The who’s who of Hollywood, sports and business all co-mingle in one glamorous place while watching the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix: the ultra-luxe, invite-only Palm Club at the Hard Rock Stadium.
“We curated this space intentionally, so that it was a space that brought the worlds of talent, celebrity, high-performing CEOs or ultra-high net worth clients together for the purpose of networking and to continue to build on those relationships,” F1 Miami spokesperson Melanie Cabassol tells Page Six.
The vice president of hospitality and curated experiences notes that elite guests inside the Palm Club may see “Jeff Bezos speaking with Elon [Musk]” in one corner, while best friends Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes are enjoying seeing the race cars speed past the track in another.
Past A-listers who have walked through the palm tree-filled entryway in previous years are Kelce, Bezos, Musk, Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Tom Cruise, Shakira, Post Malone and Ed Sheeran.
Reps remained tight-lipped as to who will be attending on Sunday, as privacy and protecting their high clientele’s experience is one of the most important perks of the Palm Club.
Cabassol says one of the aspects that makes the club “super unique” is that they “don’t allow any security or any additional entourage in the space.”
“It’s typically talent or guests’ plus one, so that really concentrates the clientele that we have in the space because you don’t have a million different people or entourage taking a look in,” she further explains.
Getting on the star-studded list is also a carefully-curated decision made by Miami Dolphins CEO Tom Garfinkel and the NFL team’s owner Stephen Ross, who must approve of those invited and their guests.
Once race day arrives, the full experience at the Palm Club feels VIP from start to finish.
Page Six was given an exclusive tour ahead of F1 Miami 2025, where we learned that when guests arrive, a Moke vehicle drives them to private club, so they don’t work up a sweat in the Miami heat.
We’re told all staff are trained in advance to “greet everybody by name.”
“Our teams are constantly studying our face books, so that we’re actually able to do that upon arrival without having to ask them their name,” Cabassol says.
“It’s very important, especially with this particular group. They get quite impressed when you know their whole backstory, how they got here, why they got here and everything else.”
The stars and successful businesspeople then walk through a scenic entry filled with live plants — including three different endangered species of palms — that stand as tall as 10 to 18 feet high.
Once inside the main area alongside the track, which has been decorated in line with a palms’ different shades of green, guests can jam out to a music playlist curated by Garfinkel himself, which we’re told consists of mostly old-school hip-hop. He even plans to list it on Spotify so the public can also listen to it.
There is an indoor area, which throughout football season is the Nine Club, where guests dine on delicious dishes and drinks by Major Food Group’s ZZ’s Club. They also feature the private club’s signature sweets bar. Cabassol amusedly adds, “It’s crazy to think that adults go crazy for candy.”
The Palm Club also includes special touches honoring the big stars that walk through its doors.
Black-and-white images of past guests, including Cruise laughing with Ludacris and sisters Venus Williams and Serena Williams having a good time, line its walls. F1 Miami 2024 champ Lando Norris’ winning racing uniform is even enclosed in a glass case in a hallway that breaks up the different rooms.
Those who are not lucky enough to score an invite into the lavish club, though, can also get the VIP treatment at the Hard Rock Stadium’s 72 Club, which is transformed for the Miami Grand Prix.
For a ticket price anywhere from $10,000 to $14,000 in the 72 Club, guests can watch the races from prime seating, located right next to the winners’ podium.
They can also dine in a section of the multi-level space on dishes from an a’Riva at the Harbour Club pop-up. Groot Hospitality’s celeb-favorite restaurants — Komodo, Gekko, Casadonna and Papi Steak — are the main food and beverage providers, and are located in a massive indoor dining space.
This year’s F1 Miami is already underway, with the big race revving up on Sunday at around 4 p.m. local time from the Miami International Autodrome inside of the Hard Rock Stadium.
