MetLife Stadium planners tackle the SuperBowl challenge
Imagine planning an outdoor event in the middle of a snowy Northeast winter, expecting thousands of attendees and hundreds of corporate groups, with the whole thing being televised around the world.
That’s the daunting challenge of the event planners at MetLife Stadium, which will host Super Bowl XLVIII on Feb. 2, 2014.
Not surprisingly, risk management has been agenda item number one since things went downhill fast at last year’s event.
"Super Bowl XLVII was interrupted due to a power failure for 34 minutes, and roughly 35 minutes after the lights went out we began to consider ways to avoid a recurrence right here at MetLife Stadium,” the NFL’s senior vice president of events Frank Supovitz said at a press conference last week.
Jersey Gov. Chris Christie reportedly was at the game in New Orleans when the power went out, and vowed that will not happen in New Jersey, snow or no snow.
PSE&G, which provides power to MetLife Stadium, conducted a root-cause analysis of last year’s blackout, and found it was due to a malfunctioning relay device.
As a result it has been testing the system with power loads like what the Super Bowl will bring.
The NFL and PSE&G also have reportedly hired outside consultants to perform independent analyses of the systems, with an emphasis on backup generators and heightened security.
Weather always adds an extra element of risk at outdoor football stadiums. This past weekend, an outbreak of tornadoes caused a break in the Bears game at Soldier Field, as everyone was ushered indoors until the danger passed.
By Cheryl Rosen
Cheryl
Vegas’s Billion-Dollar Secrets – What They Don’t Want Tourists to Know
Visit Florida’s New CEO Bryan Griffin Shares His Vision for State Tourism with Graham
Chicago’s Tourism Renaissance: Graham Interviews Kristin Reynolds of Choose Chicago
Graham Talks with Cassandra McCauley of MMGY NextFactor About the Latest Industry Research
Destination International’s Andreas Weissenborn: Research, Advocacy, and Destination Impact
Graham and Don Welsh Discuss the Success of Destinations International’s Annual Conference
Graham and CEO Andre Kiwitz on Ventura Travel’s UK Move and Recruitment for the Role
Brett Laiken and Graham Discuss Florida’s Tourism Momentum and Global Appeal
Graham and Elliot Ferguson on Positioning DC as a Cultural and Inclusive Global Destination
Graham Talks to Fraser Last About His England-to-Ireland Trek for Mental Health Awareness
Kathy Nelson Tells Graham About the Honour of Hosting the World Cup and Kansas City’s Future
Graham McKenzie on Sir Richie Richardson’s Dual Passion for Golf and His Homeland, Antigua
ADS PRO 
Qatar Airways offers flexible payment options for European travellers
Airlines suspend Madagascar services following unrest and army revolt
Phocuswright reveals the world's largest travel markets in volume in 2025
Digital Travel Reporter of the Mirror totally seduced by HotelPlanner AI Travel Agent
Strike action set to cause travel chaos at Brussels airports