LoanDepot park, the home of Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise Miami Marlins, has become the 10th US venue to join Oak View Group’s Stadium Alliance.
OVG, the global venue development, advisory, and investment company for both the sports and live entertainment industries, will offer loanDepot park consulting services related to event booking as well as relationships with artists, managers, agencies and promoters.
The Stadium Alliance is an invitation-only group for venues to further develop their respective live entertainment business. US members of the Alliance include several prominent MLB ballparks like Globe Life Field (Arlington, TX); Target Field (Minneapolis, Minnesota); and Dodger Stadium (Los Angeles, California).
The Marlins have invested significantly to enhance the experience at loanDepot park – completely re-imagining and re-concepting the food and beverage offerings and activating mobile ordering options, installing unique social spaces outside and inside the ballpark, and installing free-flow parking in the surrounding parking garages.
To better facilitate additional non-baseball events, the organisation recently installed the Shaw Sports B1K synthetic grass surface system to help cut costly sod replacement and reinforce the franchise’s commitment to sustainability.
In July, the Marlins partnered with mobile ordering app CHEQ to enhance the game-day experience for fans at loanDepot Park. The multi-year deal saw the Marlins become the first professional sports team to implement CHEQ’s mobile payment app at its home stadium.
California-based financial services company loanDepot acquired naming rights to the Marlins’ stadium as part of a multi-year deal signed in March 2021. The stadium had been known as Marlins Park since opening in 2012.
Adam Jones, Miami Marlins chief strategy officer, said: “This partnership with Oak View Group will help us continue to realise the potential and promise of loanDepot park as a jewel venue in South Florida and a year-round entertainment destination for global artists and internationally-renowned events.”
OVG founded the Stadium Alliance in 2015 with the goal of assisting major league ballparks and stadiums in maximising their calendars and in generating new revenue through incremental concerts and events.
OVG was last week hired by the English Football Association (FA) to expand and diversify sponsorship and content opportunities for London’s Wembley Stadium.
Commenting on the Marlins partnership, Jeff Nickler, senior vice-president of Oak View Group’s Arena Alliance & Stadium Alliance, said: “Given the location of the venue in one of the most vibrant international destinations, we see loanDepot park, with its retractable roof technology, attracting an increasing number of year-round events.”
Image: Samuel Regan-Asante on Unsplash
