for for whatever reason. Most fun. Uh fun, memorable, whatever you want to plug in there.

Penn State/Arkansas Outback Bowl, New Year's Day

Wayne 23:45

Um I don't know. I mean, I I I I kind of was telling you about, you know, the the Penn State, Arkansas game for the Outback Bowl that we did. Um it was just it was for me, it was so neat to see how that got pulled together. And and I'll tell you, like even a little backstory to that is it that that game was traditionally always on, it was the noon game on New Year's Day, right? So to think about that and how much goes into it, and we tailgate it from eight to noon. Well, that means that we were there at two o'clock in the morning setting up for this tailgate. Two o'clock in the morning, New Year's Eve night, New Year's Day, right? Um just so much was going on and taking place. And, you know, there was obviously things that even took place three or four days in advance, you know, putting the fence up and doing doing all the stuff that was necessary for the infrastructure of it, but like literal day of being able to start setting up, getting out there that early in the morning and and and just doing it, knowing that everybody else is is either still out having a good time or passed out because they had too much of a good time. Um, but they were getting ready to come to see us and have another great time. Um, and to see how that just took off and and ran the way that it did, I came out of there knowing that what what I was doing was gonna just was going to succeed. I I had no doubt in my mind that tailgate pro entertainment and throwing tailgates of this sort was was going to be great for not only me, but but all the people that I could bring into my experiences.

Stayed up through midnight, watched ball drop and kept going

Luke 25:37

For sure. Now what so that was New Year's Day. Did you uh see the ball drop that uh New Year's Eve, or were you tightly tucked into bed waiting to get up early?

Pushed right through to the end

Wayne 25:48

No, no, I I stayed up and and watched the ball drop. Uh push right through. Um yeah. So what I what I did as a matter of fact was I had about 10 people that were working for me that I I was like, this is my core group. They gotta they gotta do this. So we had a party. Uh as a matter of fact, over at my brother's house, and everybody stayed over at my brother's house so that when when when one of us got up, we all got up. There was nobody, there was no question on anybody oversleeping because it was a very important day. So um there were a bunch of us that just stayed the night there. We watched, we watched it the ball drop. We all pretty much went to bed right after and woke up about 115 or so and and hit the road.

Dedication and what people don't see

Luke 26:30

Wow. Again, going back to the dedication, and I feel like what people don't always understand and what goes in to throwing a successful tailgate is people show up and like, oh great, we have all the all the food and all the good drinks and the games and everything. But it's like sometimes that means planning four or five days in advance, getting up at 2 a.m. to make sure those customers, those tailgators, have an epic tailgating experience. So I love to hear the backstory from people like you, Wayne, because again, like I know what goes into throwing a successful tailgate. And I don't know if everybody knows that, but again, just being very appreciative of people like you that are that are doing that and really like you're passionate. I can feel the passion coming through you right now talking to you.

Weeks and months of prep

Wayne 27:12

Yeah, I mean, and like you say a couple days in advance. I mean, there, you know, a lot of it is is weeks and months in advance. I mean, you know, we pulled permits, you know, I've got to pull a permit for for for for for a lot of these tailgates and stuff. So, I mean, that's happening well in advance. And, you know, you're getting sponsors involved. You know, as soon as we come out of football season, I'm already talking to sponsors about next football season. So there are there are nine plus months worth of planning into making some of this stuff happen.

Personal tailgate preferences

Luke 27:45

I know I love I love the backstory and appreciate the hustle you're doing out there, sir, as well. Too now, I'm gonna shift it back to you, Wayne, just personally. So this this might seem like a fairy tale right now, Wayne, but think you're at a tailgate. You're not having to work it. You're there to enjoy it only. What is gonna be in your cup? What is in your cup of choice at a tailgate that you're enjoying personally? Bacardi, spiced, and sprite. Okay. You said that real quick. That that is your go-to, it sounds like no doubt.

Drink of choice — Crown Royal, no question

Wayne 28:18

Undoubtedly. Anybody that knows me, that's what they know that that's what I drink.

