When Iowa football fans flock Aug. 31 to Kinnick Stadium for the Hawkeyes’ season opener, the process of entering the stadium will be different.
Most notably, fans will need to pass through metal detectors. The clear-bag policy remains in effect, but security personnel will not search every bag because of the metal detectors.
The open-gate metal detectors are “unlike what you see at the airport,” said Marcus Wilson, Iowa’s executive senior associate athletics director for sports operation and event management.
“You’re able to walk right through these metal detectors without taking out your keys, without taking out your phone, wallet, etc.,” Wilson said. “You keep everything in, including your clear bag, and you walk right through.”
Iowa’s clear-bag policy allows fans to bring a 12-by-6-by-12-inch clear tote bag, a gallon-size clear plastic storage bag or a small clutch bag that is no larger than 4.5-by-6.5 inches. Prohibited items include umbrellas, alcoholic beverages, footballs, coolers and glass containers.
Fans can walk through with metallic items such as a phone or keys because of what Wilson described as the “latest technology” in metal detection. “These new devices are set in such a way where they really are designed to pick up weapons,” he said. “Heavy metal from weapons.”
The devices are not without their flaws, though. Eyeglass cases in particular sometimes can set off the metal detectors because of the “density of the metal.”
“So we might encourage our fans, if they have glasses cases, take those out and hold them up so that the staff can see them,” Wilson said.
ADVERTISING
Should someone set off a metal detector, the fan will go through a “secondary screening” involving a handheld metal detector.
Wilson anticipates a “more efficient gate entry process” this season at Kinnick Stadium because “we’ll no longer need to search every individual clear bag when it comes into the stadium.”
The decision to implement metal detectors — something that also will apply to basketball games and wrestling matches at Carver-Hawkeye Arena — is part of Iowa’s efforts to be “keeping up with best practices from a security standpoint.”
“You’ll see 15 or 16 of the Big Ten institutions with metal detectors this year,” Wilson said. “There’s three or four of our counterparts — they’re in the same position as us implementing them this year. … The NFL requires them. The NBA requires them. The SEC back in 2018 started requiring them.”
The change coincides with Iowa Athletics’ new partnership with BEST Crowd Management for event security services that began July 1. BEST Crowd Management is supplying the metal detectors at no additional cost to Iowa Athletics.
The gate to Kinnick Stadium is locked Thursday. The Iowa Hawkeye football team will have it season opener there Aug. 31. (Geoff Stellfox/The Gazette)
The partnership, which also applies to basketball and wrestling events at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, replaces Iowa’s past relationship with the CSC crowd management firm.
The BEST Crowd Management partnership covers myriad game-day roles, including ushers, ticket-takers, parking lot attendants and customer service employees. A May news release announcing the partnership indicated BEST had plans to fill more than 500 positions for Iowa Athletics events.
“From a staffing standpoint, at this point before the season, we’re in a better position than we’ve been in probably the past five years,” Wilson told reporters at Iowa’s local media day, which was about three weeks before the start of the season.
Iowa Athletics will have sensory bags available for checkout at four guest services locations — one in each corner of the Kinnick concourse — as part of a new partnership with the Alabama-based nonprofit KultureCity.
The bags will “provide individuals in need with gadgets and sensory experiences to help them regulate their sensory experiences and improve their overall sense of well-being,” according to Iowa sports information.
Along with making the bags available, Wilson said Iowa is “training the vast majority of our front-facing staff on sensory awareness this upcoming year.”
“It furthers this institution’s principle to ensure that our events are welcoming and inclusive of all, regardless of any disability,” Wilson said.
www.thegazette.com
Most notably, fans will need to pass through metal detectors. The clear-bag policy remains in effect, but security personnel will not search every bag because of the metal detectors.
The open-gate metal detectors are “unlike what you see at the airport,” said Marcus Wilson, Iowa’s executive senior associate athletics director for sports operation and event management.
“You’re able to walk right through these metal detectors without taking out your keys, without taking out your phone, wallet, etc.,” Wilson said. “You keep everything in, including your clear bag, and you walk right through.”
Iowa’s clear-bag policy
Iowa’s clear-bag policy allows fans to bring a 12-by-6-by-12-inch clear tote bag, a gallon-size clear plastic storage bag or a small clutch bag that is no larger than 4.5-by-6.5 inches. Prohibited items include umbrellas, alcoholic beverages, footballs, coolers and glass containers.
Fans can walk through with metallic items such as a phone or keys because of what Wilson described as the “latest technology” in metal detection. “These new devices are set in such a way where they really are designed to pick up weapons,” he said. “Heavy metal from weapons.”
The devices are not without their flaws, though. Eyeglass cases in particular sometimes can set off the metal detectors because of the “density of the metal.”
“So we might encourage our fans, if they have glasses cases, take those out and hold them up so that the staff can see them,” Wilson said.
ADVERTISING
Should someone set off a metal detector, the fan will go through a “secondary screening” involving a handheld metal detector.
Wilson anticipates a “more efficient gate entry process” this season at Kinnick Stadium because “we’ll no longer need to search every individual clear bag when it comes into the stadium.”
The decision to implement metal detectors — something that also will apply to basketball games and wrestling matches at Carver-Hawkeye Arena — is part of Iowa’s efforts to be “keeping up with best practices from a security standpoint.”
“You’ll see 15 or 16 of the Big Ten institutions with metal detectors this year,” Wilson said. “There’s three or four of our counterparts — they’re in the same position as us implementing them this year. … The NFL requires them. The NBA requires them. The SEC back in 2018 started requiring them.”
The change coincides with Iowa Athletics’ new partnership with BEST Crowd Management for event security services that began July 1. BEST Crowd Management is supplying the metal detectors at no additional cost to Iowa Athletics.
The partnership, which also applies to basketball and wrestling events at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, replaces Iowa’s past relationship with the CSC crowd management firm.
The BEST Crowd Management partnership covers myriad game-day roles, including ushers, ticket-takers, parking lot attendants and customer service employees. A May news release announcing the partnership indicated BEST had plans to fill more than 500 positions for Iowa Athletics events.
“From a staffing standpoint, at this point before the season, we’re in a better position than we’ve been in probably the past five years,” Wilson told reporters at Iowa’s local media day, which was about three weeks before the start of the season.
Sensory bags available for those in need
Iowa Athletics will have sensory bags available for checkout at four guest services locations — one in each corner of the Kinnick concourse — as part of a new partnership with the Alabama-based nonprofit KultureCity.
The bags will “provide individuals in need with gadgets and sensory experiences to help them regulate their sensory experiences and improve their overall sense of well-being,” according to Iowa sports information.
Along with making the bags available, Wilson said Iowa is “training the vast majority of our front-facing staff on sensory awareness this upcoming year.”
“It furthers this institution’s principle to ensure that our events are welcoming and inclusive of all, regardless of any disability,” Wilson said.
How security screening is changing for Iowa football games at Kinnick in 2024
Fans will need to go through metal detectors for Iowa football games in 2024.
www.thegazette.com
