Super Bowl Committee Recommends Strip Club

By Darb02 (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons, U.S. Bank
By Darb02 (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

INVER GROVE HEIGHTS, Minn. – The Minnesota Super Bowl Host Committee unknowingly endorsed a strip club as part of its efforts to connect contractors with minority and female-owned businesses to act as vendors.

One of these businesses, Kladek Inc., is owned by Debra Kalsbeck. Kalsbeck told the Star Tribune that she never even actually finished filling out her application to be on the Super Bowl Host Committee’s 400-plus business list. She reportedly started the application process, but decided there was too much paperwork to get through for it to be worth her while.

Kladek’s business ended up on the list even in spite of that, and as a result the Inver Grove Heights based “gentleman’s club” King of Diamonds became a suggested contractor in the NFL’s Business Connect program. Minneapolis/Paul Business Journal reports that Kladek never hid what type of business she was during the application process. Supposedly she wanted to be listed as an entertainment venue for visitors to the area to frequent during the 10 days of festivities surrounding Super Bowl LII in Minneapolis.

The guide, in a manner reminiscent of the state’s preferences, seeks to encourage people and businesses to work with other businesses that just happen to be owned by people of color, women, LGBT people, or military veterans. The Pioneer Press reports that the Minnesota Super Bowl Host Committee’s comprehensive list was first sent out in the summer.

On Tuesday the committee pulled the entirety of the directory from its website in order to conduct a thorough audit of every business on the list in an attempt to find any other less than savory businesses that may have accidentally slipped through the cracks, reports the Star Tribune.

Anders Koskinen