Food preference — a little bit of everything, stay light

Luke 28:24

Okay. All right, so we we got our drink. Now, if we shift over to food, what's gonna be on your plate? Like, what's what's the perfect tailgating meal in your opinion?

Don't get stuffed in the heat

Wayne 28:35

I like all the foods. Uh there's there's literally nothing that I dislike when it comes to food. So um I like a little bit of everything. I don't want to get super full. I want to have just enough of a base to keep me going and having a good time. So for me, it's it's the little tiny scoop of the of the pork and the chicken and one rib and a little bit of the potato salad and beans and whatever, whatever else is there, but I want I want a little bit of everything.

Don't eat too much when it's hot out

Luke 29:03

Okay. No, I I'm with that as well. I want a little bit because I don't want to get stuffed. If you get stuffed, then I feel like you just want to sit down and you're not enjoying some of the environment and things that are going on there, too. All right, so it's 40.

Wayne 29:14

You don't want to, you don't want to eat and then be

Favorite tailgate game — cornhole

Wayne 29:16

out in the heat.

Luke 29:16

Well, that's that's that's also a fair with the heat aspect of it. So when we talk about the entertainment aspect, the big thing that I love are tailgating games. I know you alluded to some of those at your tailgate earlier. What is your favorite tailgating game to play personally?

Traditional and always fun — make a drinking game out of anything

Wayne 29:34

Uh cornhole's always fun, right? It's it's the traditional game. Um, I really enjoy it, and and and it's enjoyable because most people know how to play it. It actually surprises me in terms of how some people don't know how to play it. They want to play on opposite sides, they want to throw three bags, they uh uh whatever. There's a bunch of different ways that I I it it shocks me. But um, there's been a game that I started playing, uh I got introduced to a couple years ago called DAGs. Um it's a dice game. Um so much fun. Uh and when I explain it to people, I go, I go, this is like lazy man's cornhole here. And then that's how I do the explanation. And I play it a little bit different. We use dice with numbers instead of just the solid color dice. And if if let's say I get two in the hole and those two numbers add up to five, and you get none in the hole, well, then not only do I get the six points, but you've got to take five sips of your of your drink.

Luke 30:41

So making a drink, you can make a drink game out of anything. And I love the ingenuity there.

Wayne 30:48

Good stuff. Makes it fun.

The word "failgating" introduction

Luke 30:50

No doubt, no doubt. All right. So one of the I don't I don't know if I coined this term, but I I use this term a lot. So I it's called failgating. And so, like when when something maybe kind of funny or silly happens, it's like might be a fail, right? Like for like, for example, like I had another tailgate host that said one of their uh tailgators came and they started to try to use the uh the tailgating tent pole as a dance pole and they missed the pole that fell over, right? Failgating, right? It doesn't mean something that you failed on specifically, but maybe just something like, oh my gosh, like this just happened. This person just did this. With all the tailgates, it sounds like you've probably done what getting close to a thousand tailgates now if I'm doing some math in my head, depending on what the last couple years have looked like. Have you had a moment where you're just like, wow, that just happened?

Liquid courage and the things that go wrong

Wayne 31:39

Um, you know, uh liquor becomes liquid courage for a lot of people. No doubt. Um uh people tend to start uh uh thinking they can move in ways that they cannot. Um so I mean, I don't know. I I've you've obviously seen the people that are that that that that are stumbling and falling over. Um uh I'm trying to think. I've it's hard for me to say funny because I look at stuff like that and I feel bad for them sometimes. I'm like, I'm like, oh man, like that's gonna hurt your face later. Like you're gonna wake up tomorrow and really go, I wish I wouldn't have fallen on the cornhole board. Um so in terms of failgating, I I would say, I would say people like falling all over themselves because they just they they took it one step too far.

Please drink responsibly — always

Luke 32:39

For sure. This is this is our uh plug right now to please drink responsibly and don't drink and drive, right? Always I say it to everybody that's have a good time, but have a DD or don't go too far with. I know it gets fun out there sometimes, people, but don't take it too far where you're gonna have regrets the next day.

