Super Bowl LVII will be held on February 12th 2023 at the State Farm Stadium, Glendale Arizona, home of the Arizona Cardinals. With a seating capacity of 73,000, this is the third time the stadium has hosted the Big Game. The Super Bowl is among the world’s most watched single sporting events and frequently commands the largest audience among all American broadcasts during the year. In view of its large in person crowd and huge viewing audience no issue requires more attention for the Super Bowl organizers than security. In fact, since 9/11 security requirements for the Super Bowl have risen to those of the most secured events in the world including the Olympics and the U.S. Presidential Inauguration.
Some of the most pressing security issues for a sporting event such as the Super Bowl are access control and crowd management. Controlling crowd movement on the exterior of the stadium, security check points, stadium entry points, and at pregame events all require the setup of temporary crowd barriers to guide and direct pedestrian traffic. Epic Solutions, a Queue Solutions Lead Distributor, has supplied crowd control barricades and retracing belt stanchions for the past nine Super Bowls. Epic works with stadium management and tier 1 suppliers in providing two critical barrier products, Queue Solutions QueueMaster™ retractable belt stanchions and CrowdMaster™ steel barricades. The retractable stanchions are used to form fans into orderly waiting lines at entry and security points. The barricades form temporary perimeter fencing to restrict access and guide fans to the designated entry points.
When selecting products for the Super Bowl, Epic focuses on two key requirements portability, and durability. Portability is critical as the entire crowd management system must be able to be set up and taken down in just a few days. At the same time the barriers must be able to withstand the wear and tear of tens of thousands of fans passing through them as well as being transported, set up, taken down, stacked, and stored. For this reason, Epic selects two of Queue Solutions leading products.
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Crowd Control Barricades
Sometimes called “bike rack” barricades, this style of barrier is ubiquitous at outdoor events involving large crowds. Epic prefers to use the CrowdMaster™ brand from Queue Solutions because they are manufactured from heavy duty steel and hot dip galvanized for long term weather resistance. The CrowdMaster™ also has design features such as 21 uprights (risers) each of which is fully inserted into the frame before welding. This ensures maximum rigidity, so the barricade won’t flex with either horizontal or vertical crowd pressure. These barricades also feature a hook and loop connection system so they can quickly be connected to make a run of any length. Another key feature guiding Epic’s choice of CrowdMaster™ is the bolt on feet. Having removable feet means the barricades can be stacked and transported flat making moving and storing a fast and space efficient process.
QueueMaster™ Stanchions
Possibly the largest selling retracting belt barrier in the U.S., the QueueMaster™ is seen anywhere that pedestrian flow needs guidance and control. Primarily used for creating customer queues, QueueMaster™ can be seen at airports, retail stores, casinos, cinemas, and sporting venues across the country. For use at the Super Bowl Epic Solutions supplies QueueMaster™ as its 11’ belt is almost half as long again as other brands 7.5’ belt. This extra length belt means fewer stanchions are required saving set up time and purchase cost. Given the temporary nature of Super Bowl demand Epic also appreciates that no tools are required to breakdown QueueMaster™ stanchions into separate post and base. This allows much more efficient transport and storage.
Durability Proven by History
For Super Bowl LVII Epic Solutions will supply over 2,500 QueueMaster™ stanchions giving 27,500 feet of retractable belt barrier. In the nine years from Super Bowl XLVIII to this year’s event Epic has supplied over 20,000 QueueMaster™ stanchions and 10,000 CrowdMaster™ barricades to Super Bowl events. This long history with supplying Queue Solutions products for one of the most demanding crowd management events in the world, shows the reliability and proven performance of the Queue Solutions product line. Over the many years and multiple locations, the Epic Solutions and Super Bowl management teams have come to rely on the hard-wearing performance of Queue Solutions crowd control products.