Location: Columbus
Vendor: Front Row Suites
Client: Ohio State University
Cost: Approximately $5 million
The issue: College football’s traditional powers have unmet premium demand that they’re trying to capture as quickly as possible in century-old and difficult-to-renovate stadiums.
Gist of the structure: Nine field-level luxury suites will debut this fall in Ohio Stadium’s south end zone. Each suite will have room for 12 to 15 people, with roughly 400 seats located on top of the suites, mere feet from the end zone.
The south end zone seats — costing $6,000 per seat annually — include access to the new 1922 Club, which is just a short walk up the team tunnel. Food and beverage is all-inclusive in the 1922 Club or via in-seat service.
The ADA-compliant suites are assembled by Front Row Suites, a sister company to Party Shack, known for portable hospitality suites. The Ohio Stadium suites consist of steel structural framing with engineered aluminum components, fully insulated walls (for later in the season, including potential College Football Playoff games in January), as well as HVAC and electrical and lounge furniture.
Once site preparation is complete, the installation and commissioning takes roughly three weeks.
Noteworthy: Ohio Stadium’s south end zone suites are a prime example of adding premium seating to an underutilized (and highly valuable), traditional and enormous college football stadium, without renovation and in rapid time. The modular suites can be removed for non-football events.
