The training and assessment provided by NCS4 will provide IU with a set of “scalable standards” for assessing risks, noticing vulnerabilities and planning accordingly.
The process required an extensive review of the stadiums’ safety and security programs against a series of standards for measuring a facility’s safety, security and incident management systems. Then, a road map is provided for continuous improvement. The result is a continual four-year cycle for reviewing and upgrading these aspects.
Outside of the NCS4 process, Glass spoke about how this year will be the 70th anniversary of the 1945 IU football team that won the Big Ten Championship. IU athletics has been honoring the team with a “Let’s Dig In” commercial in which 1945 team member George Taliaferro reads the words Herman B Wells spoke to the team that season.
The 1945 team will have a reunion at the homecoming game against Rutgers on Oct. 17. In addition to the 1945 team, IU will be commemorating seven different IU bowl teams with refillable cups at concession stands. A different team will be featured at each home game.
IU will be utilizing FanMaker technology that allows students to check in during games with student IDs. Their time at games will be tracked on smartphones and increase fan engagement on social media by giving students points for posts. The technology will also alert fans of specials and sales at concessions stands and the Varsity Shop.
There will be tiny Bluetooth beacons that detect a fan’s location and make them eligible for prizes for attending the game. The points will affect seat distribution at men’s basketball games.
Glass also said the department didn’t like each sport having its own fan section nickname, so all student sections will now be called the Crimson Guard. One exception is the men’s soccer team, whose student section will remain the Hoosier Army.
There will be new stadium graphics at Memorial Stadium that give the interior an all-red look. There were also new graphics placed on the windows of the North End Zone that lead into the Jay and Nancy Wilkinson Sports Performance Center.
Lastly, Glass showed off the new fireworks for the media. There is now a larger truss system, and pyrotechnics will come off the top of the large video board and on the roof of the North End Zone.
Brody Miller
