March 6, 2026
A First : The SAM750 on Miami Beach At The College Football Playoff’s AT&T Playoff Playlist Live! 2026
AT&T Playoff Playlist Live! 2026
Bringing the SAM750 to the Beach — An Interview with Victoria Sumrall From Solomon Group
In January 2026, Miami Beach became home to one of the largest temporary beach concert builds in recent memory. As part of the College Football Playoff National Championship festivities at Hard Rock Stadium, AT&T Playoff Playlist Live! 2026 transformed public shoreline between 6th and 10th Streets into a 24,000-capacity, multi-day festival site — complete with a 75-foot mobile stage positioned just steps from the Atlantic Ocean.
For the first time ever, the Stageline SAM750 was deployed on sand.
To understand what it took to bring a 75-ton mobile stage to the beach — and why the SAM750 was the right choice — we spoke with Victoria Sumrall, Executive Producer and Vice President, Event Production at Solomon Group, the long-time producer of AT&T Playoff Playlist Live!.
Setting the Scene
Q: Can you describe the scale and unique setting of AT&T Playoff Playlist Live! 2026?
Victoria Sumrall: “AT&T Playoff Playlist Live! was a multi-day concert series celebrating the College Football Playoff National Championship. In Miami, we built a full outdoor festival site for approximately 24,000 attendees — directly on Miami Beach, between 6th and 10th Streets.
What made this year different is that we were working on a public beach with no built-in infrastructure, no utilities, no existing staging. We were building from the ground up, right next to the Atlantic Ocean.”
While the event travels annually with the Championship game, Miami presented a blank canvas — and a complex one. Sand shifts. Wind builds. Salt air corrodes. Every variable had to be engineered from scratch.
Why Stageline — And Why the SAM750?
Q: How did Stageline become involved, and what led you to the SAM750?
“We’ve produced this event since its inaugural year and have worked with Stageline before — including the last time we were fully outdoors in Indianapolis. We know the quality of their product and team. That long history made the decision easy.
Historically, we’ve used a SAM575. But once we confirmed the talent for Miami, we knew we needed more space. We enforce a clean stage policy — artists aren’t allowed to build in front of each other, which is typical in many festival environments. That means we need space for risers, sets, operational backstage areas — and enough playable space for each artist.
“The SAM750 gave us that flexibility. We used every inch.”
For Solomon Group, the choice wasn’t just about size — it was about predictability. They knew exactly what they were designing for, which allowed their creative and rigging teams to push the envelope.
“A Stage on Sand” — The Real Challenge
Q: What were the primary challenges you anticipated before load-in?
“We didn’t realize when we contracted it that the SAM750 had never been built on a beach before. But we had full confidence in the Stageline team and allowed enough time to work through the added engineering and logistical challenges.
The sand itself is a tremendous challenge. It’s not solid ground — and it’s not consistent over time. No two site visits were the same.”
Multiple site surveys were conducted to measure beach grading. Ultimately, the stage footprint revealed a 3-foot grade change from stage left to stage right — less severe than initially feared, but still significant for a structure of this size.
To create a viable foundation, the team implemented an extensive ground protection plan using Sunbelt’s SignaRoad system, building a stable working platform for both the stage and back-of-house infrastructure.
Q: How did the beach environment affect planning and logistics?
“The install requires a crane — and cranes aren’t beach-friendly. We had to plan heavy equipment access across active public areas with volleyball courts, outdoor gyms, and pedestrian traffic.
Miami Beach PD escorted every truck on and off site. We staggered arrivals and budgeted time carefully. Operationally, it was a massive coordination effort.”
Wind off the Atlantic was another critical factor. Sound bleed toward residential buildings required modeling and approval. A SoundVision file was submitted to demonstrate decibel levels within and beyond the perimeter.
Even aesthetic decisions shifted.
“Normally we’d use hi-shine flooring for lighting and LED reflection,” Victoria explained, “but in that environment, the shine wouldn’t read the same. You design around the realities you can’t change.”
Engineering at the Edge
Q: How did collaboration between Stageline and Solomon Group work during pre-production?
“We advanced everything with Dane Earwaker, Stageline’s Logistics and Technical Advisor. Our design director created the aesthetic and production design — scenic lighting, audio, video and rigging. Our rigging team calculated weights and distribution and submitted that to Stageline for review.
From my understanding, this was the heaviest load that stage has carried. It required multiple rounds of engineering to push through approvals.”
On site, Stageline led the stage build while remaining present during production load-in to ensure compliance with engineered specifications. The partnership extended through strike, executed in reverse order with the same level of precision.
The Timeline: Building a City on Sand
Unlike indoor venues, where load-in can begin immediately, the beach required a full foundational phase before the stage could even arrive.
Project Timeline (January 9–23):
- Ground protection install (multiple days)
- SAM750 stage build: 2 days
- Production load-in: 3 days
- Show days: 2 days
- Production load-out: 1 day
- Stage strike: ~1.5–2 days
- Infrastructure removal and site clear
“The timeline was significantly longer than usual because ground protection had to come first.” Victoria noted.
Despite the complexity, strike moved efficiently — faster than anticipated.
When Reality Meets Design
Q: Were there any unexpected issues?
A minor rigging discrepancy surfaced during LED installation. Some framing positions differed from what was anticipated in modeling, requiring slight design adjustments onsite.
“We worked through what was possible to get it as close to the original vision as possible. Most people wouldn’t have noticed. But we always try to stay true to design.”
The ability to adapt without compromising safety or show flow was a testament to the collaborative workflow between teams.
Performance & Impact
Q: How did the stage perform?
“It did exactly what we needed it to do.”
Sometimes that’s the highest praise.
For Miami Beach, this was the largest stage ever seen on that stretch of shoreline. Months of advance planning became real the moment stakeholders walked the site.
“We had been describing the scale for months,” Victoria said. “I don’t think people fully understood until they saw it built.”
The result: a structurally sound, visually impactful, high-capacity festival stage — operating safely in one of the most demanding temporary build environments possible.
Looking Ahead
For Solomon Group, the experience reinforced one central truth:
“There’s an incredible amount of time and labor investment in making sure a beach event runs successfully — and it shouldn’t be underestimated or undervalued.”
For Stageline’s Rental Division, the project marked a milestone — the first SAM750 deployment on sand, under its heaviest known load, in a marine environment.
More than a technical achievement, AT&T Playoff Playlist Live! 2026 stands as a case study in trust: between producer and staging partner, between engineering and design, and between ambition and execution.
Because sometimes the biggest stage isn’t just measured in feet.
Sometimes it’s measured in what it takes to build it.