For part of the year, the locker room at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland, is where Lamar Jackson and others put on their pads and get ready to play football. But more often than not, it鈥檚 now used as an event space and banquet hall 鈥� albeit one with football lockers still lining the wall.
NFL stadiums are no longer just sitting empty 350 days a year, which is something the Washington Commanders promised would be the case when the team made its pitch for its new D.C. stadium.
“It’s not just for 10 times a year, though that 10 times a year is very important,” Rich Tamayo, the Ravens’ senior vice president of stadium operations and experiences, said about the shift in thinking on using NFL stadiums. “We agree that this is really how we can bring the game day excitement to a non-game day event.”
Last year, the Ravens launched their own events business called , which helps turn field-level suites and club areas, as well as locker rooms and the room where coaches hold their press conferences, into spaces for galas, corporate events and other private events.
Tamayo said the goal is to give people access to spaces they’d never normally see.
“That’s the vibe. That’s what we’re looking for, is to get people connected to something that they probably wouldn’t see otherwise and bringing in that connection from our football game to private events or non-game days,” Tamayo said. “You’re in the Ravens’ locker room. You can feel the hype.”
Since last fall, Tamayo said the Ravens have been booking dozens of events using team facilities and suites in ways that go well beyond game days or concerts.
What you see on television 鈥� as in those long, concrete hallways where players walk through on the way to the locker room 鈥� is also the entranceway to spacious and intimate spaces that teams are now taking advantage of. Depending where you book, several hundred guests can be accommodated.
鈥淵ou have 鈥� all the AV (audio-visual hookups) that you would need. And then you also have sound bars, food areas,鈥� Tamayo said. 鈥淲e’ve used it and seen a lot of holiday parties and those type of mixers.鈥�
It鈥檚 a super short walk from the stadium parking lot, which also has security on non-game days. These additions were part of the $480 million in upgrades provided by the Maryland Stadium Authority when the Ravens signed a lease to extend their time in downtown Baltimore.
The field-level club amenities were built in an area that was literally a pile of undeveloped dirt in the bowels of the stadium.
鈥淎 lot of what stadiums are doing is trying to create different type of products for guests to enjoy, and that is beneficial for both game days and non-game days,鈥� Tamayo said.
The growing use of stadiums outside game days is why the Commanders have been checking in on developments up the Baltimore-Washington Parkway as the franchise plans its own venue.
Tamayo didn鈥檛 try to hide the fact that it鈥檚 another profitable revenue stream for the franchise. The Ravens make money from these events, which is one reason the Commanders have visited venues like M&T Bank Stadium as they plan their own future venue at the old RFK Stadium site in D.C.
But Tamayo also said the events business benefits more than just the team.
鈥淎nything that comes in 鈥� from arrival, from parking, all the way through to what you spend on catering and what you spend on the event space 鈥� all of that is taxed and it brings money and revenue back into the city,鈥� he said.
鈥淚f we have a big event where there’s people coming from across the country to enjoy the event, that’s also room nights, that’s things that people are then going to restaurants outside of here. So that’s creating income for the entire city and the state.鈥�
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