The Miami Heat and the team’s nightclub partner SBE have rebranded a regular skybox as the Hyde Suite at American-Airlines Arena.
The redeveloped space, a 32-person suite situated on the Dewar’s Suite Level behind the basket on the east end, is an extension of the existing Hyde Lounge. The event-level club opened last season, with cover charges ranging from $50 to $200 depending on the event, and stays open two hours after Heat games. It’s become a popular gathering spot for the trendy South Beach crowd, driving the need to create another ultra-premium experience elsewhere in the arena, said Kim Stone, the arena’s executive vice president and general manager.
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Photo: COURTESY OF MIAMI HEAT
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“The good news for us is that we are at the height of demand and do not have a lot of excess inventory,” she said. “This was borne out of our desire with Hyde to expand that experience of über-luxury and bottle service.”
The joint venture that runs both Hyde properties at the arena for SBE and the Heat invested $25,000 in upgrades to create an upscale feel for the Hyde Suite that includes snakeskin seat cushions containing the Hyde logo stitched in gold.
The revamped space sells for $10,000 to $23,000 a game, based on the opponent, a package covering the cost of food and drink, including beer, wine, and alcohol. A personal bartender serves custom cocktails. The suite has 18 fixed seats and a communal table with bar stools overlooking the arena floor.
The Hyde Suite is opposite stage end so it is available for concerts, Stone said. For those shows, the average ticket price is $250 a seat; food and drink is a separate fee. The suite stays open one hour after events, and those patrons also have access to the Hyde Lounge below.
The joint venture books the suite under the direction of Richard Post, SBE’s general manager of both Hyde properties at the arena. To date, it’s been a 60-40 mix of rentals in favor of arena clients, but that is expected to change with more SBE bookings now that it’s fully branded, Stone said.
Hollywood-based SBE runs the Hyde Beach club at its hotel in South Beach and is building another hotel in downtown Miami. As a result, it has built an extensive database of clients that it can steer to the arena to entertain guests for Heat games, Stone said.
The Hyde-branded spaces in Miami follow sports’ original Hyde Lounge, which opened on the upper suite level at Staples Center in 2009.
