I’m an arena manager and I guess could be considered an expert in this topic. This video is the best depiction of how arena conversions work that I’ve ever seen. Some of the details and nuance that are mentioned really surprised me as they’re often overlooked by people that don’t do this work every day. Incredible job. If Wendover ever wants to cover any other topics in the live entertainment / sports / venue world, hit me up! Id be happy to assist or point you in the right direction.
Not sure if I’m confusing Wendover (Sam) for someone else but I think he did an episode on the logistics of tours including the arena. If he didn’t, it would be great if he did and your input would be appreciated! Sam and his team have to start somewhere on the research so getting in contact with someone in that business is a great start!
Oh perfect, i have a question about this and maybe you know. I dont fully understand 8:03. I dont understand them marking the location of the court on the plywood with chalk. Arent those squares refused for future games? And arent they placed somewhat randomly (besides the edge peices)? If both of these things are true, i would think there would be a bunch of now-incorrect chalk lines on the plywood squares, making it confusing. How do they prevent this?
I used to work for the Sacramento Kings, and I was always blown away by how quickly they could bring in tons of dirt, to completely transform the arena for monster jam shows and bull riding tournaments! And then a couple days later you would have no idea the entire arena floor was completely covered in dirt. At one point some production companies would also rent out our arena, not to play a show, but to practice setting up a specific artist's very bespoke stage/lights/props and so on, and they would keep practicing transforming the arena over and over again until they could do it in just a few hours. And that was always impressive as well
Congrats on a fact I didn't know! I never thought about practicing a setup (I mean HAI never covered it in their tour logistics vid) but it totally makes sense, when there's so much pressure to do these conversions.
I work for the Atlanta Hawks and we have a Monster Truck event and Ringling Bros. coming in February 2025. It's amazing seeing how the conversion crew setup for various events, but those guys come in when my shift is over.
The Peoria Civic Center gets rented out for set up/ tear down/ dry run practices all the time. Charlie XCX had the place for the better part of a week this earlier this fall
My "home" arena also hosts 'production tech' weeks for tours. The Local Crew are building the lights, sound, and video infrastructure (cabling, rigging, power) as the rental companies drop off the gear and the tour designers consult their drawings. Lots of labeling, compensating for undocumented changes (those what the hell? moments), then putting it all in the air, the LX and VDO folks do their programming, Audio does "virtual" sound checks. The artists show up the last 2 days and do full show dress rehearsals and then it's taken down, and we see if it fits in the trucks as planned. Sometimes, it does!
As tedious as this may seem it's probably better than building and operating a whole new stadium from scratch, a hockey and basketball ground under one roof
True but teams generally prefer to have purpose built stadiums for their sports. Multi use stadiums and arenas are hardly being built in North America anymore
I mean, is it that tedious if there's a set order to everything and it only takes two-three hours? Hope the pay is good, a heavy month being 20 work days means barely part time hours...
In London we have a stadium that has a football pitch & an American football pitch and they move the entire pitch with some crazy cool mechanical system!
@@TheLiamsterthey are still being built lmao, every major city that has a basketball and hockey team uses the same stadium for both, and for large concerts
2:07 In case anyone is wondering, yes, they do remove the ice during the summer months as soon as the NHL season is over for the team (wether it be at the end of the regular season or after being eliminated during the playoffs). During that time, they use the bare concrete floor for concert/comedy setups, but they do lay down the ice again prior to the first preseason games.
This was the most shocking part of this video and I haven’t even finished the video. How doesn’t it melt? Is the ice refrigerated from below? I played hockey when I was younger and the rink was essentially a huge refrigerated room.
@@berttorpson2592 Yes. Most permanent rinks have heat exchange circuits laid into or below the ice. This works even more efficiently as the ice gets covered in the insulated cover. The ice can stay quite cold with only a bit of refrigeration when almost no heat bleeds into it through the cover.
I wonder if this is true for all hockey arenas? I remember going to some concerts in Tampa (Lightning) and Sunrise (FL Panthers) and the floor was always bare concrete. It's possible it may have been the off season but not 100% sure on that as that was many years ago.
I have been searching my whole adult life for this in-depth of a video about arena conversions. Up until today, I had to settle for three minute time lapses, with no narration. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
@AZaqZaqProduction I suppose it is! Lifelong sports fan, studied architecture in college, so I suppose it is the overlap in the Venn Diagram of two of my biggest interests!
