A 21st century stadium experience holds some universal hallmarks, regardless of the sport hosted there.
You’re likely to see handmade signs as fans hope to make it onto the live broadcast. The lines at beer vendors will always be a little longer than you’d like them to be. Jumbotrons will highlight anywhere from eight to forty kids ‘flossing’ their worries away. You’ll be damned if you don’t hear “Blitzkreig Bop,” “Kernkraft 400,” or “Sweet Caroline” echoing through the concourse during the game.
Advertisement
New among these arena staples: a clear bag policy.
For those unfamiliar, many stadiums are now only allowing see-through tote bags that are no bigger than 12”x12”x6”. It allows an obvious capacity limit for how much fans can bring into stadium, and also claims to speed up security lines by minimizing bag searches.
The safety procedure first made news in 2013, when the NFL made it a fixture in all of their arenas. The ensuing six years have seen it become frequent point of contention with fans, particularly women who aren’t allowed to bring their purses, families unable to pack multiple people’s gameday essentials into a small tote bag, or those who don’t drive to the game and therefore can’t store overflow in their cars.
The policy is among several that are following Minnesota United as it moves from TCF Bank Stadium to Allianz Field. A full list of the team’s gameday guidelines can be found on their website and is mandatory reading for fans ahead of the stadium’s grand opening this Saturday.
Loons fans were unhappy about the clear bag policy’s return in 2019. Season ticket holder Heidi Schallberg wrote a comprehensive response for Streets.MN, aptly titled “Security Theater Doesn’t Help Anyone Other than Makers of Clear Bags.” As I sat down with Allianz Field general manager Justin Borrell, it didn’t take long for him to address the small transparent elephant in the room.
“First and foremost, it’s about fan security,” Borrell told The Athletic. “We want to take every step that we can to ensure that our fans are feeling welcome and safe. Part of that is taking some of the best practices from around athletics in general. The University of Minnesota asked us to adopt (the clear bag policy), but it’s something that MLS is looking into very seriously. They’re starting to understand and pay attention to greater safety and security concerns. Some of these events are happening at soccer stadiums, and we have no reason to believe that we’re any different. We see our league going in that direction, and one thing we can do for our fans is not go back and forth on it.”
Advertisement
That last sentence alludes to what D.C. United experienced as the club opened Audi Field last summer. That move saw them adopt the clear bag policy for the first time, and immediately face fan backlash. Ahead of the 2019 season, the team reverted back and nixed their own clear bag policy. Borrell speculated that D.C. may have “struggled a bit with the education piece,” which is an area Minnesota has made a priority. In 2018, season ticket holders received a stadium-approved clear bag as part of their package.
“We made some small adjustments to it to be more inclusive of some items,” Borrell said. “More accurately, we’ve adjusted our messaging to work more diligently with our fans about what can and can’t be allowed in the policy. There are situations where we’ve needed to have new discussions, whether it’s medical elements or bike helmets.”
One type of bag omitted from the ban is a diaper bag. Make sure it’s ready to be searched at the gate, though. Security will check through anything deemed a diaper bag to ensure it is being used for that stated purpose. Simply throwing a diaper in a bag with homemade snacks likely isn’t enough to get it past security.
Outside of clear bags, there are plenty of other policies fans should keep in mind when preparing to visit Allianz Field for the first time.
Getting to the stadium
That bike helmet adjustment is crucial for the new stadium. With parking at a premium in the Midway neighborhood of Saint Paul, the team has been making an ambitious push to promote alternative modes of transportation. There are 400 bike racks at Allianz Field, and fans were worried when initial messaging told fans to “leave their helmets in their car.”
The past five weeks have seen that original gaffe corrected, with helmets now approved to get past security. The clear bag policy does hamper fans who are looking to get to gameday without driving their own car, however. While possible adjustments are being discussed, there’s one option for fans who have travel essentials that aren’t required in the stands.
Advertisement
“We’ll have a bag check opportunity that’ll follow us from TCF Bank Stadium,” Borrell said. Bag check will be available for $10 per bag, located at the Midpointe Event Center, near the northeast corner of Allianz Field, per the team’s website. “Folks will have a place to store their bags through the game. We understand the concerns from a cyclist standpoint, and we’re trying to figure out a way that makes sense for them. We’re also looking at some interesting opportunities from a bag perspective that I can’t say much about just yet. We want to find a more bike-friendly alternative—we understand that the tote bag isn’t great for biking.”
Cyclists aren’t the only crowd the team will expect to experience growing numbers. The stadium is located at major transfer stations for the Green Line light rail system and the A-Line rapid transit bus route. Working with the City of Saint Paul, Minnesota expects over 60% of fans to arrive via bicycle, public transit, walking, ride-sharing apps, or off-site park-and-ride. The stadium’s location in the heart of the Twin Cities metropolitan area allows for stronger alternatives to driving one’s own vehicle.
https://twitter.com/jeffrueter/status/1105523597676826625
“I encourage folks to use transit or ride-share opportunities,” Borrell said. “The State Fairgrounds will have upwards of 1,000-2,500 spaces there for shuttling. We’re working with a partner to accommodate that location and local law enforcement to make sure it’s routed out and not obstructive. In my opinion, it’ll be one of the smoothest operations available to fans. We’re pre-selling those and they’ll be sold on-site. “
The State Fairgrounds parking will cost $15. The fee includes shuttle service to and from Allianz Field. The parking lot is also a sanctioned tailgating destination, which could become popular among Minnesota fans. Hundreds of supporters tailgated outside of the National Sports Center during the teams NASL era.
