Best Practices for Managing Stadium Staff During Peak Seasons

‍Executive summary

• Stadium staffing requires filling a wide variety of roles, from parking staff to vendors and more.
• Staff management in stadiums offers unique challenges, like filling open shifts, meeting significant demand, and being able to respond to concerns at a moment’s notice.
• During peak seasons, it’s important to consider employee burnout, incorporate staff training, and utilize frequent data-gathering to equip your team for success.
• Best practices for stadium staff management include forecasting demand using predictive tools, preparing your employees with dedicated training, and using a staffing solution like Qwick to meet needs as they arise.

Employee management and event staffing for stadiums in peak seasons

Although fans might not realize it at first glance, frontline stadium employees are often just as important to the fan experience as the athletes or performers they came to see. Whether it’s a playoff baseball game or an opening-week NFL matchup, stadium staff must be ready to provide fans with a smooth entrance experience, their desired merch, and their favorite game-day snacks.

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 Managing stadium staff during peak season is a tall order that offers a long list of unique challenges, such as filling large quantities of different roles, correctly training staff, managing day-of operations, and doing your best to minimize turnover in order to maintain your numbers and do it all over again tomorrow.

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 With such high demand for stadium staff during peak seasons, it’s essential that managers are well-equipped to direct their teams and handle the unexpected challenges that can inevitably arise with events of this scale. How you manage staff has crucial implications for how well your stadium runs, and incorporating a few best practices can make all the difference in your stadium staffing efforts.

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Understanding peak seasons in stadium operations

Peak seasons in stadium operations mean preparing to handle passionate fans,  high demand, and a large number of staff. Of course, peak seasons will depend on the sport, the area, the fanbase, and even the expected performance of the home team. It’s important to consider all these factors as you begin thinking about meeting demand and managing your staff.

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 For example, college football stadiums saw an average of 41,867 attendees per game in 2023. Meanwhile, a professional NFL game averaged around 65,000 attendees in 2023. On the other hand, a Major League Soccer game has an average attendance of around 25,000. With the wide range of event attendance, stadium staffing needs can also vary widely.

Of course, stadiums also handle a variety of other events, including concerts and conferences in between their main events. Regardless of what’s on the ticket, some factors are a given, allowing managers to be proactive.

For example, managers will need to fill all the following roles as a start: 

• Ticketing and entrance staff
• Parking staff
• Ushers
• Security
• Concession workers
• Vendors
• General cleaning staff

During peak seasons, managers need their team to be a well-oiled machine. Staff roles will have to be well-defined and filled with experienced talent, and managers will have to be prepared to handle the challenges of high attendance, fans with high expectations, and fast-paced changes.

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Best practices for staff management during peak seasons

Managing staff during peak seasons requires a mindful and proactive approach. Leveraging the following best practices will set you up for success in meeting the surge.

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Accurate demand forecasting

Forecasting demand allows you to anticipate what staff you will likely need for an event and begin preparing your team to accommodate it. You should utilize past event data, competitor attendance numbers, market trends, and other data to guide your forecasting.

Be sure to break down your analysis into further categories, such as ticket sales, food and beverage demand, parking needs, and other aspects of the event. Gathering information about demand across specific departments and vendors will allow you to allocate your staff most efficiently throughout the stadium.

Still, accurately forecasting this demand can be a challenge. Fortunately, there are a variety of options available for advanced scheduling software and tools. Many tools, like PredictHQ and 24/7 Software, can utilize real-time data to inform staff needs and help you track demand so that you can improve your strategy for future events.

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Efficient staff scheduling

Staff are the lifeblood of any stadium, ensuring that event attendees flow comfortably through it, have their preferences addressed, and have an overall positive experience. Having enough staff scheduled will ensure that your departments can meet fan needs and preferences.

It will be important to have a balanced team of full-time workers, temporary seasonal workers, and on-call staff at your disposal. Be mindful of how you leverage these workforces to prevent burnout and distribute expertise throughout your team.

Considerations to maintain the most efficient staff schedule include:

• Using demand forecasting numbers to project staff needs
• Rotating staff shifts to manage fatigue, especially in cases of back-to-back events, so that your team maintains the energy to provide high-quality service
• Gathering and closely accomodating staff availability to avoid callouts
• Utilizing a staff management technology solution that aligns with your unique team needs and workflows

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Training and onboarding for temporary staff

It’s always a good idea to have temporary or on-call staff handy for those peak seasons when you seem to be scrambling regularly. Be proactive in advance of peak season by recruiting for and hiring temporary staff a few months ahead of time. Or sign up for a stadium staffing platform like Qwick, and you can always have peace of mind knowing that you have a staffing partner in your corner and ready to assist when it’s showtime. 

Role-specific training is helpful for ensuring each department runs smoothly and with fewer hiccups in peak season. Be sure to inform staff in advance about how to prepare for a large event shift and what nuances they may need to account for as they arrive at your unique venue on event days.

Having a team lead involved can greatly streamline the onboarding and training process, providing an experienced professional to guide team members through their responsibilities. The Qwick staffing platform offers a unique shift type specifically to help fill this role—shift leads help direct staff for a smooth check-in process and clarity on station assignments.

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Communication and coordination

Communication is crucial to successfully managing staff in a fast-paced stadium event. Staff members must know where to be stationed, what tasks they are responsible for, and how to handle contingencies.

Managers should do their best to prepare a staffing plan before the event and communicate the details during a pre-event briefing so everyone is on the same page. This briefing will also provide the opportunity to share safety protocols, communicate crowd expectations, and establish the chain of command so team members know who to contact regarding questions during the event.