Not mentioned in the video, but sometimes these venues do same-day events. So 1pm hockey, 7:30 pm basketball for example. That's what drives the need for fast conversion
@matthewboudreau158 good to know I always thought one event would rent the arena for the day, would have never thought the arena rent was split into 2+ events.
Definitely surprised me. I work in a different NHL arena, that's not as busy as other arenas, and doesn't have an NBA team. From what I've seen, conversions is usually up to 8 hour a night, with about 20 guys, and a couple ladies.
It’s more like 4-6 hours. I work for the hurricanes and my last two shifts were from 8:30pm-2:00am. Those 2hr conversions are “double days” a basketball game mid day with a hockey game at night. That’s an all hands on deck thing and it’s even worse when there’s a shift that night because of a concert the next day.
That's awesome! I feel like that's something every Canadian from a small town just grows up knowing, since so many of our venues are primarily hockey rinks and we all have an uncle or family friend that works on these conversions for things like converting a rink for a concert or graduation. Cool to see other people learning about this.
@@Laurabeck329 it would take many hours for the ice to melt after a refrigeration system failure, and most likely they have early warning systems and probably a whole backup cooling system just in case that happens
Craziest was Staples Center when they had the Clippers, Lakers, Kings and Sparks. It was also the main arena for large concerts that wouldn't pack a stadium. There was one weekend where they had a Lakers game Friday night, a clipper game Saturday afternoon, a Kings game Saturday night, then another Lakers game Sunday afternoon then a concert Sunday night. Hats off to that arena crew
Thanks. Last season we had two weekends with back to back doubles. It was rough. I think there was even a film shoot after one so it looked like we got a day off after that. Nope.
This is what I love about TH-cam. I had no idea on any of this, never even considered it, and yet find it deeply fascinating. More importantly give me appreciation for all the hard work that goes into this enertainment and respect for the effort these crews put in on a regular basis. Awesome video!
I'm IATSE union working a lot in my local arena like this (before and after concerts) and the conversion crews are always incredible. When I had a spare moment (rarely) I would watch them move into a part of the floor we'd just finished loading out of and they could put up hockey glass in like five or ten minutes and then they'd go back to the seats and wait for us to finish again.Most consistent workers I've ever seen
Non-Chicagoan here: Do you call it "THE United Center" or just "United Center" like Sam does here? I thought most of the time non-baseball stadiums and arenas always got a "the". Then again, with baseball and football stadiums media usually seem to omit the definite article. TLDR, it seems you mostly hear media refer to "the United Center" but never "the Wrigley Field" or "the Soldier Field".
Gotta give the men and women of these crews credit for the work they put in to change these arenas from basketball to hockey, as well as arena football, box lacrosse, UFC, WWE, ice shows, and concerts. It's already a challenge to make the switch during the NBA & NHL regular seasons, but during the postseason, it takes total precision to compete the tasks with a smaller window of time. Bravo. 👏🏿
This is the best video I've ever seen on arena conversions. I'm only a Zamboni driver for a community rink, but have aspirations to one day work at an NHL facility and eventually get to work with these types of conversions. I absolutely loved seeing all the small details like where all the equipment was stored, I figured it'd be stored somewhere near the Zamboni room, not on the long side of the building. Thank you so much for this video
I know you guys did a great video a few years ago about touring logistics. How about a video (or series even) covering the in house process of a concert tour? From load in to load out, there is a repeated sequence that happens every day for these shows. Rigging, staging, power, sound, lighting, backline, catering, wardrobe, pyro, video, projection, effects, trucking, crews, stage hands, and more. Each is it's own world, and they need to work around each other on a daily basis. I've lived in that world, I could see you guys doing it justice!
I worked for a Canadian punk band for a few years. We prided ourselves in being able to load out in less than 20 minutes when motivated to get to a very fancy Motel 6 for the night! Totally different worlds, obviously.
I think there was something about the set-up of the Rolling Stones concert years ago (where they played in Rio) on National Geographic or Discovery. I remember because they had two full stage sets and they leapfrogged over each other as the set-up and breakdown took too long, especially if including transport to the next city.
