Description

A focused course, tailored for you

The Arena Event Security Operations Playbook

A run-of-show playbook for event security leads running NHL nights, concerts, and family shows from the same command post.

Your 5:45pm pre-doors walk is the night. Everything that breaks at 9:15pm traces back to a checklist line that was either signed or skipped before the public came in.

$199 one-time

Tailored to your situation. Access within 24 hours. 30-day money-back.

Includes a hand-built implementation playbook delivered alongside course access, generated for your specific situation.

Why this course

Running event security at a 19,000-seat arena means running a different building every night. Wednesday is an NHL home game with a visiting bench-side request that came in at noon, a sold-out lower bowl, and a credentialed media corps that doubles for the playoff run. Thursday is a country headliner load-in with pyrotechnics paperwork that needs the fire marshal walk-through signed by 3pm. Saturday is a family show with stroller parking, accessibility seating, and a meet-and-greet line that wraps the concourse. The command post is the same. The post-orders binder is the same. What changes every night is the threat picture, the crowd profile, the run-of-show, and the artist or team protocol annex. The gap most arena security leads run into is not the walk itself, it is the documentation layer between the walk and the after-action. When the GM asks on Monday what happened at section 117 during the second intermission, the answer has to be in a report that ties back to a checklist that was actually signed at a specific minute by a specific supervisor. The course gives you that documentation layer end to end, plus the run-of-show templates that let you flip from hockey to concert to family show without rebuilding from scratch each time.

What you walk away with

A pre-event walk checklist that ties every line to the supervisor who signed it and the minute it was signed.
A run-of-show template that flips cleanly between NHL or NBA night, concert load-in, and family show.
An ejection and trespass workflow that survives a body-camera review and a venue counsel read.
A medical handoff sequence with venue EMS that names roles, radio channels, and the section-locator codes you actually use.
An after-action report template the GM will read in under three minutes and forward to ops, marketing, and legal.
A one-page watch-commander turnover brief for the next event.

The 12 modules

Module 1. The 75-Minute Pre-Event Walk

Map the back-of-house freight roll-up, the plaza barricade line, the magnetometer banks, the bowl vomitories, and the visiting-team and artist corridors as a single ordered walk. The module gives you the checklist template, the radio test script, the K9 sweep sign-off form, and the supervisor-signature ladder that ties every line back to a name and a minute. The output is a walk that the GM can audit on Monday and a supervisor can run on a sick night.

Module 2. Magnetometer and Bag Check Throughput

Throughput models for general admission, premium club entry, accessibility lane, and staff entry. The module covers staff-per-lane ratios at 1.5 hours, 1 hour, and 30 minutes to door, divert-lane protocol for prohibited items, the supervisor escalation path for a refused entry, and the queue-management trigger that opens the overflow lane. Templates for the lane diagram and the supervisor briefing card are included.

Module 3. Credential and Access Tier Map

A tier map covering all-access, working media, broadcast crew, visiting team, artist tour, vendor, and one-day-only credentials. Each tier names the zones it opens, the zones it does not open, the escort requirement, and the late-credential pull process for the requests that always come in at noon on a game day. The module includes the credential matrix template, the late-pull form, and the rejected-credential incident log.

Module 4. Command Post Run-of-Show

A timeline-driven run-of-show that names every checkpoint from staff call to doors, doors to puck drop or downbeat, intermission or set break, end of event, egress, and turnover. Each checkpoint names the radio call, the dispatcher action, the supervisor confirmation, and the log entry. The template is built so a relief supervisor can pick up the post halfway through and not lose the timeline.

Module 5. Ejection and Trespass Workflow

The full ejection chain from initial report to escort out to trespass notice and BOLO entry. The module covers the body-camera handoff, the witness statement form, the venue counsel notification trigger, the police-on-scene escalation, and the criminal trespass paperwork that the local PD wants in their specific format. Templates for the ejection form, the witness statement, and the trespass notice are included.

Module 6. Medical Handoff with Venue EMS

The handoff sequence between security and the venue EMS team for a bowl medical, a concourse medical, a parking-lot medical, and a back-of-house medical. The module names the radio channel split, the section-locator codes, the AED cabinet inventory check, the EMS-on-scene escort to the freight elevator, and the family-notification protocol. The after-action template captures the time to first responder for the post-event report.

Module 7. Severe Weather and Shelter-in-Place Sequence

Decision trees for tornado warning, severe thunderstorm with hail, lightning within 10 miles during an outdoor pre-event plaza activation, and an active-threat shelter-in-place. The module names the call authority, the PA script, the section-by-section shelter assignment, the staff hold position, and the all-clear sequence. The tabletop exercise script is included so the team can run the drill before the season starts.

Module 8. After-Action Report the GM Will Read

A two-page after-action report template structured so the GM can read it in three minutes and forward it to ops, marketing, and legal. The module covers the headline number (attendance, ejections, medicals, incidents), the by-section heat map, the open items for next event, the legal-hold flag, and the supervisor sign-off ladder. Worked examples for a regular-season NHL game, a sold-out concert, and a family show are included.

Module 9. Visiting Team and Artist Protocol Annex

The annex that gets bolted onto the run-of-show when the visiting team has a specific bench-side request, when the artist tour requires a specific dressing-room corridor security posture, or when the meet-and-greet line needs a security escort. The module covers the noon-day pull-request workflow, the protocol confirmation with the tour security advance, and the after-event hand-back. Templates for the protocol annex and the tour advance brief are included.

