Reimagining the Future of Stadium Operations

World Cup 2022: A Catalyst for Change

The 2022 FIFA World Cup is underway! Hosted in Qatar, the first Arab country to host the event, the tournament will continue through December 18 and is expected to draw 1 million visitors to an impressive 8 stadium campus. According to Insider Magazine, since winning hosting rights, Qatar has invested more than $300 billion on new infrastructure, video intelligence solutions, and stadiums for the event. While this level of investment is an impressive feat, Niyas Abdulrahiman, the event’s chief technology officer, is quoted by France24, saying “What you see here is a new standard, a new trend in venue operations, this is our contribution from Qatar to the world of sport. What you see here is the future of stadium operations.”

The Standard for Security and Operations

Large scale events like the World Cup are operated much like a city. Although the influx is relatively temporary, public safety, maintenance, and operational management concerns remain the same. Between multiple stadiums, surrounding concessions and restaurants, transportation and parking, as well as retail and medical facilities, the most fundamental security technology leveraged by large sports venues is video surveillance. In fact, video surveillance systems, which are typically monitored by security staff in real time, have become a de facto standard for stadium security and operations.

However, in practice, real-time monitoring of video is virtually impossible due to human limitations which are exacerbated when there are extensive camera installations. Even when video is used post-incident during an investigation, the process of manually reviewing video footage demands extensive time and resources, alongside the same risk of human error and distraction. As a result, most video footage is not reviewed, prioritizing available video evidence based on time constraints.

The Future of Stadium Surveillance

To better leverage their video surveillance systems, stadiums are deploying AI-backed video content analytics software, which processes surveillance video; identifies the objects (such as people or vehicles) that appear in the video; and classifies and indexes the video object metadata, so that footage can be easily searched and analyzed.

In the case of this year’s World Cup, the entire event will be supported by 15,000 cameras and a command-and-control center that mirrors the appearance of a NASA mission control center, with the purpose of safeguarding the event against threats of terrorism and hooliganism right down to problematic leaky pipes. This holistic approach to stadium operations is already resetting the bar as stadiums are realizing the impact that technologies like video analytics can have on their events.

Tools for Successful Stadium Operations 

While you may not be ready to put in your bid to host the next World Cup or Olympic-sized sporting event, here are some practical tools that can be leveraged by decision-makers to drive stadium operations into the future:

Search and Filter Video

Based on Deep Learning and artificial intelligence techniques, video intelligence solutions empower security agents or police officers to accelerate investigations by making video searchable and actionable. Stadiums can filter real-time and pre-recorded footage for objects of interest with speed and precision, isolating objects in video by type − men, women, children, or vehicles – and attributes such as appearance similarity, color, size, speed, path, direction, and dwelling duration.

For instance, if witness accounts credit a man wearing blue and carrying a backpack with perpetrating a crime, law enforcement can review video that contains men matching that description, thus reducing the video review to only relevant footage. This forensic functionality enables investigative teams to quickly understand incidents and even identify persons, objects, or behaviors of interest at the onset of an investigation before there is any direction to the case.

Beyond isolating appearances of criminals and suspects in video, video intelligence solutions can help locate missing persons and reunite them with their party. For example, in cases where a child has wandered off, law enforcement can easily search and filter to find the missing persons in video feeds or configure rules to trigger alerts when objects matching the person’s description are detected in real time. Similar applications have been used in other expansive locations, like airports, to detect and prevent human trafficking. These video analytics tools can also be applied to stadium surveillance solutions to save lives and stop human trafficking in its tracks.

Real-Time Alerts  

By defining rules to describe persons, objects, and behaviors that require security intervention, personnel can receive intelligent alerts from video intelligence solutions to drive immediate assessment and response to unfolding incidents. For instance, video analytic systems can detect activity in sensitive or restricted areas; crowding in a pre-marked area that exceeds the pre-defined “normal” threshold; or the appearance of specific faces or combinations of object classes and attributes.

Triggering alerts for these types of behaviors, allows security staff  to proactively assess whether someone is trying to access restricted areas; a person is loitering; a crowd is forming; or if a person of interest is on-site to determine the best response and ensure the safety of both guests and property. As Hamad Al-Mohannadi, director of the World Cup Command Center states, “Whatever happens, there is a response in place.” This proactive approach not only helps stadiums utilize resources and personnel effectively, but also promotes proactive procedures that help fans feel confident about attending games.

Data Visualization

Video intelligence solutions can also be utilized to visualize critical data for stadium operations. Historically, operators at a command center plan based on their expectations of visitor volume for specific times and areas of a stadium and, accordingly, prevent queues and overcrowding. Video analytics not only empowers stadiums to dynamically respond to growing crowds, but also removes the guess work by transforming video metadata into structured, visualized intelligence that can be analyzed in dashboards. For example, by quantifying attendance and identifying traffic patterns based on video data, a stadium can pinpoint areas where bottlenecks occur and proactively place signage and personnel to support traffic diversion, effectively reducing crowding and increasing spectator safety.

When this kind of visual analysis is utilized over time, the solutions can be further customized based on time of day, season, and other relevant variables. The video intelligence suite at a mass event could detect the number of people in a stadium or around its perimeter at any given time and ensure transportation planning takes visitor trends into account. With data visualization capabilities, over the course of a tournament or event, stadiums can recognize patterns based on video that will help them hone procedures and strategies to keep spectators safe and content.

Facial Recognition

Video intelligence solutions streamline facial recognition watchlist monitoring. Stadiums can use “in the wild” face recognition to more proactively monitor for known criminals, suspected terrorists, and hooligans by creating watchlists, triggering alerts for potential face matches, and searching videos in the aftermath of an incident. If the system triggers an alert based on a watchlist, operators can confirm the match and create an appropriate plan of action. This level of real-time situational awareness equips stadiums to quickly diffuse threatening or dangerous situations.

The Future is Now

Versatile video intelligence solutions empower stadiums to analyze video, investigate situations, prevent incidents, and respond quickly and efficiently to changing stadium needs. While major sporting events like the World Cup only take the stage periodically, their size and the magnitude of their global presence have the ability to drive innovation that inspires integration in stadiums of all sizes. The spectacle of sport is indeed fraught with security and operational issues that are inevitable when humanity gathers en masse but leveraging video intelligence solutions empowers stadiums to provide enhanced operations that elevate the fan experience.

Stadiums are more than just a place for sports. They are a haven where people unite in diversity, a place where division is checked at the door. This is the future of stadium operations, and that future is now.

Check out more on video analytics for hospitality and entertainment here.