@@johnchedsey1306 While a small, even mid size band is interesting, it's also nothing compared to some acts. I'd be really interested how a huge band like Rammstein, also with their insane stage setups and pyrotechnics and costumes do it. Like, they load and unload a few full size trucks worth of setup halfway across countries, often within a single 24 hrs. That is truly mindblowing.
@@koenven7012 Not uncommon. I remember when Floyd toured in the 90s, or the massive U2 Stadium tour with the claw stage, they had 3 sets at any given time. One being built for the next shows, one being used, and one being struck from the last show. They would leap frog around the planet in that way, always moving. Crazy logistics.
i worked conversions at "climate pledge" arena (lol) and our procedure was a bit different. we didn't resurface before covering, just yeeted a bunch of MDF boards on top of the ice, and then once the ice was covered we'd come through to remove the glass (those suction cups are fun to play with). also the lower deck seating for the stage was on a mechanical system so nobody needed to physically move any of the seats. we were always min. 4hrs on union contract, but would often get an ice-to-stage setup done in under 2 hours. stage-to-ice was always way worse tho, we had cirque du soleil come thru and it took like 3 hours for loadout before we could even start pulling boards. we also had union stagehands to help with in-house stage setups and they were always chill af loved those guys. anyway idk how accurate this is still its been a bit since i worked there but it was fun and absolutely draining
I wouldn't be surprised if the resurfacing starts happening once Seattle gets an NBA team again, since I imagine the basketball teams are pretty persnickety about their floors.
I used to do this for the college in my town. And I'm glad you went so detailed cause whenever I explain the process to friends, they get so confused so now I can just send them this.
The last big concert I saw (Taylor Swift, Seattle) had so much stuff on the floor - stage, lighting, audio, etc. - that I gave up even trying to figure out how they set it up or how long it took them to do so. “Military precision” would be an understatement.
Big shows means more people and more/bigger equipment - they still have very short conversion windows. They may have also reserved the venue an extra night before, for setup. All possible by the large number of tickets (and sometimes their price).
A major act like her is going to have two whole stage setups and road crews, so that one can be broken down, moved, and set up while a concert is going on at the other. And then there's Trans-Siberian Orchestra, they not only have two entire stage setups and road crews, but TWO ENTIRE BANDS! One tours the eastern part of the country, the other tours the western part. And each will typically do two concerts at each stop, so on any given day of the tour, there will be up to four concerts happening. This is completely necessary to meet demand, as they only tour in November and December.
@@KingdaToro Ah, TSO and the late, great, "I never met a visual effect I didn't like", Paul O'Neil. The amount of work that goes into a TSO tour stop is amazing and there's a huge amount of "detail" work going on right up to doors opening.
I'm gonna say no more than 3 days. The eras tour was massive, but overall the objective is the same. You have crews of like 150-200 per shift and often will have rotating crews, so when one crew gets off, the other crew is coming in. 10 hour shifts with an hour lunch at 5 hours
There's something so satisfying about seeing a large group of people worked as a well-oiled machine. Every cog knows their single purpose, and it allows for something much bigger.
I love how you showed every detail during the conversion. I saw a video a couple weeks back about converting Acrisure Stadium from the University of Pittsburgh Panthers to the Pittsburgh Steelers, but it only talked about the switch without actually showing it, since it was released before the Pitt game. Thank you for going the extra mile!
Glad to see someone mention Dirt events! I've worked with Monster Jam on a handful of events, so I'd like to call myself a bit of an expert on load in and load out on a MJ event; the amount of logistics that go into one show is incredible- from the plastic and safety holds to the partially burried pod supplies, from painting and lining the track to staging trucks and setting up for pit party... it's absolutely incredible to get a chance to see all that up close and personal, even if I often want nothing more than to not move for a few days when I get home (although, as one of the college kids that occasionally get thrown at Monster Jam and told to work, I still have to get up the next morning and go to class).
I came here to say the same thing. The video answers questions we've been asking for years. But I'd still love to learn how they remove a dirt floor dirt or install swimming pools.
I work at the United Center and it was so cool to see a breakdown of a major aspect of our operations that I didn't know much about! It really does take so many interwoven parts to make an arena like this work. Great video.
I used to work at Allegiant Stadium as a Conversion Technician. Our conversions took over 16-18 hours, and only 4 to 6 to get rid of the UNLV turf. We didn't even get overtime until we unionized with the Teamsters a few months before the Super Bowl. I have mad respect for people who do this job (unless you're lazy or a manager/full-time employee who bullies people), especially the people in this video, because I grew up in Chicago and was inspired by these guys.