Module 10. Vendor, Concessions, and Cash-Handling Security

The security envelope around concessions cash, novelty stand cash, parking cash, and the box office. The module names the cash-pickup route, the two-person rule, the safe-room access log, the count-room turnover, and the deposit handoff to the armored carrier. Templates for the cash-pickup log, the safe-room access log, and the deposit handoff form are included.

Module 11. Egress and Turnover for the Next Event

The end-of-event sequence: bowl clear, concourse clear, parking lot clear, back-of-house lock-down, freight roll-up secure, and the next-event prep checklist. The module names the supervisor handoff to the overnight watch, the alarm-system arm sequence, the perimeter check, and the lights-out sign-off. The one-page turnover brief for the watch commander is the final output.

Module 12. Season Build and Calendar Planning

How to build the security calendar at the start of a season covering all NHL or NBA home dates, the concert calendar as it fills in, the family-show calendar, and the special-event holds. The module covers staffing-level forecasts by event type, the supervisor rotation across the calendar, the training-day blocks, and the equipment-replacement budget. The output is a season operations plan the venue director can sign off on by August.

How this addresses your situation

Specific modules that map to what you said you are dealing with.

Pre-event walk to command post: modules 1, 4.

Crowd entry and throughput to in-bowl operations: modules 2, 3, 6.

In-event incident response and documentation: modules 5, 6, 7.

Post-event reporting and next-event readiness: modules 8, 10, 11, 12, plus the visiting team and artist annex in module 9.

What you get with this course

Twelve written modules with worked examples drawn from NHL or NBA nights, concert load-ins, and family shows.
Downloadable templates: pre-event walk checklist, throughput model, credential matrix, command post run-of-show, ejection form, witness statement, trespass notice, medical handoff sequence, after-action report, protocol annex, cash-handling log, season operations plan.
The hand-built implementation playbook tuned to your specific event mix and venue layout.
Lifetime access to the Art of Service learning environment for this course.

What you will have in hand by Day 1, Week 1, Month 1

Within 24 hours: account provisioned in the Art of Service learning environment and the hand-built implementation playbook delivered alongside it.

Week 1: pre-event walk, throughput models, credential map, command post run-of-show.

Week 2: ejection workflow, medical handoff, severe weather sequence, after-action template.

Week 3: visiting team annex, cash-handling, egress and turnover, season build.

Before and after

Before

Every event runs off a different mental model, the after-action report takes three hours on Monday morning, and when the GM asks what happened at section 117 the answer has to be reconstructed from radio logs and supervisor memory.

After

Every event runs the same run-of-show with the right annex bolted on, the after-action report is finished before the lights-out sign-off, and every checklist line ties to a supervisor signature and a timestamp the GM can audit.

What happens if you do not address this

The next ejection that goes to body-camera review, the next medical that needs an after-action that holds up in a venue-counsel read, and the next severe-weather call where the PA script and shelter assignment have to be right the first time. The documentation layer is what makes those moments survivable in front of the GM, the venue counsel, and the local PD.

Who it is for

Arena event security manager, supervisor, or operations lead running multi-event venues (NHL or NBA primary tenant, concert promoter relationships, family show calendar). 50 to 300 game-day security staff. Reports to the venue director of security or director of operations. Owns the pre-event walk, the command post during events, ejection and medical handoffs, and the after-action report. Comfortable on the radio, comfortable with the post-orders binder, looking for the documentation discipline that lets the team scale across event types without losing the run-of-show.

Who this is NOT for. This is not for corporate security directors running an office tower, not for stadium security leads running 70,000-seat NFL venues (different crowd model, different alcohol-service profile, different parking ops), and not for retail loss prevention. The run-of-show, credential tiers, and ejection workflow are arena-specific.

How it arrives

Text-based course in the Art of Service learning environment, plus downloadable templates and worked examples for every module, plus the hand-built implementation playbook delivered alongside course access.

Time investment. Roughly three to five hours per week across three weeks for the written modules. The implementation playbook is hand-built to your venue and event mix so the time you spend tuning it is hours, not weeks.

Why $199 is the right number

Public arena-security material is conference-talk slides or vendor white papers. The IAVM Academy for Venue Safety and Security covers the standards layer well but does not give you the operating templates for a specific event mix. This course is the operating templates plus the hand-built playbook tuned to your venue.

FAQ

Is this for someone running event security at a single arena, or for a regional director?

It is built for the person running event security at a single arena, supervisor through manager level. A regional director would use it as the baseline they push to each venue.

Does the implementation playbook cover our specific event mix?

Yes. The hand-built playbook is tuned to the event types you actually run, the staffing levels you actually have, and the venue layout you actually work in.

What does the course actually deliver?

Written modules with downloadable templates and worked examples, plus the hand-built implementation playbook tuned to your venue. No audio, no live sessions.

Will the templates fit our existing post-orders binder format?

The templates are designed to slot into a post-orders binder or a digital command-post system. The implementation playbook covers the integration.

30-day money-back guarantee. If after a week of working through the materials this is not what you needed, reply to the receipt email and a full refund is processed. No questions, no forms.

Within 24 hours your account in the learning environment is provisioned and the tailored implementation playbook is delivered alongside it.