There’s good news for Super Bowl ticket holders that were planning on using Uber for their transportation needs to and from Levi’s Stadium.
For the first time ever, a ride-hailing company will be able to pick up and drop off riders at a Super Bowl stadium after Uber inked an exclusive deal with the Super Bowl 50 Host Committee, a group that helps manage logistics and transportation for the big game.
In the past, Super Bowl officials have banned companies like Uber and Lyft from dropping off and picking up fans going to the big game, presumably to reduce congestion around the stadium.
But as Quartz notes, Uber is partnering with the Super Bowl Host Committee — and providing $250,000 to $500,000 in sponsorship money — to take riders to and from the Feb. 7 game.
An Uber spokesperson confirmed that there will be designated pick-up and drop-off location about 15 minutes from the gates at Levi’s Stadium — which is an hour away from Uber’s headquarters in San Francisco — where Uber customers will be dropped off and picked up before, during, and after the game.
We’ve reached out to Lyft to see if it had any interest in inking a similar deal with the committee. We’ve also reached out to the committee to find out if taxis and other for-hire transportation services will be allowed to pick up and drop off around Levi’s Stadium.
Other transportation options for Super Bowl 50 include public transportation or a $55 round-trip bus pass — with busses actually provided by Google parent company Alphabet, which is also an official partner of the Super Bowl Host Committee, the Wall Street Journal noted.
Yahoo has some good details here on how the Super Bowl Host Committee operates and why other tech companies like Apple are joining Uber with their own marketing promotions.
Update: Stephanie Martin, VP of Marketing for the Super Bowl 50 Host Committee, said that there will be a dedicated space for taxis to pick-up and drop off. She also noted that there will be shared curb space for other companies like Lyft and limos. There are also parking passes available for any type of private vehicles.
She called the Uber partnership a “mix of cash and service.”
