Everything about the Super Bowl has become a corporate opportunity for the National Football League, including the transportation options for the Super Bowl Host Committee. Uber is making use of their home field advantage in San Francisco and Santa Clara for the Super Bowl by paying anywhere between $250,000 to $500,000 (if not more) to be the official sponsored transportation for the host committee, and they are locking out the competition as well. Maybe they should just call it the Uber Bowl.
Under the terms of the sponsorship arrangement, Uber will be the sole company providing transportation allowed to access the designated pick-up and drop-off locations around Levi’s Stadium, so anyone looking to get a lift to or from the big game will have to rely on Uber. That means no Lyft or any other car services will be able to get close enough to Levi’s Stadium to generate some revenue. Taxis will still be allowed though, according to an updated report from Quartz.
“We are excited to celebrate our home city as a Super Bowl Host Committee partner. This year’s game is in our backyard, and we want to make sure Bay Area residents and fans from all over the world can easily get to the action at the tap of a button for the smoothest Super Bowl experience yet,” an Uber spokeswoman told Business Insider. Translation: We are super excited to block out the competition during this highly-attended event. Suck it, Lyft!
This will also be the first time fans will be able to use Uber to attend a Super Bowl. This is the other side of the spectrum for Uber users, who were prohibited from using the service at last year’s Super Bowl in New Jersey. Perhaps being in Uber’s backyard led to more of a push to make being able to use the service a possibility. And let’s not discount the notion the NFL is essentially being paid free money for allowing fans to arrive at their game one more way. The NFL will do almost anything for a quick buck, and this is some of the easiest money it could make without having to do a darn thing. Maybe next time they will accept a sponsorship for the water fountains in the Super Bowl stadium.
