Dolphins announce plan to turn stadium into drive-in theater
Want to enjoy a night at Hard Rock Stadium without the pressure of watching the Miami Dolphins play? You’ll soon be in luck.
The Dolphins announced Tuesday that their home stadium will convert into a drive-in theater with enough room to hold 230 vehicles. The team will also unveil an open-air theater on the stadium’s southern plaza to “host small groups for an intimate viewing experience.”
The stadium will “showcase classic Miami Dolphins content from the team’s 54-year history, classic motion picture films, host commencement ceremonies and other events.” Attendees will be able to get food and drinks delivered to them via an online ordering system, and restrooms will be available for use.
“We’ve spent several weeks planning this to be able to provide people with a safe option to go out and enjoy movies, classic Dolphins content, concerts and celebrate 2020 graduates,” said Tom Garfinkel, the Dolphins’ and Hard Rock Stadium’s vice chairman and chief executive. “It’s a fundamental human need to physically experience and celebrate events and experiences together, and we’re trying to provide options for everyone where they can be safely socially distant and socially present at the same time.”
Garfinkel told “Good Morning America” this month how the game-day experience could change for the 2020 season amid the novel-coronavirus pandemic. He laid out a scenario in which fans (all wearing face masks) would stand at designated spots outside the stadium to adhere to proper physical distancing restrictions as they enter. Food would be available for order from their seats and could be picked up from designated concession stands, and exiting would happen row-byrow instead of all at once.
Under this plan, attendance could be limited to 15,000 fans despite a season-ticket base that may exceed that volume and a stadium capacity of more than 65,000.
Hard Rock Stadium became the first public facility to earn the Global Biorisk Advisory Council’s “STAR” accreditation, a distinction that “will serve as the gold standard for facilities to implement cleaning, disinfection and infectious disease prevention work practices to control risks associated with infectious agents.” GBAC is a division of ISSA, the worldwide cleaning industry association.
“When our fans, players and staff are able to return to Hard Rock Stadium, we want them to have peace of mind that we’re doing everything we can to create the safest and healthiest environment possible,” Garfinkel said. “We didn’t want to create our own standard; we wanted to be accountable to the most credible third-party standard that exists. Working with GBAC ensures compliance with critical guidelines for the highest standard of cleanliness, and it is our hope that other venues will follow suit as we navigate through these unprecedented times.”
Hard Rock Stadium, which hosted Super Bowl LIV in February, became a coronavirus testing site in March.
The Dolphins are scheduled to open their 2020 preseason slate at home against the Philadelphia Eagles on Aug. 20 and play their regular season home opener against the Buffalo Bills on Sept. 20. Forbes estimated that the Dolphins would lose $172 million in stadium revenue if no fans attended games this season. The plans to transform Hard Rock Stadium into a drive-in theater could help alleviate that financial burden.