If you're spending money per person, you want to be safe

Wayne 32:56

Well, and and that's it. I mean, you know, look, if you're gonna go somewhere and and and and and and have all you can drink and you're gonna eat and you're gonna be outside and stuff like that, you know, Uber, Lyft, ride share, D D, you know, figure something out um that that that that that that makes you not have to worry about it, right? Um again, I mean, I don't know about for everywhere around the around the country, but you know, near the Buck Stadium, you're paying $60 for a parking spot. You know, if you're if you live within 20 minutes or so of the stadium, that's your Uber rides less than what it would cost you to park there, anyways. So why not do it? Um, so that's my thing.

Eagles fans — they travel well

Luke 33:43

I know that's a good plug right there. And you're breaking down some mathematics here on the TL Gate Connect podcast tonight. So good stuff. All right, uh, Wade, so I know that like there are some like really big like super fans and travel groups for other teams. So my question for you is like, I know some of those groups have attended some of your tailgates, and so my question is who have been the most, what NFL fan base has been the most fun that's come to your tailgates before outside of the Buccaneers? The Eagles.

Eagles fans and the VIP experience at Tailgate Pro

Wayne 34:18

The Eagles, tell me why. The Eagles, the Eagles fans, uh, they travel well. Uh they're it's so funny. I I feel like a lot of Eagles fans have a stigma, right? Because there are some some there have been some very aggressive Eagles fans uh right. Um, however, I've not experienced that. Every every Eagles fan that I've experienced has just been fun, uh thankful, excited, um, and just and they've shown up in in in in large numbers. Like um, you know, we've done we've done some travel clubs where we've gotten 20 people come through. I've done Eagles Tailgates where I've had 650 plus come in. Um and and and they're just they're a great group. We've done stuff with them on the Saturdays before, you know, because that's that's also what we do. Like we're not just the Sunday, you know, group. If you're a travel group and you're coming to Tampa and you want to be hosted somewhere and you want to go Saturday and go watch college football somewhere, we've got places where we can plug you into, whether that be, you know, you want to set up a tailgate area or you want to be in a at a bar or something like that. We've got a lot of connections where we will plug people in to have entertainment on Friday and Saturday and Sunday before or after the game while they're in town, Monday, if it's, you know, whatever. So we we've we've got tons of opportunities throughout the city where it's not just about the pre-game tailgate, it's about the overall travel experience.

VIP experience — everyone is important

Luke 36:00

Man, that sounds like a VIP experience to me of what you're saying right there.

Everyone is treated like a VIP

Wayne 36:06

We we treat everyone like a VIP because everyone is important to us.

ESPN relationship — how it started

Luke 36:12

Okay. Um, so Wayne, as we as we wind down here, the only other question I had for you was you mentioned a little bit earlier, like speaking about like ESPN bowl games. I know for a lot of people that like ESPN led the holy grass like, oh my gosh, ESPN, watch ESPN, watch game day, watch all this stuff. Like, how like what does that look like? Like, how did you get hooked up with ESPN? Does that change any of the elements of your tailgate, like doing an ESPN tailgate if that makes sense?

What does the ESPN relationship look like?

Wayne 36:40

I mean, yes. Um, you know, when you when you start talking, you know, uh a company of that caliber that's gonna put something on, um, there's there's there's no um nothing gets lacked on, right? They're they're gonna they're gonna make sure they've got the best signage, they've got the best, you know, um the best look, like everything is gonna be top-notch, top tier, you know, um it's they're not worried about uh if there's waste to stuff and things like that. Uh abundance type mentality really um is kind of what goes into play there. So when when you get a chance to go to one of those style events, um it's it's so much different. Um now it is a little on the more corporate y side of things, right? There's there's a little more regulatory and watching what happens and doesn't and and things like that than than what would happen at a you know traditional you and your buddies type tailgate. Um but there's the but just the the the bar is raised so high. Um, and so for me, as I go and I do these tailgates, I understand that that bar is raised very high. So I'm I'm putting extra staff in place, I'm doing the extra things to make sure that that you know um that nothing ever has the potential to run out, nothing's ever lacked on, nothing's ever, you know, everybody's looking their best. Um, so when you do those things though, it takes so much extra time. I mean, uh a typical tailgate, we're we're setting up three hours before a tailgate. You know, when I do these, you know, ESPN or bigger corporate style tailgates, we're setting up a day or two in advance. We're showing up day of five hours in advance of the tailgate to make sure that everything is exactly the way that it needs to

Honored and humbled by it

Wayne 38:40

be.

