The Associated Press is reporting:

Two California businessmen are suing over Scottsdale's biggest Super Bowl party, which they say lost close to $1 million.

The star-studded 944 Super Village attracted the likes of Hollywood celebutante Paris Hilton and VELVET REVOLVER, 50 CENT, WYCLEF JEAN. Promoters had hoped to cash in on the much-hyped event.

But Explosive Productions promoters Steve Weiner and Ira Klein claim that their partner in the venture, 944 magazine, more than doubled the event budget and gave away close to $1 million in tickets to promote its own interests.

Their lawsuit, filed by Phoenix attorney Michael Manning in late March, says 944 executives hijacked the Super Bowl event to promote their lifestyle magazine and took over the naming rights without paying the $500,000 price tag.

The plaintiffs are asking for unspecified damages and attorney fees.

The lawsuit also claims the magazine executives refused to advertise in Hispanic media because they feared it would attract the wrong crowd and kill the event.

"We will have a bunch of gangbangers and get shut down," wrote 944 executive Steve Kushnir in an e-mail days before the Feb. 3, 2008, Super Bowl in Glendale, according to the suit.

Kushnir did not return a phone call Friday after speaking briefly with The Arizona Republic.

The suit names Eric Crown, his wife and one of his companies, Orbitron Holdings LLC, as defendants. Crown, a founder and former CEO of Insight Enterprises, has been a major investor in 944 Media LLC for four years, according to the suit.

Crown's attorney, Colin Campbell, disputes Crown's connection to 944 Media.

"This dispute is between Explosive Productions and 944 Media, and we don't know why we were sued at all," Campbell said. "I can tell you that my client denies the claims, and we will contest the lawsuit."

The suit claims that Crown took $180,000 worth of tickets and a VIP cabana for three nights at the 944 Super Village without paying for them.

Tickets for the party ranged from $100 to $1,000 with entertainment that included 50 Cent, Wyclef Jean and Velvet Revolver. Appearances by Hilton, Justin Timberlake and Vince Vaughn also were touted, as well as a boxing match featuring Hector Camacho Jr., who is popular in the Hispanic community.

Explosive Productions said in its claims that 944 Media had assured Weiner and Klein all along that ticket sales were strong. But, 18,000 people attended the four-night event while only 1,000 tickets were sold because so many were given away, the suit alleges.