Put those wienies back in your car, mister
By Jamie Malernee
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Football fans who planned to show up at the Super Bowl this year to enjoy a little tailgating are in for a nasty surprise: It’s banned.
There’s no grilling allowed. Forget about bringing a cooler full of beer. If you don’t have tickets for the game, you won’t be able to get near Dolphin Stadium.
A lot of local fans aren’t happy about it.
“Tailgating is part of the whole football experience; it’s one and the same. I was very surprised and disappointed and didn’t really even believe it at first,��? said Bill Krawiec, a Cooper City resident and lifelong Chicago Bears fan. “I mean, there aren’t that many people who follow the teams that can afford tickets. I guess they just want it to be a corporate event where people drive up in their limos, go to the game and go home.��?
NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said the “no tailgating��? policy has been in place at the Super Bowl for several years, the result of tightened security following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. This game day, Feb. 4, only those with tickets for the championship match between the Bears and Indianapolis Colts will be allowed near
Dolphin Stadium and the surrounding parking lots.
“The parking lot and traffic flow will look a lot different than it will during normal season games,��? McCarthy
said. “We’re going to have a security perimeter so we can screen people coming in.��?
Among the items banned: containers of any type, coolers of any size, backpacks, bottles, banners, noisemakers and horns.
“We’ll have security people out in the parking lots,��? McCarthy said. “If they see something that’s obtrusive to other fans, they’ll say you should put that back in your truck.��?
So, what are we supposed to do with this $319 gas-powered blender we got as a Christmas gift?
Read on ...
Traffic flow is another reason the NFL wants to limit the number of people congregating at the stadium, McCarthy said. About 70,000 fans are expected to attend, but only 11,000 stadium-side parking spots are available.
If they want to park near the stadium, ticket holders should buy special permits in advance. They range in price from $60 to $325 per vehicle. Officials expect most people to use the cheaper Park and Ride option, which allows ticket holders to park in remote lots and get bused to the game. No private shuttle drop-offs or pick-ups at Dolphin Stadium will be allowed.
Much of the stadium’s usual parking area will be used to host the 1 million-square foot “NFL Experience,��? billed as an interactive football theme park and party. On Super Sunday, it will only be open to ticket holders. It costs $15 for
adults and $10 for children younger than 12.
“That’s not tailgating; that’s corporate sales,��? said Ray Bridges, a Colts fan with tickets to the game.
The Indianapolis resident has already paid big money to be able to fly down to South Florida with his wife and friends, stay at a Fort Lauderdale hotel and attend the game. Now, he’s scurrying to plan a tailgating party for himself and his fellow Colts fans. He’s thinking of asking his hotel or local superstores, which have large parking lots, if they would allow a tailgate party in Broward County the night before the game.
Considering what he’s already spent, Bridges said, it’s a bit much to be told that he won’t be allowed to barbecue his own bratwurst before kickoff.
“I understand they want to get their concession sales, but...when you are paying two, three, four thousand for a ticket, for them to say you can’t bring in a grill, I just don’t understand the thinking,��? he said.
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