Luke 38:40

Sure. No, that's that's awesome. Again, it has to be an honor, right, to be able to do that. My tailgate is something ESPN wants to be a part of. I think that's pretty, pretty cool to say.

Treat every opportunity with respect

Wayne 38:52

I I love it. I'm I'm I'm humbled by it. I I'm I'm appreciative of the opportunities that I have. Um, I don't take them lightly. I feel that I treat, you know, the all of that with so much respect. And and and and every time that I sit down with them, I'm I'm telling them, you know, hey, I appreciate it. And tell me what I've done, what I've done bad, tell me what I've done good, and what can we grow on to make your event better?

Continuous learning and openness to feedback

Luke 39:22

No, I love that continuous learning and openness to feedback, right? Helps make all of us better in all things we do in our lives. So all right. Last question before we wrap this thing up. Tell me one current or former Buccaneers player that you want to come to one of your tailgates in the future that you think would just be a really fun person, or maybe somebody you just idolized or like really would like to watching grow growing up.

Mike Alstott — all-time favorite Buccaneer

Wayne 39:49

Uh it's funny. We were actually just talking about this uh the other day. Um uh Mike Allstott is probably my all-time favorite, you know, buccaneer. Um and uh there's many, many other ones, but if if if Mike Allstott came out, that'd be that'd be huge. He's he's adored in the community. Like so many people, you know, absolutely love him. Um and and he does so much for our community still, too, right? Even to this day, you know, he he he's very involved in in the the greater Tampa Bay community. Um so if I was able to get him to come out, that would be that'd be an honor for me and I think a uh a treat for our guest.

Mike Alstott has a permanent open invitation

Luke 40:34

Now, is is it fair to say Mike has an open invitation whenever he wants to come to any one of your tailgates?

Mike, if you want to come — I got you, anywhere, anytime

Wayne 40:41

Mike Allstott, if you want to come to any Tailgate Pro Entertainment Tailgate ever, no matter where it is, I got you.

Tag Mike Alstott — let's make it happen

Luke 40:51

Excellent. Anyone that's listening to this show right now that knows Mike, tag him. Let's make it happen. We got to get Mike to one of Wade's tailgates out there to make dreams come true. And I think Mike would probably have a pretty good time based on everything I heard today as well, too, right? Undoubtedly. Excellent. All right. So, Wayne, with that being said, tell the people one more time that are thinking about coming out to an event why they need to come to one of your tailgates at Tailgate Pro Entertainment.

Final pitch — come to Tailgate Pro in Tampa Bay

Wayne 41:19

Guys, if you're in the Tampa Bay area and you want to have a good time and you want to be in a fun, safe environment, and you want to have the the atmosphere and be in the mix of everything and the best food and the best drinks that there are with the best people taking care of you, you should be coming to Tailgate Pro Entertainment. Get your tickets at Tailgate Connect and just come down and look for us right here in Tampa Bay.

Outro

Luke 41:48

Excellent. I'm ready to come down there. I'm hoping everybody that listened this far in the program, they're gonna come down and see you as well too. And again, for everybody that stayed for the full show, thank you so much for hanging out with myself and Wayne this evening. Again, if you need tickets for a tailgate, whether it's Tailgate Pro Entertainment or another one of our hosts across the NFL and college markets across America, tailgateconnect.com. We're gonna hook you up with that easy button tailgate because you heard it from Wayne. A lot goes into making the perfect tailgate. We can help a little bit with that over here, too. Wayne, thank you so much, man, for being on here tonight, hanging out with us and giving us a little bit of the story to see what goes on behind the scenes and your journey with Tailgate Pro Entertainment.

Wayne 42:30

Appreciate you, Luke, and uh all the stuff that you guys over at Tailgate Connect do for us that are hosting these events to make them happen, man. Appreciate you.

Music 42:41

Food drinking friends under sky so blue.