A modified code of conduct
While teams and their venues can largely determine most of their policies, Major League Soccer updated its universal fan code of conduct this winter. By the team’s estimation, none of the changes will radically affect Minnesota supporters.
“The league spent a lot of time on this year’s code of conduct to make sure they’re more clear on the expectations,” Borrell said. “At the league conference this offseason, the consensus was that our fans get rave reviews. It’s nothing that we’ve had to worry about; we actually got recognized at the conference for how our fans cater to the game.”
Advertisement
The code of conduct can be found in full on the team’s Gameday A-Z page. Chief among the clarifications is that using (including on any sign or other visible representation) political, threatening, abusive, insulting, offensive language and/or gestures, which includes racist, homophobic, xenophobic, sexist or otherwise inappropriate language behavior are clearly defined as threats to the safety of the event. Those join fan violence/assault, enabling underage consumption of alcohol, and field intrusion as “Level One” offenses in MLS stadiums, which carry a ban ranging from six months to one year based on aggravating and mitigating factors.
While it’s a step in the right direction to make stadiums inclusive for everyone, an anti-hate policy is only as strong as its implementation. As much of the updated language revolves around verbal aggressions, it can be difficult to police in a raucous stadium environment.
“That gets to be difficult, to be completely honest,” Borrell said. “We try to talk to our Wonderwall folks about how they’re one (supporters) group, one unit. When we hear things coming from those sections, we talk to their leadership immediately. Some of the other items about hate speech are things we do our best to enforce. It’s difficult at a stadium with a large crowd, but we as a club and a league don’t tolerate it.”
As the league becomes more popular, there’s an increasing amount of events to monitor. In November, The Athletic reported on the growing number of violent white supremicist fans among New York City FC crowds. One supporter was photographed among a crowd of men who violently assaulted anti-fascist demonstrators last October. It has led to many NYCFC fans calling for their own team to take a strong stance against supporters who are associated with acts of violence outside of a gameday setting.
Meanwhile, a group of Seattle fans had their “Anti-fascist/Anti-racist” banner confiscated by security in 2017. When asked about the horrid events among NYCFC’s fans this March, commissioner Don Garber stated that the league’s “job is not to judge and profile any fan.” Later, Garber clarified to our own Paul Tenorio that “(t)hese groups are abhorrent to all of us, and they are against everything we stand for as a league and everything I stand for personally.”
This has sparked a debate about the role of social media in a team’s ability to police its fans.
“The league has become more cognizant of this, and we’ll be focusing on it more as well,” Borrell said. “The primary focus is making sure this stuff doesn’t creep into MLS stadiums. We try to keep political agendas outside the gates. When fans are here, they’re here to enjoy soccer. We haven’t engaged in anything like (what NYCFC experienced) from a club standpoint, just a couple conversations with individuals. We take the league’s lead on those stances, and at times we need clarity from them too. As far as social media posts, we’re continuing to be educated on how to handle that.”
Advertisement
Hold your own phones for selfies
On a much lighter note, selfie sticks are once again among the prohibited items within Allianz Field. Seeing the innocuous phone-holders listed among illegal drugs and weapons may seem a bit melodramatic. However, the sticks have been known to create situations requiring medical attention.
No, really.
“One club in the league talked about somebody walking outside their stadium before a game,” Borrel said. “There was some fanfare outside, and the fan was videoing themselves. They ran into a low-level voltage box on the street, flipped over it, snapped the stick, broke their phone, and ended up with a broken nose. That’s just one instance; there are others of people knocking strangers’ phones into their drinks or onto the concourse. We’re just saving people from themselves.”
Borrell also mentioned that selfie sticks were used as (not so) blunt objects during some concourse fights in other leagues. In general, pole or pole-shaped items are banned from the stadium (save for approved flags in the supporters section).
If this puts you in a bind to snap a photo of yourself at a game, it may be time to wind back the clock and ask a neighbor to take the picture for you. Though take note: Allianz Field also asks that fans refrain from flash photography to avoid distracting players on the pitch.
From umbrellas to selfie sticks, it is important to be aware of what you can (and can’t) bring to the stadium ahead of this weekend’s grand opening. While policies like the clear bag are never likely to win everyone over—with that one in particular facing regular “security theater” accusations—Borrell stressed that it wasn’t just for show.
“The overarching message about these policies is about safety,” Borrell said. “We don’t do things to disrupt everyday life for everyone. We want to make sure that people have both an electrifying experience in Allianz Field whether they’re in the Wonderwall or Section 1. As part of that, we hear from our fans that one of their most important experiences at a stadium is feeling safe. These policies allow us to enhance the fan experience when they don’t have to worry about certain things beyond the gate.”
ncG1vNJzZmismJqutbTLnquim16YvK57mGprcmxgZH9xfZhoZ21nYG58pLjEmqlmmpGcwG6tzZ1kqKyYmr9urculoJqmqmKzqrHLnWSpp5yesKqx0marqGWbo7y4ecChnJqcXaSzbrnNrp2cq12jsrh50q2YnaGlonqlscGuq2g%3D