Playing it safe

Enhanced security the new standard at sports venues

You probably know the drill. You’re frustrated, maybe downright steamed. You’re worried about missing the first pitch or kickoff. Then, as you approach the ticket-taker, security has you doff your cap and turn off your cell phone while they check out the pocketbook or bag your wife may be lugging.

This is a new ritual for sports fans. Before the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, security was on hand largely to deal with drunk and rowdy fans. Now walking into a major sporting event you pass through a security checkpoint barely a notch removed from that experienced daily by air travelers.

So what’s changed? Plenty.

SI Writers Phil Taylor: On the mend Mike Fish: Playing it safe at venues Kostya Kennedy: A week in Sept. John Donovan: From horror, hope Features 9/11 Faces: For love of the game In Their Words: 9/11 Remembered Flashbacks Frank Deford: Let the games go on Richard Hoffer: A break in the action Rick Reilly: Four of a kind Peter King: Tagliabue on the spot McCallum & Wertheim: War games Multimedia Photo Gallery: Stars & Stripes forever Photo Gallery: Unflagging return

“Clearly since Sept. 11, there have been major concerns about possible terrorist attacks at sporting facilities or at major sporting events,’’ offers Brian Jenkins, a security and terrorism expert at the Rand Corp. “And indeed, two of these events -- the Super Bowl [in New Orleans] and the Salt Lake City Olympics -- have been elevated to the level of a national security event where the federal government takes the lead in coordinating [security] activities.

“As best I know, there have only been eight or nine of these events since that category was created five or six years ago. We’re talking about things like the [presidential] inauguration and the political conventions.’’

This sounds like risky stuff.

Jenkins cautions that he is not aware of any credible threat to a specific event. Nothing gathered, say, from documents found in caves in Afghanistan. It’s just logical to assume a high-profile event could pose an inviting target for terrorists.

And so, all across America, sports leagues and their teams have ramped up security to unprecedented levels. The leagues pulled together task forces and consulted with security experts in the wake of 9/11, approving guidelines ranging from prohibiting vehicles from parking within 100 feet of a facility -- a sterile perimeter often associated with airports and federal buildings -- to banning coolers and backpacks.

Just reading a snippet or two from the NHL’s post-9/11 security summary tells you that sports are no longer just fun and games:

“Security is not an event-only undertaking, nor is it an arena-only undertaking.

“Security measures also must be operative on non-gamedays; they must be operative not only within the arena but in a variety of perimeters outside it. They must be operative 24 hours a day, seven days a week.’’

Security Plans Since Sept. 11, the major sports leagues have ratcheted up security and sent new guidelines to their franchises. These are not necessarily mandates, but recommended measures since many teams are only tenants and don’t own their facilities. All of the leagues continue to work with major international security firms, as well as local, state and federal authorities. Here’s a league-by-league glimpse of some of the new security measures: NFL One noticeable difference is increased uniform law enforcement and security personnel at games. The league also recommends securing a perimeter roughly 100 feet from the stadium walls to ensure that vehicles are kept at a safe distance. Fans are screened entering stadiums, and backpacks and other large bags are banned. Security staffs in some cities are sweeping stadiums for bombs and other destructive devices before fans enter. There’s also been a move to fully identify those who receive access to the stadium by credential. MLB Like the NFL, baseball prohibits parked vehicles within 100 feet of stadiums. Parking lots are also inspected daily and unattended vehicles removed. Security checks of stadiums are made daily before the gates open. Coolers, backpacks and large bags are prohibited, with smaller bags inspected before entry. Clubs are also tightening access to restricted areas such as the clubhouse and dugout, suggesting that friends and agents/attorneys not be permitted access. NBA Bags are being inspected before fans enter arenas, with fans being asked to check anything larger than a pocketbook or briefcase. Security at some facilities are “wanding’’ fans with metal detection devices as they enter. A few arenas use walk-through metal detection devices similar to those at airports. Arena and team employees have been issued photo ID badges that must be worn inside the facilities. Vendors, media and contract employees must also wear daily passes. Security has also been ramped up near practice facilities and NBA security officials have talked to personnel at team hotels, demanding security on the players' floor. NHL Heightened security presence [dogs, uniformed security/police] is recommended on game days, with close attention given to vehicles, packages and individuals entering the arenas. The league says visitors or spectators should be wanded or searched. Arena officials have been warned that computer-operated systems, such as lighting, should be “target-hardened’’ to prevent hacking. It’s also suggested that all players, management and team employees have photo I.D.

