Management of an American Football Match - Term Paper Example

Management of an American Football match Table of Contents Parking Facility 3 Security 3 Ticket services 3 Traffic flow 3 Seating Arrangement 4 Crowdcontrol 4 Press 4 Rest rooms and accommodations 4 Facilities for Opponents 4 Final observation 5 Reference 6 Parking Facility This paper is based on the observations in an American football game regarding the operational activities of the event management. The football match was between St. Louis Rams and San Francisco 49ers at the Levi’s Stadium, Santa Carla, California on 3rd November. The crowd in was quite good, and in order to compensate the parking space the Levi’s stadium has enough room for car parking. The parking space was opened four hours prior to starting of the game. The parking space is categorized based on color, pass and lot number, as a result finding the right parking spot was easy. The parking lots are colored as red, yellow, green, blue and each of them include VIP spaces as well. The traffic was well managed as the parking lots are well spaced. I parked at the green lot 3 by the Great America parkway. Each parking lot is well connected to the stadium with several routes so as to avoid rush and ease of movement of pedestrians. Security The stadium was built like an architectural marvel, but there are a few safely and security hazards that should have been considered. The height of the railings in front of the seating rows is too low. Several accidents have occurred where fans had fallen down over the railing on the audiences below, causing severe injuries, even death, like at Rangers Ballpark or at the Georgia Dome (Benning & Nielsen, 2011). The railings are made of sleek glass sheets with metal capping, which does not provide good grip at hand, and moreover its height is barely around thirty inches so as a result it may cause the audiences to slip over easily. However, there are good fire hazard precautions maintained within the stadium. The fire exits are well placed at frequent intervals, to avoid casualties. Hazards due to alcohol consumption are managed by the Alcohol Management Teams, who ensure the enforcement of stadium policies. However, the signs and symbols to guide the audiences should be given at frequent intervals. The entire stadium is overseen by an array of security surveillance systems. Ticket services The game tickets are available online for purchase, which reduces the hassle of standing in a row for buying tickets from the box office which is at the north-east corner of the stadium at Tasman Avenue. The ticket checking personnel were adequate enough to allow faster movement of the queue (Ticketmaster, 2014). Traffic flow The stadium is designed in such a way that the audience traffic flow on a big game day is eased out by proper channeling into the respective destinations. Several routes leading entrances and exits in such a way so as to avoid audience traffic rush. Individual seating blocks have its own entry and exit routes for smooth audience traffic flow. There are six elevator services in the stadium to avoid overflow. Seating Arrangement The seating arrangement is designed as circular rows all over the stadium. The seats are well padded and folded off, with cup holders at the back. The opposition seating arrangement is decided by the stadium committee prior to the match. The fans must follow stadium rules and regulation or else they are subjected to ejection by the authority. The stadium has sufficient amounts of securities, which include both private securities as well as Santa Carla police personnel. They always keep an eye on the audience to avoid any sort of disputes with opposition fans (espn, 2014). Crowd control Crowd control attendants are employed to manage out of control crowds, so that they do not hurt each other during crowd over flow. However, the stadium is designed as such that the crowd overflow is barely possible. Press The press had been given a separate space for shooting the game and make live telecasts. Their vehicles were also parked at the VIP section. They were accommodated with separate lounge, with restricted access. The press personnel had access to players for taking their interviews after the game, where audiences were not allowed to go. The post game interviews are taken on field; there are no specific places for interview as such. However, during the interview, the audiences are not allowed near the players for security reasons. The press had access to seven broadcast radios (Pentis, 2014). Rest rooms and accommodations The rest rooms are in pristine condition, like what one would expect from one of the world’s most modernized stadiums. The food stands are adequate in number to avoid rush and they are placed at equal intervals, within the corridor. Facilities for Opponents The opponents team have separate dressing rooms and lounge, which are at considerable distance from that of the home team, to avoid any contact between them before or after the game. Both the teams are given equal hospitality and facilities in their respective lounges. The opponent teams were looked after by a separate security team, and they were escorted wherever they would go. A football match often triggers hostility among fans so the opponent’s security is of primary importance. Concession stands and snack kiosks had sufficient food supply to cater to the audiences and spectators. The quality of the food was also checked in accordance to the standards. Final observation There are around twenty medical stuffs with their teams ready to take care of any injuries to the audiences and spectators. The players had a separate medical team assigned all the time, which took care of their health and in-game injuries. The stadium was filled with at least 50,000 people, which is less than the total seating capacity of 68,500. The spectators and notable personalities were at their personal lounge and galleries, with separate security teams assigned for their safety. There was sufficient number of staff to greet the audiences and direct them to rest rooms or exits. However, it was seen that the private security guards are reluctant in some cases, where the stadium policy suggests that the audiences are not allowed to use offensive languages (Levi’s Stadium (2014). Cursing the opposition teams in an abusive manner was over looked by the guards. The overall surveillance system and the security measures are adequate and properly implemented. There were proper communications among the guards over radio for proper coordination of crowd management. Reference Benning, T., & Nielsen, J. (2011). Fatal fall tragic, Ryan says, but Rangers Ballpark rails meet code. Retrieved from http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/texas-rangers/headlines/20110708-fatal-fall-tragic-ryan-says-but-rangers-ballpark-rails-meet-code.ece Levi’s Stadium. (2014). Stadium Info. Retrieved from http://www.levisstadium.com/stadium-info/about-levis-stadium/ Ticketmaster. (2014). United States Of America. Retrieved from http://www.ticketmaster.com/search?tm_link=tm_header_search&user_input=49ers+standing+room+only&q=49ers+standing+room+only Pentis, A. (2014). 18 Things We Learned about Levis® Stadium. Retrieved from http://www.49ers.com/news/article-2/18-Things-We-Learned-about-Levis%C2%AE-Stadium/3fcd4958-3631-461c-a6ca-46c0f6152c8a espn. (2014). Men charged with felony assault. Retrieved from http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/11666999/brothers-charged-felony-assault-fight-levi-stadium Read More