It’s not often that one goes to a baseball park to watch a football game, much less the Super Bowl. Yet the Lindner Center of Hope, a nonprofit health center, will be doing their upmost to recreate a relaxed, conventional Super Bowl atmosphere via Touchdown for Hope, an annual event held inside the Great American Ball Park Champions Club, a bar/restaurant on the third base side that also commands a nice view of the Cincinnati skyline.

The Lindner Center of Hope is endowed by the late former Reds CEO and co-owner Carl Lindner Jr.

“During the regular (baseball) season, the Champions Club is used for banquets and is filled with tables and chairs,” said Mary Alexander, director of development at the Lindner Center. “We’ve taken all those out and replaced them with couches, chairs and recliners. The idea is to take this huge space and make it more intimate, so it’s like you’re watching the game at home.”

Because the Super Bowl is being played in New Orleans this year, Touchdown for Hope will have a Mardi Gras theme. A local blues/rock/funk band called Swampthang will begin a live set one hour before kickoff, and much of the food will have a Deep South flavor.

“There will be jambalaya and Cajun chicken bites,” Alexander said. “There will be normal fare, too, like LaRosa’s pizza, Montgomery Inn ribs and Skyline chili. There’ll also be a salad bar and some upscale hors d’oeuvres.”

The proceeds from Touchdown for Hope will benefit the Harold Schott Eating Disorders Program, which the Lindner Center has been doing since its inception. Jennifer Pierson, marketing director for the Lindner Center, said the Schott program offers family-based therapy for anorexia and bulimia sufferers.

“We have inpatient and outpatient treatments,” Pierson said. “Some people will actually eat their meals here as part of the therapeutic process. We also have programs for men and women, because a lot of places are only for women. It’s important that people understand these are brain diseases, and not just about weight control, and treatment is very successful. Seventy-five percent of our patients don’t relapse, and we’re very proud of that.”

Pierson said the additional proceeds from Touchdown for Hope will go to research and expanding programs for adolescents.

In the meantime, in keeping with the theme of recreating a relaxed, watch-it-at-home environment, Alexander said that once the game starts, there will be little fanfare. No activities, raffles, silent auctions or games that often accompany charity events.

“Once it starts, people are just interested in watching the game,” she said. “We have an open bar, and we let people have their own fun. Most people bring their own parties.” She paused, and then added with a chuckle, “There’s no betting.”