Living room boxes at Hard Rock Stadium offer fans TV viewing, luxury seating.miami dolphins
It only took a decade and a $600 million renovation of Hard Rock Stadium to bring the Super Bowl back to Miami for a record 11th time.
Visitors attending the 54th edition of the Super Bowl can expect essentially a different venue compared to 2010, when the Magic City last hosted the game, thanks to a five-year phased renovation of Hard Rock Stadium that began in 2012.
“I think a big reason for the renovation was for the Super Bowl, and one of the things that I know that the NFL had told [the Miami Dolphins] was the roof canopy was a requirement and a few other things of course,” said Michael Day, HOK principal and senior project manager for the venue’s renovation.
“Everyone in the seating bowl has a new seat compared to the previous iteration, and with the efforts that we’ve put into the canopy as it relates to the quality of the field and how that’s maintained, it’s really going to change the way that the fans experience this game for sure,” Day said.
Other upgrades include improving 147 suites, new theater boxes, new corner clubs for suite holders, renovated concourses, reducing the stadium’s suites by 25 and overall seating to 65,000 to put fans closer to the game, and new party terraces on the 300 level, which are standing room spaces with double-sided bars open to the public.
“The introduction of new seating products that now are being copied elsewhere for premium guests and even some of the social spaces is a point of pride with this renovation,” Day added. “I think in particular the sideline seats, the living room boxes are something that were unique, and have sort of changed the way that everybody looks at what those most elite seats might have as amenities.”
Fans in those seats are provided with a TV, in-seat service with premium food and beverage options, and access to clubs behind their seats.
Other upgrades to the stadium experience include ingress and egress improvements.
“The parking lot experience to your seat has been enhanced with new escalators, with new site amenities that weren’t there previously,” Day said. “There’s a premium special lane that you can purchase, to have a private lane in and out, and the overall traffic flow and the site amenities in that experience I think is pretty fantastic compared to what it was before.”
NFL PREPARATIONS
Eric Finkelstein, the NFL’s director of event operations, told Sports Business Journal that upward of 6,000 people have worked around the Hard Rock Stadium site to prepare and secure the area for fans who will visit the stadium on Sunday. “And we have a 300-foot perimeter, since the Super Bowl is a tier one national security event, that has to be installed, which equates to about 4.5 miles of fencing,” he said.
Finkelstein said the NFL expects 11,000 guests at the league’s tailgate party, and On Location Experiences is taking over the Miami Open’s tennis courts at Hard Rock Stadium. The NFL expects 14,000 to 16,000 guests for the different parties being held on the grounds of the stadium as well during Super Bowl week.
On game day, two fan plaza areas will be available with varied food options. Fans also will have photo opportunities with the Vince Lombardi Trophy and can take in other interactive installations.
“The stadium itself will open at 2 p.m. on Super Bowl Sunday, which obviously gives you 4 1/2 hours before game time. So, that will have programming in the building as well, as well as all the screens on the exterior,” Finkelstein added. The programming will be centered on the NFL’s 100th season, the league’s all-time team and Super Bowl contenders — Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers.
A FEAST IN THE MAKING
On the food front, Centerplate will be hosting its 15th Super Bowl and will provide curated offerings led by the first female head chef to host a Super Bowl — Dayanny de la Cruz.
The stone crab cocktail is among Centerplate’s Miami-flavored offerings.Matthew Noel
Carmen Callo, Centerplate’s corporate executive chef, said this is the first Super Bowl to feature the plant-based Impossible Burger. Other offerings — Cubano sausage, fresh watermelon salads, ceviche, empanadas, lobster tails and Cubano coffee — will have a Miami feel, Callo added.
Centerplate is also hosting the Super Bowl LIV NFL Fan Experience at the Miami Beach Convention Center all week.
