Uber South Florida General Manager Kasra Moshkani with Dolphins President & CEO Tom Garfinkel welcome Uber to Hard Rock Stadium, Miami. Photo Credit: Miami Dolphins.
The newly-named Hard Rock Stadium, Miami, which used be known as Sun Life Stadium, has announced a new innovative partnership with rideshare company Uber that aims to reinvent the Uber ride-share drop off/pick up experience. It also introduces a unique take on tailgate parties.
The home of the Miami Dolphins will dedicate a portion of their parking lot for Uber's exclusive use and rebrand it the Uber Zone. Inside the Uber Zone, Uber drivers will be assigned a designated space, with a number attached, so drivers and passengers can easily find each other after an event.
Hard Rock Stadium, Miami
"The problem this will address is that there is now going to be one entry point exclusively for Ubers," said Jeremy Walls, senior vice president and chief marketing officer for Hard Rock Stadium. "We've created an easy way for that to happen for Uber; a simple lane for Uber cars to get through and get their customers in and out of the stadium."
"It helps the consumer because when they call for an Uber they know exactly where to go, instead of having to walk all around the stadium, which creates more congestion. This will help stream-line that," said Walls.
Uber Mobile App
The second part of the deal involves what's being called the UberTailgate. The new offering will give fans a convenient game day experience, complete with tailgating, minus the traditional tailgate pick-up truck. For $250-$350 dollars (tickets to the game sold separately), fans will be allotted a space, approximately the size of a normal parking space, with a complete "tailgate set-up" at their disposal. The space will include a tent, grill with grilling provisions, cooler, serving ware and furniture. UberTailgaters can then buy their food and beverage from a concession stand in the Uber Zone or bring their own. Twenty UberTailgate spots are available for each game.
While money will most certainly change hands, neither the Dolphins nor Uber would disclose the financial arrangements that will make this happen. "We're partnering to make a better experience for our fans," said Walls.
The idea of partnering Uber and Hard Rock Stadium started from the top. “We recognize that getting in and out of the stadium and traffic is one of the challenges we have with fans as we continue to compete with 60-inch high definition televisions,” Miami Dolphins President & CEO Tom Garfinkel said in a statement. “We are excited to partner with Uber in this innovative way and want to change our fans’ experiences of getting to and from these events.”
"The Miami Dolphins approached us," said Javier Correoso, Uber public affairs manager for Florida. "Tom Garfinkel met with Travis Kalanick, our CEO, and Kasra Moshkani, our South Florida general manager, to see how we could leverage and advance ridesharing. The Dolphins invested over $500 million in their renovations and they came to us to see how we could improve the Uber transportation experience for fans attending Dolphins games. Over the past few months, discussions began about how we could partner with the Dolphins at the new Hard Rock Stadium. They came up with a multiyear, multipurpose deal not only for the Uber Zone; but also for how we could partner to offer fans a unique game day experience, which is how we came up with the UberTailgate."
"We're really focused on how to improve transportation, and the transportation experience of ingress and egress from our stadium," said Walls. "With the progress of ridesharing and more and more people using rideshares to come to our games, we wanted to make this easy for our fans."
"First, we created the Uber Zone, where we've blocked off a couple hundred spots," said Walls. "A fan goes on their Uber app and it directs you right to the Uber Zone. So instead of trying to call the Uber person and find out where they are, it will direct the fan to the Uber Zone and when you book your car it will direct you to a specific space. So it will say, 'Space number 67, that's yours.' Go to your car and your out."
The Uber Zone will be located in Lot 14 at Hard Rock Stadium and will kick-off on Sept. 1. Taxis or any other ride sharing service will not be allowed to enter.
Walls said that this approach to matching drivers and passengers after an event is the first of its kind at any stadium. "This makes it more efficient for the fans going in and out of the stadium," said Correoso. "Uber will have people on the ground; in the Uber Zone," said Correoso. "We want to make the overall fan experience for Uber passengers really great."
The second piece of the new Uber-Hard Rock Stadium partnership is the UberTailgate. "We're starting small with 20 spaces but plan to grow that," said Walls. "The simple story there is that we have a lot of fans who told us they love to tailgate but what they don't love is the set-up and all that comes with that. We heard they expressed an appetite to book an Uber and just show up at the UberTailgate, and it's all taken care of. The fan gets their own private space, a charcoal grill, a picnic table, a couple chairs, and all the grilling utensils they need."
The Uber ride to and from the Hard Rock Stadium (up to $15 each way) is included with the price of the UberTailgate. Once in the UberTailgate party zone there will be a general store where fans can purchase everything they need for their tailgate experience. "The pricing will be slightly above what you can buy the same items for in your local grocery store," said Walls. Sample prices according to the Hard Rock Stadium website: nachos & salsa, $17; assorted chips, $8; four hamburgers, $16; domestic beer 6-pack, $18.
When the customer is done tailgating, they just leave everything and head off to the game. "It's all taken care of," said Walls. "They don't have to do any clean up. And if they brought their own non-perishable food and drink, and have any left, they can check it in at the UberTailgate zone and pick it up on the way out to bring home."
UberTailgates will begin on the Dolphins first home game against the Cleveland Browns on Sept. 25. According to the website, "Tickets must be pre-purchased and the experience is non-refundable and non-transferable."
Where does this leave other rideshare companies? "Right now Uber is the company we've committed to," said Walls. "We're working only with Uber, specifically on the Uber Zone and the UberTailgate."
Up-Lyfting the Venue Experience
Ezra Hayman is senior manager of enterprise product marketing for Uber-competitor Lyft. "I help facilitate large scale mobility challenges for venues," said Hayman. "We've created a space on our platform called 'Venues' and it's for large- scale events and high demand. It's very data driven and it looks at historical data to figure out where people are requesting to go. We then map our venue locations that are all within a short walking distance for the passenger while being optimal for the driver as well."
When a user opens the Lyft app, it will ask the rider to choose one of the venue locations. "You can choose a specific door or a familiar sign or a landmark easily recognizable," said Hayman. "That allows the passenger to select the closest location and allows us to facilitate the cleanest pick-up. We've also improved the way we let the passengers know the make and model of the car, the car license plate and a picture of the driver. This has gone a long way to alleviate the confusion trying to connect the driver and rider."
"The 'Venues' product solves many of the issues usually associated with connecting passengers and drivers at large events," said Hayman. "We look to create specific spaces for ridesharing and work locally with venue managers to make the rideshare run smoothly; we invite all venue managers to discuss with us ways to make the rideshare more convenient for everyone," said Hayman.
As for making exclusive deals with a specific venue, Hayman said that is a strategy Lyft was not interested in pursuing at the moment. "We're interested in being partners with everyone," said Hayman. "We want to solve transportation problems for the community. Our goal is to build something that works well and make it as easy for as many people and venues as possible."
Interviewed for this story: Jeremy Walls, (305) 943-1451; Javier Correoso, (305) 495-1101; Ezra Hayman, (415) 871-3942