In Major League Baseball, the commissioner’s office has dispatched its top security personnel from franchise to franchise to conduct security workshops, an arduous process that began in spring training. Among other things, one official said, clubs have updated evacuation procedures that had “for the most part gathered dust."

“What came out of 9/11 was really a complete overhaul of what we have done in the past,’’ says Kevin Hallinan, MLB’s senior vice president for security and facility management. “I had worked pretty hard since ’86 interacting with our stadium operations directors in many different programs related to alcohol management, emergency management, things like that. But this really galvanized us and we’re probably now much better prepared than we ever were before. Not only for a terrorist attack, but also for the natural calamity -- earthquakes, tornadoes, explosions, boilers blowing up. Acts that have nothing to do with terrorism but indeed happen in and around our ballparks.

“If you’re a fan in one of our ballparks, you’re going to see this higher state of alertness. There is greater preparation before the game starts -- looking at the perimeter of the ballpark, checking out gates, inspecting different areas of the ballpark.’’

At some professional venues, this means even sending in bomb-sniffing dogs ahead of Joe Fan. It’s now commonplace at events like the Super Bowl, the Final Four and heavyweight title fights for fans to pass through metal detection devices.

It was only in June that heightened security was blamed for a late-arriving crowd that delayed the the Mike Tyson-Lennox Lewis heavyweight title fight. Outside the Pyramid Arena in Memphis, hundreds of city police, state and federal officers and specialized SWAT teams formed a protective seal.

This is what everyone has come to expect in the last year, and nobody can gripe too loudly about the precautions. But along with delays, there is a financial price that the sporting public figures to pay.

You can bank on the heightened terrorism concerns causing higher rates for insuring sports venues. That's already the case at the 65,000-seat Raymond James Stadium, home of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, where officials are bracing for a 30 percent increase.

At Georgia Tech, where new measures include the hiring of 17 people to inspect bags as well as additional uniformed security throughout Bobby Dodd Stadium, the game-day operations budget is projected to rise by one-third this football season.

“After 9/11, [the Atlantic Coast Conference] had a number of calls involving ADs and operations people at the institutions, where people from the FBI in Washington talked about procedures, what we should look for and what precautions we should take,’’ says Sterling Brown, Georgia Tech’s senior associate athletic director. “I turned around and briefed our stadium staff and our police force.’’

If you assume these advanced recommendations, such as metal detectors, don’t come at a cost, you’re wrong. When the NCAA Final Four played the Georgia Dome in Atlanta last spring, there was a previously unbudgeted $50,000 cost for the equipment -- which ended up being shared by the facility, the local organizing committee and the NCAA.

Another $350,000 has been put into the Georgia Dome, home to the Atlanta Falcons, for NFL-recommended security procedures in the past year. Of that, say officials, $250,000 went for physical improvements, the rest for additional security staffing.

“We started immediately following 9/11, working with the league on their best practices,’’ says Carl Adkins, general manager of the facility. “For one thing, we completely re-did all our closed circuit TV systems. This is for inside and out [monitoring of the facility]. We added cameras, and upgraded the system so that we have much greater capabilities with it.’’

That is about as detailed a glimpse of heightened security as anyone is offering these days. Publicly, the leagues speak only in general terms, saying clubs have been advised to tighten access to facilities, improve security for teams on the road and increase uniform security presence at games and practice facilities.

Following the lead of the corporate world, which has long viewed itself as a potential terrorism target, the professional sports industry now finds itself hurriedly developing crisis management plans and the like. Team executives are working through scenarios, deciding in advance the criteria for canceling games and evacuating arenas or stadiums.

A key concept here is balance. Not only is the aim to implement security that is consistent arena-to-arena, but sports leaders also must juggle security with maintaining a fan-friendly environment.

Which raises the question: How far do you go in protecting public spaces?

“The extraordinary measures we take for commercial aviation are justified,’’ says Jenkins, a former White House appointee who consults with government agencies and corporations on security issues. “The measures we take around nuclear reactors are justified because the consequences are enormous. But if it comes to protecting public spaces, you have to ask what net gain is. You would like to, and you’re obliged to take measures to prevent something happening inside the venues. But all you’re doing is really displacing the risk. You don’t prevent terrorism.’’

And that's the rub. While it can be argued that our sports facilities have never been so secure, no one is suggesting they’re impenetrable fortresses.

“Certainly, there is an element of parsley about it,’’ Jenkins says of the extra security. “It’s decorative. It doesn’t really add much to nutrition. Some of it is that. ... It has some deterrent effect. [But] is it going to stop the clever, determined terrorist from doing something dreadful? Probably not.’’

Mike Fish is a senior writer for CNNSI.com.

Comments? To e-mail Fish, click here.