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Crews prepare for large crowd at State Farm Arena
The Hawks take on the Bucks on Sunday in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals in front of an expected sell out crowd.
ATLANTA - Workers at the State Farm Arena are gearing up for Atlanta to return home for Game 3 on Sunday.
Thousands of people are expected as the Eastern Finals series continues.
"The energy in this city and the energy that we’ve sensed for the first couple of games have been absolutely incredible," Executive Vice President and General Manager of State Farm Arena Brett Stefansson said.
Preparations are underway inside the State Farm Arena as thousands are expected for game three Sunday in Atlanta.
"When you go from 3,000 people in the arena to 17,000 folks just the excitement the team is bringing into the city is unbelievable," Stefansson said.
Stefansson also noted that a big event requires big planning.
"It’s obviously a lot of coordination not just with the teams itself but with the league and they get involved when you get into the eastern conference and finals. It’s a lot of coordination with the league and media and broadcast things that you will see outside the norm of having a regular game," Stefansson said.
Safety is still a number one concern as crews must not only follow CDC guidelines but NBA guidelines.
"You will still see a lot of mask-wearing and those types of things. In and around the court we are still requiring confirmation of vaccine and test day of game in and around the court," Stefansson said.
This will be one of the biggest events inside the arena since the pandemic.
"Sports and entertainment is really one of the last things to come back during the pandemic and it’s been a long struggle for a lot of folks. We haven’t had a lot of events during the time but we were fortunate to have a basketball season during the past year," Stefansson said.
Those who work to keep the arena functioning are just as happy to be back.
"It’s just an incredible culture we have developed at the Hawks arena and I think that bleeds down to the part time staff and those folks love being in the building and apart of the energy. Whether that’s a hawks game or concert. Whatever we are hosting," Stefansson said.
Crews will also continue their sanitization process around the building to keep fans and everyone inside the building as safe as possible.
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