Nathan’s Famous at Yankee Stadium — A Two-Level Stadium Activation Designed, Engineered & Built in 3 Weeks
The Brief
Nathan’s Famous wanted to take over game day at Yankee Stadium with a branded hangout fans would walk into, line up for and photograph: a two-level structure, a turf lawn, food service, games and a photo moment, all on the plaza outside the stadium. Working for the agency LaForce, NVS was brought in to take the project from a blank site to a live activation. The whole thing went from start to finish in three weeks.
Why NVS
A stadium activation at this scale normally passes through a designer, an engineer, an expediter, a fabricator, a printer, a staffing agency and a caterer before a single fan is served. Here every one of those jobs was ours: location scouting, permitting, design, engineering, fabrication, print, install, food service, brand ambassadors and security. With one team accountable for all of it, the agency had a single point of contact, and three weeks was enough.
Designed In-House, From Scratch
We designed the activation completely. Our team developed the layout and the double-deck structure and showed the client the full experience in photoreal 3D before anything was built: the upper viewing deck and staircase, the service counter, food carts, picnic seating, umbrellas, oversized games and the photo wall. The renders were used for client approvals and for venue and permitting submissions, and the graphics were laid out directly on the model, so print files matched the build to the inch.
Engineering, PE Stamping & Permits
A public, two-level structure that fans climb onto, outside a major-league stadium, has to be engineered and signed off. We produced the full technical drawing set, including structural, elevation and layout drawings, and had the structure reviewed and PE-stamped by a New York State–licensed engineer. We handled location scouting and permitting alongside the drawings, so approvals came through while the build was already moving.
The structure is a double-deck BeMatrix modular frame wrapped in SEG fabric graphics. Modular framing made it possible to pre-build and test the entire structure in our shop, then break it down flat and reassemble it on site without permanent fixtures.
Fabrication, Print & Install
Everything on the site was produced by us: the BeMatrix structure and its SEG prints, dimensional Nathan’s logos, the service counter, branded food carts, the photo wall, umbrellas and games. The plaza isn’t level, so before anything went up we leveled the floor across the footprint and laid artificial turf over the whole site, turning stadium pavement into a lawn.
Dressed, Staffed and Serving
We dressed every corner of the space and ran it on game day. NVS provided:
- Carts and food service: branded hot dog carts, service counter and the crew serving fans
- The hot dog artist: a live mustard artist writing fans’ names on their hot dogs, using custom nozzles we fabricated so lettering could be written cleanly in mustard
- Brand ambassadors to run the lines, games and photo moments
- Security for the site through the event
- Photo wall and photo booth, the Nathan’s mascot, umbrellas and picnic seating
Game Day
The activation opened to a steady line of fans heading into the stadium. They climbed to the upper deck for a view of the stadium, got their names written in mustard and took photos with the mascot.
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- modular framing buildouts and pop-ups
The Result
A two-level branded activation was scouted, permitted, designed, engineered, PE-stamped, fabricated, printed, installed, staffed and run by one in-house team, in three weeks from first conversation to game day.
What we delivered
- Location scouting and permitting
- Full activation design with photoreal 3D renders
- Technical drawing set, PE-stamped by a New York State–licensed engineer
- Double-deck BeMatrix modular structure with staircase and upper viewing deck
- SEG fabric graphics and all printed signage
- Dimensional logos, service counter, photo wall and photo booth
- Floor leveling and artificial turf across the full footprint
- Branded food carts and full food service
- Live hot dog artist with custom-fabricated mustard writing nozzles
- Brand ambassadors and site security
- Install, on-site management and strike
Brand: Nathan’s Famous · Client: LaForce · Venue: Yankee Stadium, Bronx · Timeline: 3 weeks, start to finish
See the full photo set in the Nathan’s Yankee Stadium portfolio.
Planning a build like this? See our pop-up fabrication, pop-ups and brand activations and fabrication capabilities, or tell us about your project.