8:56 I did changeover at the PNC, now Lenovo Center with the Carolina Hurricanes/NCSU Basketball. One time I remember we screwed up where the first couple of pieces were supposed to be and didn’t notice until we were over half way done. It was a pain, we had to take it all apart, then put it all back. Ended up being there for like 6 hours. We got time and a half past 4 hours, but it was absolutely exhausting. We were lucky the game was the next day and not 2 or 3 hours later.
I work for various concert/comedy/exhibition events and some TV work. I’m used to an empty arena to build in. The conversion is a side I never get to see as i’m in part way into the build usually around 7/8am till end of show. Fascinating video.
The way a process like this comes into being is so fascinating to me. The amount of experience, coordination, design and standardization that goes into setting up a process like this is insane. I work in a smaller store and every morning and every night we have to run through our own process of cleanup and making ready for the closing and opening and just in that small process, carried out by three or four people, so many things go wrong all the time. If any one person is not fully aware of every step that needs doing, it throws a wrench in the machine. Sometimes it's small and quickly resolved but other times the consequences keep carrying over. If one person earlier in the day isn't aware of one small detail that would cost them only seconds to correct, it can mean someone else has to do half an hour of extra work during closeup at night. To scale this up to a process like arena conversion, it's both terrifying and incredible to think about. These crews can work independently, without constant supervision, they know what they have to do and as long as they can trust that everyone else also does their job exactly as they should, preferably in the exact same way every time, even if the crews differ each night, the process can go this smooth and take only 2hrs.
It's crazy that they do this all quickly multiple nights a year. I remember one time a NBA game got cancelled due to condensation on the court. I guess they didn't put in the rubber mats in correctly.
They can also do this for OLYMPIC SWIMMING POOLS! Myrtha has a thing they use like this in event centers for things like Olympic Trials. (Typing this pre-watching the video so sorry in advance if it WAS mentioned)
This is a great video! I would love to see one on the logistics how pro sports leagues schedule all the games for a season when dealing with dozens of multipurpose areas like this
2:32 "And maintaining NHL quality ice is no easy feat". You can say that again. I'm a referee so I've skated on so many rinks and there's usually nothing better than an NHL rink. The only other one I've skated on that's as good is the Angel of the Winds arena (Everett Silvertips WHL rink) and NHL practice complexes. It's also not only the ice but also the atmosphere. Skating on an NHL rink gives you such a different view. (And also holy crap if a rink just has a jumbotron and no side-scoreboard it sucks... looking at you SAP Centre, I had to look directly up at the jumbotron to get the time remaining on the penalty. I think they use one during NHL games but didn't let us use one).
I haven't read the book, but yeah I think they are during NHL games. I was working at that rink for a youth game and they weren't using them which caused me to hate face-offs after goals.
Brilliant video, love to see my city get featured! Along the lines of this video, the crowd control one, and the concert tour one, I'd be very interested to learn more about the logistics of music festivals, like Lollapalooza held in Grant Park. The sheer magnitude of those events has always blown me away.
I remember watching an early episode of The Simpsons when I was a kid, where a rock band was playing an arena show and there were puddles of water all over the stage. The joke was that the venue doubled as a hockey rink, and the staff had done a poor job mopping up the melted ice. Ever since then I assumed the joke was based in fact and that that's how they actually do it. Just learned today that I was wrong lol
Usually the ice is covered only when there is another sport or event in the arena, so between hockey games the ice is exposed and the air temp is kept low (65°F or so) and the chillers are running. When it's clear the arena and home team won't be in the playoffs, the arena melts the ice. If a concert is the next day after the last game, it's conceivable that there would be some water needing mopped up. Where The Simpsons took liberty is implying the stage is in place with the ice on top.
I have worked these types of conversions in Oregon and basketball floors are REALLY HEAVY, and finicky to pin together. Each of those basketball floor panels gets pinned together and slid together which is intensely tiring. It is still incredible that a group of people can convert a stadium in a matter of hours.
At Madison Square Garden (and likely other hockey arenas), there are 2 or 3 times a year where they have to do this conversation IN THE SAME DAY so there are both basketball and hockey games within a few hours of one another.