However, as it’s practically guaranteed that with an event of this size, not everything will go as planned, managers must also be prepared to communicate and address contingencies in real time. Radios or mobile apps like Connecteam or Event Staff App can help everyone stay on the same page.

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Encouraging employee engagement and morale

The intensity of stadium events can take a toll on staff morale, so managers should be proactive about supporting employees, creating a positive and engaging workplace environment, and boosting morale. Employee engagement plays an essential role in building morale and ensuring retention. 

Ways to boost staff engagement include:

• Creating a positive work environment. Creating a work environment where staff members support each other and feel respected amongst their peers can help carry the team through stressful, busy periods.
• Providing wellness resources. Making resources, like food, drinks, and relaxation areas, available to staff during shifts can help keep team morale strong and empower team members with the energy to make it through each event.
• Recognizing hard work. Managers should build a positive culture and recognize team member efforts through incentives like awards, bonuses, and other gestures of appreciation.

Leveraging technology to enhance staffing efficiency

Technology is an invaluable tool in easing the stress of stadium operations, and thankfully, the number of tools available for managers is only increasing. The following technologies can help you enhance your staffing efficiency and optimize your overall operations.

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Real-time scheduling and tracking

Management software can allow for staff scheduling and tracking in real time. Most software also offers mobile apps that allow for easy access and regular adjustments on the go. For example, if you find out that a staff member needs to call out right before game time, you can post the shift and reach on-call staff.

These types of software allow you to respond to challenges as they arise. If demand is higher at one gate than anticipated, you can reallocate staff there to meet fan needs. 

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Automating payroll and timesheet processing

In stadium staffing, efficient administrative processes are just as crucial as on-the-ground ones. Automated technologies allow managers to focus their energy on tasks like addressing staff concerns, reviewing event data, and allocating proper resources. Software can also help minimize errors and ensure smooth processing among the large quantity of staff needed to support peak season demand.

Automating payroll and timesheet processing software, like OnPay or Workday, allow managers to maintain an accurate record of team hours and get staff payments administered on schedule so workflows run seamlessly and prevent any interruptions to staff pay.

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Mobile apps for communication and task delegation

Mobile apps can make communication and task delegation much more manageable. If a concession stand on one side of the stadium needs more support, managers can gather information about task progress and redirect staff in real time to ensure fan needs are met.

Consider these technologies:

• Deputy – Deputy is an all-inclusive workplace solution that keeps track of employee scheduling, HR documents, and more
• When I Work – When I Work is a platform that empowers managers to create and share a work schedule, track employee time, and message across the team
• Connecteam – Connecteam provides a resource for scheduling, task management, and workplace communication, allowing team members to receive real-time updates, track task progress, and report any concerns that may arise during events

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Qwick for filling shifts

One of the most significant challenges in stadium staff management is filling gaps in your staff schedule to meet demand. Whether that means scaling up your workforce to prepare for busy season or covering last minute call-outs, Qwick can help. Our platform features a talent pool of over 250,000 experienced professionals specialized across over 20 hospitality and event positions including cooks, concession workers, dishwashers, banquet servers, general laborers, and more.

Every professional on our platform must pass through a strict vetting process, ensuring stadium shift managers work with only the best of the best. Simply post a shift (or hundreds, we’ve got you covered) and the platform will match each shift with the professionals who are best suited for the role. Plus, as you rate talent after each shift, you’ll build a custom pool of top-rated professionals you love working with that you can easily invite back for future shifts. 

Post-event review and continuous improvement

Every event is a learning experience and an opportunity to make the next one more efficient, so use the results from your events to guide future ones. Gathering feedback and performance data regarding each event will help highlight inefficiencies, as well as effective practices and opportunities for optimization.

Improve your events using the following strategies:

• Gather feedback from staff. Event staff feedback can point to areas where there may have been gaps in serving attendees or accomplishing tasks. If your team shares that they felt understaffed or overwhelmed, use this feedback to guide staffing levels in the future. 
• Analyze performance metrics. Understanding how your staff performs can guide your staffing strategy for future events. Valuable metrics to look at include tasks completed, attendees served, and revenue generated from various areas. Using these numbers, you can determine whether certain areas of your stadium staffing need more support.‍
• Implement lessons learned. Gathering and analyzing feedback only works if you begin implementing the lessons learned from it. Building off these learnings, you can fine-tune your strategies for smoother future events.

Partner with Qwick for a seamless staffing solution during peak seasons

Managing stadium staffing during peak season requires meeting a variety of needs. Taking a comprehensive approach to your stadium staffing management is crucial, ensuring that you take care of your existing staff while also incorporating technologies to inform future staffing needs. From utilizing demand forecasting analytics to leveraging on-demand staffing technology to fill open roles, you have many options for optimizing your stadium operations.

If you’re seeking experienced hospitality and event talent to fill open roles, look no further than Qwick. Qwick connects you to skilled professionals when you need them most. Whether you are preparing for your stadium event several weeks in advance or need to find support for a same-day callout, Qwick can help. Our proprietary matching algorithm connects you with the best fit for each role, whether that be a shift lead to fully manage staff check-in, an event chef to oversee suite catering, or general laborerers to help as ushers or parking attendants.

We’re already a solution for multiple stadiums across the country, like 121 Financial Ballpark, home of the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, helping them fill shifts as needed. We can be the solution for your stadium, too. Create a free account today and you won’t have to sweat staffing any longer.