Dolphins Unveil Camp Plans and Safety Initiatives

As we continue to wait for formal announcements on what protocols will be in place for training camp and the preseason (if there is one), the Miami Dolphins have announced some of their plans when it comes to fans.

The organization will not have fans at training camp, which is scheduled to start July 28 for the full squad, or for whatever preseason game might be played at Hard Rock Stadium. Stadium capacity for regular season games will be determined at a later date in consultation with health experts and government officials.

The Dolphins are scheduled to play their home opener Sept. 20 against the Buffalo Bills following their Week 1 game at Gillette Stadium against the New England Patriots.

The Dolphins conducted a thorough review starting in late March of the fan experience and came up with several policies:

No fans for training camp and preseason games
No tailgating for 2020 season
Socially-distanced seating clusters
All fans and stadium employees will be required to wear a mask when not eating or drinking
Mobile touchless entry with more points of entries and exits to help avoid bottlenecks at ingress/egress
Cashless experience for food service, parking and retail
GBAC Star certification

“Things are changing week to week and we are still more than two months away from our first scheduled regular season home game, so we’ll wait and work with local authorities and make the determination about fans or no fans based on the data as we get closer, with the first priority continuing to be everyone’s health and preventing any spread of the virus,” Tom Garfinkel, Vice-Chairman and CEO of the Miami Dolphins and Hard Rock Stadium said in a statement. “We’re ready for any scenario and feel very good about the diligence and attention to detail that has gone into creating the safest environment we can if we are able to have fans on Sept. 20.”

When a capacity is determined, season ticket members will have first priority to purchase tickets based on their tenure. All season-ticket members will have the option to roll their 2020 payments into the 2021 season and retain all of their tenure, seats and associated benefits, and any season ticket members who may be considered at-risk based on CDC guidelines will be strongly encouraged to exercise the 2021 option and stay at home in 2020.

Fans who do attend regular season games at Hard Rock Stadium in 2020 — if there will be any — will go through a touchless security scan. Food, beverage, parking and retail will become a cashless experience supported by in-app mobile and credit card payment options. Express pick-up for food and beverage will also be available. Fans will receive SMS notifications when their order is ready.

Dolphins members/season ticket holders will continue to receive their food, beverage, and retail discount when ordering in the Dolphins mobile app or paying at point-of-sale terminals. Furthermore, all manual faucets, toilet handles, toilets, soap dispensers and paper towel dispensers have been changed to automatic sensors to provide a touchless restroom experience.

These programs are in addition to Hard Rock Stadium becoming the first stadium in the world to receive GBAC STAR™ accreditation from the Global Biorisk Advisory Council (GBAC), a Division of ISSA, the worldwide cleaning industry association. Hard Rock Stadium completed 20 program elements focused on cleaning, disinfection and infectious disease prevention practices to control risks associated with infectious agents.

The announcement came on the same day the NFLPA released a graphic showing Miami having the most coronavirus cases of any city in the league, with more than 100 cases per 100,000 population in a 14-day average.

The NFLPA has released a heat map of COVID-19 in all 32 NFL markets. pic.twitter.com/K6uM0FGxBr
— Allan Bell (@AllanGBell) July 16, 2020

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