Yeah. If you search “arena conversion” on TH-cam, one of the top results is a timelaspe from one of these times where MSG held both basketball and hockey games in the same day.
Great video! I work in the Less Than Truckload industry & I honestly think it would be right up your wheelhouse for a video. I’m sure that you’re aware, but basically attach the logistics of package delivery with the addition of thousands of pounds of freight!
As an important point, once hockey season is over, they do melt the ice exposing the concrete underneath, however the boards will remain in place as they are permanently affixed to the concrete floor
I’m part of the “crew” at another multi-purpose stadium. Fortunately it’s not a venue where we have to change the floor the same night after a game. ‘Cause we spend three to four hours after each game just cleaning the place up! When I go around just one row of seats, I can barely fit all the trash into one 45 gallon garbage bag. It’s crazy how many people seem to forget their overpriced concessions.
1:08 this is one of those situations where you need to move your tool closer to your work. I also like the the storage room is organized by rule of first retrievability
I love this type of content. A detailed behind the scenes look how spaces are transformed to accomodate different entertainment. I would love a detailed look at how city streets are transformed into formula 1 tracks. The paddock, track markings, curbs, grandstands, barriers, signage, media telecoms, lighting for night races, road closures...theres so much work to put those weekends together.
T in cant is often dropped in American English. I recommend watching some TH-cam videos about it. Can and cant (with t dropped) actually sounds different in a sentence in American English
This is why I love Wendover productions, a video I’ve always wanted to see and we finally got one with details. It’s really crazy the magic arenas are setup for for various events
I just recently started driving the Zamboni at my local hockey rink and this video is stuff I ABSOLUTELY LOVE. It's really cool to get an inside look at the conversion and everything. Thanks Wendover. Also GO LEAFS GO. 😅
I work as a stage hand part time and yes arenas but also concert halls are converted to a lot of different configurations multiple times a week. work is usually late nights and a lot of stuff that needs to be done. I usually do work at the local concert hall and it's constantly being converted from seating configurations to standing configurations depending on the show and bringing in all the stuff the act has brought with them from props and for tours full PA systems and tons of lighting gear. it requires a ton of people working midnight shifts even with all the different equipment used to make it as easy to do as possible
It's not always overnight! I went to a Lakers game last weekend and the LA Kings just finished a playing an NHL game a few hours before the Lakers started!!!
During my student years, I worked for a while in arena conversions (basketball, ice hockey, concerts, handball). It was one of the worst jobs I’ve ever done because everything was so intensely automated. I’ve worked on construction sites a lot, too, but it’s just not comparable pushing through such a rigidly scheduled plan every single night. I’m so glad I got out of that.
The speed and accuracy with which these conversions happen is mind-boggling. I've had a summer job as teenager for a travelling market/fair and the fact that after being in town for less than week they would open until midnight on the last day, then clean up, disassemble about 50 stalls, load them, clean up the square, drive to the next city and finish setting up there before noon to catch a few hours of sleep before opening that evening amazed me. I'm handy and I felt very much out of place during the whole process.
I'm impressed. I used to do changeovers here in dallas all the time. I have since moved up, so that is no longer my job, but this is exactly how this type of thing goes down. With a good crew, going from ice to basketball and back take only a few hours. They pay us minimums to make the job more worth it for the crew but yeah, this was very detailed and very accurate to how these changeovers go down
2.5 hours is insane. Also, one shouldn't forget that there is always something unexpected that comes up. They probably have a good routine but something always breaks or needs special treatment in some way. The fact that they can still do it in this short amount of time is crazy.
I used to do temp work and occasionally they would hire me to do this for the krakens hockey rink. It was pretty cool how we could do the whole floor in a few hours and have it set up for concert by the end of the night.
Having worked a fair few amount of concerts as an IATSE stagehand it's really interesting to get a glimpse to what happens to the space before/after my work begins. Very cool!
So glad this video was made. I took my nephew to his first hockey game. His first question was how do they get it set up for basketball the same week. Couldn’t have asked for better timing. Thank you Wendover.
As a former member of I.A.T.S.E we would work with the arena crews a lot for all sorts of setups. From ice shows, to concerts and all other sorts of performances. This was a very good video on how all this happens.
