With the football season underway and the first 49ers home pre-season game at Levi’s Stadium on Aug. 23, the 49ers recently released details on a myriad of “enhancements to the venue designed to enrich the visitor experience for the upcoming football season.”
According to a statement from the 49ers, in early 2015, the 49ers invited dozens of Stadium Builders License (SBL) members to participate in focus groups to provide feedback about their Levi’s Stadium experiences. That, combined with results from post-event surveys completed by thousands of fans after all 21 major events held at Levi’s Stadium in the last year, influenced several off-season enhancements.
“Heading into our second year at Levi’s Stadium, we are focused on enhancing the in-venue experience and providing more value and convenience for our fans,” stated 49ers COO Al Guido. “The upgrades we decided to invest in over the last year came directly from The Faithful so we feel confident these changes will resonate with our fans. We are grateful for the strong voices our fans provide and the integral role they continually play in our efforts to make the Levi’s Stadium experience the best in the NFL.”
Among the enhancements include the installation of two 3,000-square foot HD video boards above the Intel Gate A and Dignity Health Gate C plazas, providing venue information and 49ers-focused content to fans; a modified stadium sound-system to provide a more consistent level of sound throughout the building; greater coverage and faster Internet access to fans throughout the venue – over 100 new Wi-Fi access points and 60 distributed antennas; and a new children’s activity zone including a 49ers Youth Football Mini Camp at Dignity Health Plaza.
Stadium concessionaire, Centerplate is introducing new concession items, including their renowned crab sandwich from AT&T Park, curry fries, street tacos and Tostitos nachos – with prices being reduced on items such as water and beer.
The new 49ers ‘Cool Crew’ will help fans stay cool at warm day games by handing out disposable cooling wipes, sunscreen, sunglasses, lip balm and hand fans. Additionally, discounted water bottles will be sold at concession stands and empty water bottles can be brought into the stadium to be re-filled at stadium water fountains.
The team also worked with the NFL to schedule more evening games to help with the warm weather.
Parking and Transportation
The number of exit lanes from Green Lot 1 and Red Lot 1 is being expanded to allow faster exiting via Great America Parkway while several new exit strategies will be implemented to further improve the exit times of parking lots within the vicinity of the stadium, specifically Blue Lot 1 and Red Lots 6 and 8. Levi’s Stadium has added new partnerships with ride-sharing services and private shuttle bus companies as well.
Many additional enhancements were made as well, some specific to SBL holders.