On Location Going Big in 2024, from SB LVIII to Paris Olympics

Boardroom sits down with On Location CCO Scott Jernigan to discuss Super Bowl LVIII product offerings and how it remains the sports hospitality leader.

For an event as enormous as the Super Bowl in a city as grand and ostentatious as Las Vegas, the NFL’s official hospitality partner has a herculean task in front of it in order to meet the weekend’s unprecedented demands.

On Location, according to Chief Commercial Officer Scott Jernigan, has the experience, strength, and operational capability necessary to serve an estimated 35% of fans who plan on attending the Kansas City Chiefs–San Francisco 49ers game on Feb. 11 at Allegiant Stadium. This will be the 10th year the Endeavor-owned brand leads Super Bowl hospitality efforts, but this time, On Location has to serve what could be the busiest and most lucrative day in Vegas history for its first Big Game.

On Location presides over a sports hospitality dynasty, with a client list including UFC, The Masters, MLB, NCAA, WWE, NASCAR, the Indy 500, and, for the first time this year, the Olympic Games. An army of 800 consisting of 400 On Location staff, 200 local ambassadors, and 200 NFL-affiliated staff will be on hand to serve everyone from the tens of thousands of fans who purchased hospitality packages to the friends and family of the Chiefs and Niners players, coaches, and front office employees.

“This is a team across all of our different properties that’s incredibly passionate about what they do, and that shines through into our activations and how we think of all the different product offerings,” Jernigan told Boardroom. “The rights holders trust us to deliver for their most passionate fan base and their friends and family, something that you have to do an excellent job year after year to deliver for those key constituents. Our team takes a lot of pride in continually delivering and exceeding expectations.”

On Location said Super Bowl LVIII is its strongest year of sales since it began as the rights holder in 2015. Several premium packages, including everything inside the Super Bowl campus, are sold out, while the remaining packages start at roughly $6,500.

In addition to premium seats to the game itself, here’s what else fans can expect when they purchase an On Location Super Bowl package:

A three-night stay at a premium Las Vegas hotel, with participating locations including the Aria, Bellagio, Cosmopolitan, Delano, Luxor, Mandalay Bay, MGM Grand, Paris, Vdara, and Wynn.
Access to an On Location lounge featuring appearances from NFL legends like official company Super Bowl ambassador Howie Long.
For the first time, packages include attendance at NFL Honors the Thursday before the big game, where the league’s biggest annual awards are given out.
In-stadium hospitality during the game, including talent meet-and-greets, sushi bars, and unlimited top-shelf liquor.
Postgame field access, including the Lombardi Trophy presentation, the confetti shower, and an inclusive champagne toast.
A gift bag of Las Vegas-themed souvenirs and a 24-hour on-call concierge staff.

And if that’s not luxurious enough for your tastes, On Location’s pre-game parties are even more over the top. Here’s a glimpse at two of the several packages being offered:

On The Fifty brings fans inside Allegiant Stadium’s Champions Club. This package features:

A full open bar with a live DJ, as well as an elevated culinary experience featuring food offerings from celebrity chef Tom Colicchio. Also included is a gourmet brunch, live oyster shucking, carved A5 Wagyu tenderloin from Japan, sushi tacos, a grand seafood ice display, roasted bone marrow, a gourmet pastry chef dessert affair, specialty cocktails, a boozy coffee station, and champagne toasts galore.
A meet and greet with Howie Long.
Appearances from the newly named Pro Football Hall of Fame class of 2024 in the first year of On Location’s new HOF partnership.
Photo ops with Super Bowl rings, a Lombardi Trophy display, and Las Vegas entertainment décor and photo ops.

Club 67 and Touchdown Club pre-game parties outside the stadium feature chef-curated cuisine, a premium open bar, two 35-minute sets from rock icon Billy Idol, and NFL legend and Hall of Fame player appearances.

In hospitality these days, people are always looking for more curated client experiences, Jernigan said. So, anyone in the industry is constantly tasked with meeting the demand for customized offerings that deliver for often exorbitant prices people pay.

“People have shown a willingness to take part and participate in very unique high-end offerings,” Jernigan said, “and our challenge is to constantly think through everything and meet that demand. We’re always wrestling with providing the guests with a high level of product personalization.”

The best hospitality companies pour their all into logistics, and the traffic in and around the Vegas Strip and Allegiant Stadium will be a challenge this year, compounded by the stadium’s lack of parking and smaller footprint in terms of square footage around the venue and a smaller seating capacity compared to previous Super Bowl sites. But regardless of the event, Jernigan and On Location constantly focus on the guest experience, ensuring no corners are cut on any detail, from the high-end experiences like the performances and celebrity chefs to the most basic amenities.

Jernigan has been in the ticketing and hospitality business for over 30 years, founding and leading three separate companies that were eventually bought by On Location in 2017 before Endeavor purchased On Location for a reported $660 million in January 2020.

As CCO, Jernigan works closely with the different leagues and properties the company serves as part of a daily schedule he called “a Rubik’s cube of time management.” That includes morning calls with European officers to afternoon and evening meetings with his West Coast teams, reacting and adapting to the day’s given opportunities and challenges, including new business opportunities.

For all of On Location’s partners, Jernigan leads the effort across all his teams to ensure each relationship is different and that every event is unique and bespoke to the client’s needs and specifications. It’s a balance between not being cookie-cutter and taking the best learnings from each event and applying them to different areas.

Right after the Endeavor acquisition, On Location provided a detailed RFP to the International Olympic Committee for the Olympics contract and won a three-games deal — Paris 2024, Milano Cortina 2026, and Los Angeles 2028. With more than 775 ticketed events over 16 days in a sprawling city, On Location will face its most daunting challenges yet as part of a 2024 slate Jernigan said was the busiest he’s ever encountered.

There are already 200 employees working in Paris on these efforts, not including dozens of additional staffers in offices in the US, UK, and around the world. When the Games begin on July 26, On Location will employ more than 4,000 staffers for the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

When we spoke in early January, Jernigan said On Location had been working for a few months on the campus footprint for Super Bowl LIX next year in New Orleans. On Location is already selling Priority Access packages for the next three Super Bowls through the 2027 weekend in Los Angeles.

Over more than three decades of executive experience in the most premier hospitality group in sports, the biggest lesson Jernigan has learned is always to anticipate tomorrow’s problems today. That takes good communication from people who love what they do and who see to it that the client never sees you stressed.

“There’s something that always comes up, always happens,” Jernigan said. “And it’s all about being ready for it and handling it with grace under fire.”

With an expansive collection of the world’s biggest sporting events, Jernigan and On Location will take on the Super Bowl and the Olympics in the same year for the very first time, looking to show grace under fire in Las Vegas and Paris until the Olympic torch is extinguished.