Great video! Most of similar infrastructure sit idle between games, even though they cost hundrets of millions of dollars to build. Having such a high use rate for a location is great, also allows for better experience for visitors, since the venue is used by much more people.
at the wells fargo center, they had an arena football team there at the same time as basketball and hockey season. so, they’d have to do not just all this for hockey and basketball, but also lay down the turf (more like a carpet), put up the goal posts, and put padding on the boards, and on top of that, the wings also play there for box lacrosse
Damn, respect for Wendover to head down to get footage first-hand. You'd think this channel would stay with stock footage, but the quality has been improving, and so has the access!
I was thinking it was odd how much information he had regarding the specific conversion that was filmed, and usually you don't get that kinda info with stock footage.
as far as we know sam, christine (writes on some wendover projects + production manager) and alex (editor and camera man) were involved - if corinne (non-fiction writer who sometimes assists on wendover projects, but has written i.e logistics of X) and tristan (main wendover writer besides sam) were in chicago, we don’t know. sam posted a story of them filming a while back w/ christine and alex in it. amy would likely not have been involved as she’s pretty exclusively comedy (so HAI, Jet Lag, Getaway + Abolish Everything). non-fiction crew is basically the colorado office.
I did this conversion many times at a large, nationally known arena. I don't remember the Zamboni conditioning the ice before it was covered. In fact, just behind the crew removing glass panels, another crew was laying the protection for the ice. This affair of moving seats looks labor intensive, something I don't remember ever doing. We never needed 50 people and we always finished faster than the time we had to do the work.
This is the best and most thorough video I’ve seen about this conversion process. I’ve worked on the conversion crew at the Oakland coliseum but that was between football and baseball, not hockey and basketball.
Cool to see a portion of a video I suggested less than 2 weeks ago. :) Would still be cool to see how a stadium gets build (the city logistics) and how it commercially operates.
How has Sam not done this topic before? I have watched most of the channel and one would have thought that this would have been one of his first videos. So many people think about how they do this. I know I have searched it half a dozen times because I forget and it’s so amazing
It's actually amazing how much work is put converting from hockey to basketball. Details and precision matter. Coincidentally, I went to see the Bulls live the next day when you recorded this. So mega job for documenting this :)
i find these videos interesting and i hope to see a follow-up one where the conversion includes a Monster Jam show i don't know how that would work but I'd love to see one done at your level of detail
This is fascinating. I've been one of those part time workers at a stadium, and always appreciated the orchestration involved... but the stadium where I worked didn't have ice hockey.
Correct me if I am wrong but when the Islanders played at Barclays Center in Brooklyn the ice was melted and the water was sent out into the streets before converting to basketball because the arena wasn't built for handling hockey on a regular basis, other arenas can chill the concrete floor so the ice remains solid when covered
![ILLSLICK - KILLSHOT REMIX [FULL VERSION]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/RIK8RrqIAzE/mqdefault.jpg)
I’m an arena manager and I guess could be considered an expert in this topic. This video is the best depiction of how arena conversions work that I’ve ever seen. Some of the details and nuance that are mentioned really surprised me as they’re often overlooked by people that don’t do this work every day. Incredible job.
If Wendover ever wants to cover any other topics in the live entertainment / sports / venue world, hit me up! Id be happy to assist or point you in the right direction.
I have mad respect for your job. I've had stints in event planning and stage management and the scope of arena management is mind boggling to me.
Not sure if I’m confusing Wendover (Sam) for someone else but I think he did an episode on the logistics of tours including the arena. If he didn’t, it would be great if he did and your input would be appreciated!
Sam and his team have to start somewhere on the research so getting in contact with someone in that business is a great start!
What is some of the nuance in edge cases that you think could be included in a video?
It’s…beautiful. It’s like a ballet
Oh perfect, i have a question about this and maybe you know. I dont fully understand 8:03. I dont understand them marking the location of the court on the plywood with chalk. Arent those squares refused for future games? And arent they placed somewhat randomly (besides the edge peices)? If both of these things are true, i would think there would be a bunch of now-incorrect chalk lines on the plywood squares, making it confusing. How do they prevent this?
I used to work for the Sacramento Kings, and I was always blown away by how quickly they could bring in tons of dirt, to completely transform the arena for monster jam shows and bull riding tournaments! And then a couple days later you would have no idea the entire arena floor was completely covered in dirt.
