COVER STORY Work on the Super Bowl begins two years prior to the game, almost as soon as the NFL decides where the game is going to be held. Then, as Barnes puts it, “There’s a lot of meetings.” Efforts must be coordinated with the NFL, city authorities, stadium employees, transportation authorities and countless numbers of subcontractors for things like security and construction of temporary facilities. The attention to detail Populous must maintain is simply baffling to those of us who haven’t put too much thought into the necessary changes made to a Super Bowl stadium. Take security fencing, for example. “Fences and barriers must be a certain distance from the stadium building,” Barnes explains, “but sometimes we don’t have that space, so we have to talk to transportation authorities about closing roads. Then we have to coordinate the fence contractor with transportation, and with security that’s going to be managing that fence.” Another example of Populous’ seamless control can be found in transportation changes. Many attendees might be aware of the expanded parking created for the Super
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance-Bottoms welcomes Super Bowl LIII.
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Bowl, but the company also has to make sure there are enough shuttle buses to get people to and from the stadium — a huge task considering the enormous increase in spectators from a typical football game. Depending on the stadium chosen for the game, often Populous must put on its architecture hat to make temporary changes to things like entrances, exits and security checkpoints in order to accommodate the large number of people attending the Super Bowl. This requires the design and construction of temporary installations to change the usual flow of people in and out of the stadium. By the summer before the coming game, Populous has mostly completed the planning of stadium changes, temporary buildings, transportation and hospitality. Contractor bidding for construction, security and signage is completed. Signs are another one of those many things most spectators probably never think about that must be handled by Populous. “We have a sign programmer who has to work with the sign vendor to make over five thousand signs for game day,” Barnes says. Those signs are vital to the safe and steady
When a confetti shower ends Super Bowl LIII, Populous will make sure all of the colorful paper is picked up.
movement of thousands of people throughout the stadium campus. After a final production meeting with the NFL in December, Populous starts managing the build-out phase as temporary installations are constructed, traffic is rerouted and signs are installed, along with a list of hundreds of other things that have to get done before February. Then, game day. Around 90 Populous employees, working on behalf of the NFL, go into what they call “operations mode,” managing facility operations with stadium staff, security, NFL staff and halftime show groups to make America’s biggest sports day of the year go off without a hitch. “Game day is high drama, high stress and high politics,” Barnes says. “It involves managing what happens on the field, getting things off the field, working with the halftime show and helping them manage their logistics and the timeline of the game.” Media broadcasting, concessions, spectator movement, parking and security all have to be closely watched for any bumps that may disrupt the experience. All you see from your seat in the stadium or through your television
Myron Chase and Todd Barnes (right) of Populous prepare for a game.