LA Galaxy Forward Alan Gordon gets ready for the 2015 season tailgating in a video explaining the new regulations. (Photo by LA Galaxy)
Previously banned, tailgating will become a staple at LA Galaxy games in 2015. StubHub Center in Carson, Calif., recently announced that it will begin to allow fans to tailgate at Major League Soccer events this season. The team and stadium sought the buy-in of the city and California State University, Dominguez Hills, on which the facility is located.
“We never pushed as hard in the past for tailgating because everyone has assumed that the answer would be no,” said LA Galaxy President Chris Klein, who added that both entities were on board as long as there were guidelines for safety in place. “Whenever you’re making any decision you want cooperation with the city and fire marshals.”
Facility General Manager Katie Pandolfo said that it makes sense that the city and university would be encouraging of tailgating purely from a logistical perspective. Tailgating means that lots will open three hours prior to kick-off, which will stagger the entry of guests into the area.
“If there’s less traffic on the streets at one time it helps everybody out,” she said.
Though the facility was built for soccer, it is truly multipurpose and has hosted events ranging from concerts to fun runs to football. However, tailgating has never been implemented though guests have potentially come early to picnic. Most of the football at the facility has involved high school teams.
“We haven’t officially called it tailgating because there are so many misconceptions that come along with. As innocent as it may be for a lot of people the perception is that tailgating involves drinking, so we wouldn’t ever promote that at a high school event,” she added.
Even during MLS events, keeping alcohol consumption in check is a priority, with safety paramount. The rules state that no games involving the consumption of alcohol (such as beer pong) will be permitted, and Tailgating Ambassadors, police, security and parking personnel will all be patrolling and looking out for underage drinking and public intoxication.
Renovations include a 5,100-sq.-ft. LED video board over the north goal. (Rendering by LA Galaxy)
Though some extra staff will be on hand initially to explain rules and recommendations, the additional investment will be minor.
“We already have a staff of people that patrol the lots and actually told people not to tailgate, so they’ll just be converted into our ambassadors to explain the rules,” said Pandolfo, who added that recycled concrete ficus tree planters have been converted into hot coal receptacles.
Tailgating Ambassadors have another role as well. As long as guests clean up after themselves, trash bags can be left at the car when they go into the game and will be picked up by the staff. There will also be incremental costs to provide additional dumpsters around the parking lots.
In addition to an initial cost to implement tailgating, there’s also the potential to lose some food and beverage revenue in the stadium by allowing guests to cook and drink outside the facility.
“I don’t want to say that it’s a risk, because we feel that the driving force behind us and behind the brand by including tailgating and encouraging community will increase revenues, whether it’s in higher ticket prices, what people spend inside the stadium or how they buy merch,” said Klein. “If people are enjoying the facility more, they’re going to spend more.”
“If they’re eating and drinking outside there’s a chance that they won’t be doing it as much in the stadium, but we’re okay with that,” he added.
From a food and beverage perspective, Pandolfo said that provider Levy Restaurants would probably love it if they didn’t allow tailgating or any eating and drinking in lots, “but they also understand that we’re going to attract more people and more business because of greater guest satisfaction.”
She has had conversations with other venues that offer tailgating and said that the consensus has been that F&B per caps don’t really drop off.
“The people who want to buy food before they come in are going to do that regardless of whether it’s eating a sandwich in their car or bringing their grill,” she added.
Tailgating also provides the opportunity for StubHub Center to take advantage of the fact it is not located in a city center and large parking lots.
“It’s one advantage that we have because, looking at other stadiums in Los Angeles and across MLS, to be able to say that we can do this is pretty cool,” said Pandolfo. “If you go to other MLS stadiums within cities, like Seattle or Portland, there are only a certain number of surface lots.” However, other MLS facilities such as FC Dallas’ Toyota Stadium and Chicago Fire home Toyota Field, do offer tailgating in their parking lots.
“It gives people an opportunity to do something more with their family and create more of an experience than just coming to a game,” said Pandolfo, who added that soccer is “more of a community sport that brings people closer together.”
Tailgating isn’t the only change. AEG, which operates and owns both the facility and the team, has invested about $15 million over 18 months in improvements, including installing the largest LED video board in the league at 5,100 square feet.
Interviewed for this story: Chris Klein, (626) 432-1540; Katie Pandolfo, (310) 630-2000