At one point some production companies would also rent out our arena, not to play a show, but to practice setting up a specific artist's very bespoke stage/lights/props and so on, and they would keep practicing transforming the arena over and over again until they could do it in just a few hours. And that was always impressive as well
Congrats on a fact I didn't know! I never thought about practicing a setup (I mean HAI never covered it in their tour logistics vid) but it totally makes sense, when there's so much pressure to do these conversions.
I work for the Atlanta Hawks and we have a Monster Truck event and Ringling Bros. coming in February 2025. It's amazing seeing how the conversion crew setup for various events, but those guys come in when my shift is over.
The Peoria Civic Center gets rented out for set up/ tear down/ dry run practices all the time. Charlie XCX had the place for the better part of a week this earlier this fall
My "home" arena also hosts 'production tech' weeks for tours. The Local Crew are building the lights, sound, and video infrastructure (cabling, rigging, power) as the rental companies drop off the gear and the tour designers consult their drawings. Lots of labeling, compensating for undocumented changes (those what the hell? moments), then putting it all in the air, the LX and VDO folks do their programming, Audio does "virtual" sound checks. The artists show up the last 2 days and do full show dress rehearsals and then it's taken down, and we see if it fits in the trucks as planned. Sometimes, it does!
My shoes are still dirty from a rodeo shift in February lol
As tedious as this may seem it's probably better than building and operating a whole new stadium from scratch, a hockey and basketball ground under one roof
True but teams generally prefer to have purpose built stadiums for their sports. Multi use stadiums and arenas are hardly being built in North America anymore
I mean, is it that tedious if there's a set order to everything and it only takes two-three hours? Hope the pay is good, a heavy month being 20 work days means barely part time hours...
In London we have a stadium that has a football pitch & an American football pitch and they move the entire pitch with some crazy cool mechanical system!
@@TheLiamsterthey are still being built lmao, every major city that has a basketball and hockey team uses the same stadium for both, and for large concerts
The movable basketball floors are not as good as a permanent one.
2:07 In case anyone is wondering, yes, they do remove the ice during the summer months as soon as the NHL season is over for the team (wether it be at the end of the regular season or after being eliminated during the playoffs). During that time, they use the bare concrete floor for concert/comedy setups, but they do lay down the ice again prior to the first preseason games.
This was the most shocking part of this video and I haven’t even finished the video. How doesn’t it melt?
Is the ice refrigerated from below?
I played hockey when I was younger and the rink was essentially a huge refrigerated room.
@@berttorpson2592 Yes. Most permanent rinks have heat exchange circuits laid into or below the ice. This works even more efficiently as the ice gets covered in the insulated cover. The ice can stay quite cold with only a bit of refrigeration when almost no heat bleeds into it through the cover.
@berttorpson2592 Most, if not all, rinks will have refrigerant lines running beneath the ice
@berttorpson2592 well most rinks are cold they still rely on cooling under the ice
I wonder if this is true for all hockey arenas? I remember going to some concerts in Tampa (Lightning) and Sunrise (FL Panthers) and the floor was always bare concrete. It's possible it may have been the off season but not 100% sure on that as that was many years ago.
I have been searching my whole adult life for this in-depth of a video about arena conversions. Up until today, I had to settle for three minute time lapses, with no narration. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
That's an oddly specific thing to have as your metaphorical white whale. How did that come about?
@AZaqZaqProduction I suppose it is! Lifelong sports fan, studied architecture in college, so I suppose it is the overlap in the Venn Diagram of two of my biggest interests!
The LA Kings uploaded a real time (non-timelapse) version of their arena conversion recently! Check it out!
@@ShaneGrogan724 I found it! Thanks. I will check it out later...
I was once part of a Arena conversion crew as a forklift driver, it was really fun.
I love that the comment before you is about it being backbreaking working, while you were having fun tooling around in a forklift.
@@chrimony Choose your career carefully, I guess ;)
Can you make enough money to live a middle class life with that one job?
My brother is a part of the conversion team! He’s in the blue at 2:53
That's pretty cool that he accidently ended up in the video!
Your brother is now a member of the Wendover cinematic universe.
show him the video!1!!😎
What is the pay?
@@yourgooglemeister6745 I think around 200-300 dollars per conversion
2 hrs for an arena conversion is very impressive. I was expecting an 8 hr shift.
