Poor Planning at the Pro Bowl

Yesterday's Pro Bowl was the first to take place outdoors since Hawaii's in 1980. It was a complete event planning disaster.

My wife and I were invited to enjoy the game in a corporate suite on the 50-yard line. Our hosts sent us tickets and a preferred parking pass early in the week. We were twice as excited as normal because we have a 6-month-old baby and don't get out much these days.

We drove over an hour to Dolphin Stadium in North Miami. When we arrived, we followed the "Blue Permit" signs to the appropriate gate. However, the gate was closed and several cop cars were blocking the entry. After waiting in line, we rolled up to the police officers.

"We have a Blue Permit."
"I am sorry, but the lot is full."
"Full? That can't be possible. We pre-paid for a Blue Permit."
"I know. You'll have to take that up with the stadium."
"I don't understand. We have a permit, so the stadium should have our spot."
"It's screwed up, I know. But the lot is full. You can head up the street and there is some parking."
"OK. Thanks for your help."

We proceeded back to the main road. It was a total mess. The entire stadium was gated off with cones and police cars. Everyone with parking passes had no idea what to do.

The Pro Bowl had been planned for a year. Does Dolphin Stadium not know about the concept of an overflow lot? There were plenty of nearby Big Box retailers from which to rent lot space. Instead, tons of tow trucks scurried through those lots rushing to tow every car in sight.

My wife and I parked at Office Depot and walked for 15 minutes before returning to the parking lot gates. By this point, the first quarter of the game was over. I talked with another officer to get the scoop and make sure our car was safe.

"No. I would move your car. It can get towed there."
"Where can we park legally?"
"You have to drive to 27th and park at Calder Race Track."
"Why can't we get into the Stadium lot?"
"The traffic around the Stadium was backed up, so they just opened the gates and let everyone in whether they had a permit or not. Then the lot filled up."
"So they didn't prepay?"
"No. If I were you, I'd be very pissed right now."

I was pissed. The Stadium knew they did the wrong thing. As a result, their staff retreated behind the gates and let the police deal with the customers. This was horrible customer service.

When we finally arrived at Calder Race Track (after an ambiguous sign detoured us through a very dodgy area), the game was half over. We had a choice: walk 30 minutes to the Stadium (in the drizzling rain), or fold our cards.

We planned to stay for only the first half of the game because we had to be home early for our baby. So, we spent our entire two hours at Dolphin Stadium dealing with an event planning nightmare rather than the event. We never breached the parking lot gates.

I was embarrassed for the City of Miami and the NFL. People come from all over the world to see the Pro Bowl. Those people must have been more lost and confused than us (I was born and raised in the area and have been to the Stadium several times).

To add insult to injury, the Stadium had ambiguous directions to alleged parking areas, tow trucks were towing everyone who thought the nearby Big Box strip malls were the only place to park, and Miami Code Enforcers were writing tickets to nearby homeowners who were renting spaces.

This entire debacle could have been avoided with a pre-planned overflow lot accompanied by directions-for-dummies, and a moratorium on towing and code enforcement (since the Stadium couldn't accommodate paid customers). Instead, the Stadium locked the gates and everyone took advantage of the easy payday. It was totally pathetic.

If you have tickets to next week's Super Bowl, beware. Both Dolphin Stadium and the City of Miami are ill-equipped to host anything larger than a pee-wee league football game.

 

 

 

Follow Damien Hoffman on Twitter: www.twitter.com/wallstCS

Comments

[Damien Hoffman]

11:28 PM on 02/09/2010

Thanks for sharing, everyone. Apparently, the local news and papers warned everyone that parking passes "may not be honored" for the Super Bowl. At least there was some warning. I hope this post helped.

[KENNETH FIELDS]

09:17 PM on 02/02/2010

At pro bowl truck was towed illegally. Called wrecker service 11:00 pm to retrieve vehicle, arrived pickup not there. Florida tow law 715.07 states after the owner of the towed vehicle requests their vehicle returned, wrecker service has 30 minutes to return vehicle, Received pickup at 1:53 am, video taken. People were violated, the wrecker service did not have our vehicles and couldn;t tell us their location. Vehicles returned damaged, video available, Where were our vehicles? violation of the law 715.07 had to sign damage waiver , a requirement of getting our vehicles returned. Told the lady I was not signing the waiver and she said no return The lady required exact change, why? so we would overpay? stood around impound three hours no bathroom, no water, no rest. Need people to speak up or this will continue. . Police say this is a civil matter, vehicles were taken off private property (Walmart parking lot ) the company needs to go by laws not engage in organized crime. Issue needs addressed, close calls of violence due to the actions of this wrecker company and its employees, have video. Somebody with nerve and authority needs to address the matter and do what is right before the Super bowl. I am pissed off, and nearly jumped the giant security guys at the impound, lots of information available on request, lawyers, should be some civil law issues here. Lets open the eyes of dirty dealers. and get professionals involved.

Thanks, Kenneth Fields

[FirstGame72]

12:48 PM on 02/02/2010

The NFL has long since passed the point of needing fans to attend games. People in the seats is like the proverbial cherry on top of the sundae. Yes, the league likes having the cherry, but the league is perfectly happy to eats it's sundae every Sunday without it's cherry. Or something like that.

[dkblattner]

02:17 PM on 02/02/2010

Same thing happened to me Sunday night. As a Dolphin club seat owner, I had my regular seats and blue parking pass. The NFL, not the Dolphins screwed this up. Changed the parking lot and traffic patterns and the police had no idea what was going on. We too were not allowed in our usual parking area and were re directed to Calder and told to walk. Fortunately, I was able to swing around to the east side of the stadium and enter on the Turnpike and get in the parking lot. But it took and hour and a half when it usually takes about 20 minutes. NFL also took control of ushers and security who had no idea where anything in the stadium was. NFL has no business operating the stadium. Should leave it to the locals.

[definitelyNOTmisterRIGHT]

12:07 PM on 02/02/2010

the pro-bowl has always been an outdoor event. it has been held in hawaii for decades before this season.

[twofish]

10:47 PM on 02/01/2010

Was there a pro bowl this year? I was looking for it on tv yesterday and couldn't find it. Maybe it was on pay-per-view.

Putting it between the end of the playoffs and the Super Bowl was Really Stupid anyway. It used to be a nice trip to Hawaii for some of the best players, and a fairly dull game in which you got to see some of your favorites play. Leave it to the NFL to screw it up, probably out of greed.

[definitelyNOTmisterRIGHT]

12:06 PM on 02/02/2010

it was on cbs at 4:15 pst.

[ydrittmann]

10:25 PM on 02/01/2010

Boycott the NFL. The NFL sucks up your tax money for stadiums and subsidies and then excludes you from events.

[TXfemmom]

09:54 PM on 02/01/2010

If this week was any indication, then the Super Bowl is bound to be much, much worse.