Aluminum Bleachers – How To Plan Now For The Upcoming 2020 Season

Plan now for your Aluminum Bleachers for the 2020 outdoor sports season

Aluminum bleachers planned early in the year prevent potentially unsafe and embarrassing spectator seating issues later.

The season for outdoor sports is right around the corner. The familiar sights and sounds of excited, rowdy fans cheering, clapping and stomping while positioned in your aluminum bleachers with other like-minded fans.

Their enthusiasm complements the familiar sounds of the school bands providing entertainment while pumping up the crowds and the whistles of timekeepers and referees keeping the players in check and the game on schedule.

As a facility manager, athletic director or parks and recreation manager, you’re responsible for providing an adequate amount of professionally installed, code-compliant aluminum bleachers for everyone that wants to attend the events.

Providing proper seating keeps spectators congregated within a designated area of your choosing and allows a safer, more satisfying experience for all involved.

Additionally, with scheduled seasonal activity overlapping with special events, whether indoor or out, events can take place simultaneously or more frequently than in prior seasons, adding an earlier and larger than expected need for on-site aluminum bleachers.

Now is the time to start planning for your bleacher seating needs based on your anticipated or expected activities and move confidently to address them.

You have a scheduled, projected list of seasonal based sporting events, special events and extracurricular activities that you will be hosting during the upcoming year.

Aluminum bleachers site audit

Take the time to consider the following questions and what effects they may have on your projected bleacher seating needs.

• Do you currently have bleachers in place for spectator and fan use during all indoor and outdoor events, and if so, what is the seating capacity of your bleachers?

• How were your attendance figures for the last year? What were the highs, the lows, and the average attendance per event? Was it considered a normal year for attendance? Are your attendance figures growing, declining, or remaining steady?

• Are there any unique or specific trends worth noting that can affect your attendance projections? Are your teams successful and crowd-pleasing to watch? Are the crowds excited for the games, spending time at your facility both before and after the event?

• Were there enough bleacher seats for everyone that wanted to have a seat, or were there some fans/spectators that had to stand, sit on the ground, or bring their own chairs to be comfortable?

• Look at any aluminum bleachers you currently have on-site. Are they attractive and inviting, or are they in disrepair, broken, and dangerous with sharp edges, insecure platforms and uneven footing? Are they slick and hazardous to walk on in inclement weather? What about the connectors and joining hardware? Are there any signs of wear or potentially weak areas? Are the platforms and stairways clearly labeled and marked for safety?

• When was the last time you had your bleachers inspected by professionals for safety and code compliance? Slips trips and falls are annually the cause of most accidents. The last thing you need is a lawsuit stemming from an accident or injury caused by inadequately inspected or damaged bleachers that were made available to use by the general public.

• Do you have an aging demographic in and around the location of your venue? A localized, aging demographic signifies a need for ADA compliant aluminum bleachers including wheelchair access, ramps, handrails, guardrails, and designated seating areas. Resolve to provide safe, secure seating for all ages and abilities.

• What is the footprint of your venue? Is it able to accommodate standard aluminum bleacher configurations or will you need custom bleacher configurations? Custom aluminum bleachers take more time to design, manufacture and install and should be ordered early to ensure delivery in time for the upcoming season.

Anticipate special events and regional tournaments

• Is your venue home to multiple fields and locations, or a host to a wide range of activities? Consider ordering tip and roll bleachers or portable aluminum bleachers. These special sports bleachers afford you the economical option of being able to move the structures around to different fields and areas to meet demand and sightlines for specific events held at various locations.

• Are you planning to host heavily attended events like playoff games, rivalry weekends, music concerts, guest speakers or other stage focused activities? Adding more bleachers to handle these highly anticipated events provides better spectator experiences, greater customer satisfaction, and better, more appealing sightlines.

• Is your venue near a playground, trail or walking path? Install benches for parents and families to relax, visit, or just rest while their children are playing. What about those that are walking or running on the trails? Aluminum benches installed along a walking path are welcomed and perfect for a break or recovery from a workout. Memorial style benches provide these benefits while acknowledging a special individual or group.

• Do you have players benches for the sidelines? Players’ benches add to the aesthetics and uniformity of the field while providing useful places for team players to sit while not participating. They keep players and coaches congregated in a single space for better communication and fan recognition.

• Picnic tables for spectators are a value-added amenity to install in areas to enjoy lunch, take a break, or to just visit with others. Consider adding picnic tables around concession stands or open areas to invite gathering spectators and fans to congregate together before, during or after events.

• Check the amount and location of available waste and recycling receptacles. There never seems to be enough trash containers around when needed, resulting in litter left in, on, around, and underneath your bleachers. Reduce the food and drink waste left along the bleacher walk boards or littering the ground underneath the bleachers by adding more available trash and recycling bins. By containing as much litter and waste as possible, you’re also reducing potential pest infestation and disease associated with food waste and litter left on the ground or in open areas.

Combined with their ability to handle mass seating needs, economical cost, low maintenance, exceptional durability and resistance to weather, aluminum bleachers prove to be an exceptional value.

Local, multi-use fields, neighborhood parks, school sports complexes, college stadiums, and all venues benefit from having aluminum bleachers available for those families, fans and spectators that want to be on site for a game or event.

But your visitors can’t use them if they aren’t available.

Beat the rush of last-minute bleacher orders by planning your needs and targeting an early date to order new or additional aluminum bleachers.

Include players benches, scorers’ tables, picnic tables, and waste receptacles in time for the upcoming season of sports and activity.

Check aluminum bleacher seating off of your to-do list, and instead of worrying about last-minute manufacturing lead and shipping times, you’ll enjoy becoming the place that is sought out for event bookings because you have everything for smooth running events and the safe accommodation of visitors of every age and ability.

By Gerald Dlubala