While the Jacksonville Jaguars debuted enhanced facilities at EverBank Field this season, a Jacksonville-based company is working to improve the tailgating experience outside the stadium.
This season, the team has been testing Party Suite’s portable Entertainment Suite, a 16-foot- long, 8-foot-wide, air-conditioned container with amenities typically found in a living room, but instead set up for tailgaters.
As many as 50 guests can participate in a traditional tailgate with catered food and drinks, protected by a covered awning. There’s also a rooftop deck.
The suite is climate-controlled and features custom seating, a TV, refrigerator, smartphone charging station and other conveniences.
“All we’ve done is enhance a part of the fan experience that should’ve already been enhanced,” said Bobby Bowers, Party Suite managing partner.
The units were placed in the parking lot near the southwest entrance to EverBank Field.
Bowers said he thought of the concept nearly a decade ago while in college, but it was developed in the last year or so, “with a little help from Mother Nature.”
“My dad and I were standing inside of a moving-and-storage container to get out of the pouring rain one afternoon, and I chose that time to share my concept with him,” Bowers said.
“Once I gave him the rundown of what I wanted to do, while we were staying dry inside of the container, I think that is when the lightbulb went off,” he said.
Since then, Bowers said the concept has had his full attention.
He’s traveled across the country and to China multiple times to work out the engineering, secure patents and negotiate deals in the sports and entertainment industries.
The company has four patents pending.
Bowers said research showed that NFL fans who purchase the most expensive or all-inclusive ticket options typically are the most difficult to please because they demand a greater level of service, including shelter from the Florida heat.
He said the biggest excuse from those customers for not tailgating is that they don’t want to deal with the elements.
“That’s big-time revenue that these sports franchises and entertainment companies are missing out on, but now that we’ve eliminated that excuse, we think they have a perfect opportunity to recapture that,” he said.
The company has two unit sizes in production.
The 16-foot model used at Jaguars games are portable and designed to be dropped off and picked up the same day.
A 22-foot model is designed to be semipermanent and is equipped with a bathroom. It will be 8.5 feet wide.
“In the VIP world, where people want everything to be exclusive to themselves and no one else to have it, adding in a bathroom was huge,” he said.
Bowers said the arrangement is a tryout.
In exchange for season tickets, parking passes and the ability to test the product in a prominent location, the Jaguars get the exclusive right to lease the unit for each game.
“Our relationship is based on us convincing them that this concept is going to open up additional revenue for them in the future, and us being able to prove that through the data we collect every home game during the season,” he said.
Bowers said he uses the tickets to entertain guests and show off the product.
Chad Johnson, the Jaguars vice president of ticket sales, said the concept aligns with the team’s enhancements and search for new fan experiences.
“But our desire to do so doesn’t just stop with what we’re doing inside the stadium,” Johnson said.
Johnson said the suites eventually could be part of an all-inclusive experience, even if fans aren’t purchasing premium ticket options inside EverBank Field.
“It takes a lot of the heavy lifting out of putting on a fantastic tailgate with the ability to have a private space,” he said.
He said fans can focus on entertaining guests rather than setting up tailgating tents.
Johnson said the experience has been positive and he anticipates the partnership will continue.
“We’ll sit down at the end of it this year and have those talks,” he said.
For Bowers, the Jaguars are not the only partnership he’s hoping to land. He said to expect to see the suites outside other NFL stadiums next year.
“We’re also working with other sports leagues and entertainment companies, but it’s a little too early to make that public,” he said.
Bowers declined to say how much the company is charging commercial clients to purchase or rent the units.
“We’re not selling direct to individual customers just yet,” he said. “We want to get this business model going first before we begin to explore those options.”
For next season, he hopes to set up a “village” near the stadium with several of the 22-foot units to create a bigger experience.
“I firmly believe we’ve made a big enough impact this year,” he said. “Soon there won’t be an excuse to miss out on the tailgate.”
