There’s a battle royale brewing in Arizona that has little to do with the Patriots or the Giants.

In the days leading up to the Super Bowl, magazines such as Playboy, Sports Illustrated, ESPN and Maxim are rivaling video game publisher Electronic Arts, trading card company Upper Deck and a few others for the biggest, bestest, loudest and most exclusive celebrity-filled Super Bowl party ever.

“Over the years, it’s become quite competitive,” says Hugh Hefner, the Playboy mogul who will make the trek to the Grand Canyon State for his empire’s party after a three-year absence. “It’s all turned into something beyond just celebrating a football game. It’s an entire weekend event.”

This year, about 60 parties and events are pegged to Super Bowl XLII. Fewer than 10 of those are invite-only soirees with the main aim of wooing important advertisers and the like, the largest and most famous being the Playboy and Maxim parties. In years past, Penthouse’s event was also oh-so-exclusive but tickets to this year’s gala are readily available online for $500.