Not mentioned in the video, but sometimes these venues do same-day events. So 1pm hockey, 7:30 pm basketball for example. That's what drives the need for fast conversion
@matthewboudreau158 good to know I always thought one event would rent the arena for the day, would have never thought the arena rent was split into 2+ events.
@@wilmer007 And then there's Trans-Siberian Orchestra, who rents it for the day and does two concerts in that one day!
Definitely surprised me. I work in a different NHL arena, that's not as busy as other arenas, and doesn't have an NBA team. From what I've seen, conversions is usually up to 8 hour a night, with about 20 guys, and a couple ladies.
It’s more like 4-6 hours. I work for the hurricanes and my last two shifts were from 8:30pm-2:00am.
Those 2hr conversions are “double days” a basketball game mid day with a hockey game at night. That’s an all hands on deck thing and it’s even worse when there’s a shift that night because of a concert the next day.
The ice always being underneath blew my mind
That's awesome! I feel like that's something every Canadian from a small town just grows up knowing, since so many of our venues are primarily hockey rinks and we all have an uncle or family friend that works on these conversions for things like converting a rink for a concert or graduation. Cool to see other people learning about this.
Although if the cooling system fails and the ice melts it's going to be a disaster
I always thought that it wasn't possible to do this
There are whole cities build on ice (permafrost) on this planet
@@Laurabeck329 it would take many hours for the ice to melt after a refrigeration system failure, and most likely they have early warning systems and probably a whole backup cooling system just in case that happens
Craziest was Staples Center when they had the Clippers, Lakers, Kings and Sparks. It was also the main arena for large concerts that wouldn't pack a stadium. There was one weekend where they had a Lakers game Friday night, a clipper game Saturday afternoon, a Kings game Saturday night, then another Lakers game Sunday afternoon then a concert Sunday night. Hats off to that arena crew
There's a time-lapse video around here of a smaller arena doing two concerts, hockey, and arena football in 4 days. It's seriously impressive
Thanks. Last season we had two weekends with back to back doubles. It was rough. I think there was even a film shoot after one so it looked like we got a day off after that. Nope.
This is what I love about TH-cam. I had no idea on any of this, never even considered it, and yet find it deeply fascinating.
More importantly give me appreciation for all the hard work that goes into this enertainment and respect for the effort these crews put in on a regular basis. Awesome video!
I guess you could say this video was... More-Than-Half As Interesting 🥁
Same
I'm IATSE union working a lot in my local arena like this (before and after concerts) and the conversion crews are always incredible. When I had a spare moment (rarely) I would watch them move into a part of the floor we'd just finished loading out of and they could put up hockey glass in like five or ten minutes and then they'd go back to the seats and wait for us to finish again.Most consistent workers I've ever seen
I live in Chicago and have been to the united center countless times for all types of events. This was fascinating.
Non-Chicagoan here: Do you call it "THE United Center" or just "United Center" like Sam does here? I thought most of the time non-baseball stadiums and arenas always got a "the". Then again, with baseball and football stadiums media usually seem to omit the definite article. TLDR, it seems you mostly hear media refer to "the United Center" but never "the Wrigley Field" or "the Soldier Field".
@@andyjay729On the news you’ll hear “The Bulls took on the Bucks tonight at the United Center”
@@andyjay729yeah I always say the the United center
The United Center themselves had a sped up video showing the conversion they put out years ago, but it was nice to see the detail on all of that.
@ I say either "the united center" or "the UC"
Gotta give the men and women of these crews credit for the work they put in to change these arenas from basketball to hockey, as well as arena football, box lacrosse, UFC, WWE, ice shows, and concerts. It's already a challenge to make the switch during the NBA & NHL regular seasons, but during the postseason, it takes total precision to compete the tasks with a smaller window of time.
Bravo. 👏🏿
This is the best video I've ever seen on arena conversions. I'm only a Zamboni driver for a community rink, but have aspirations to one day work at an NHL facility and eventually get to work with these types of conversions. I absolutely loved seeing all the small details like where all the equipment was stored, I figured it'd be stored somewhere near the Zamboni room, not on the long side of the building. Thank you so much for this video
Honestly never thought about it before but I love that even zamboni drivers are hoping to make it to the big leagues. Best of luck!
7:30 don't worry, Chicago has nothing to worry about
Pain
I know you guys did a great video a few years ago about touring logistics. How about a video (or series even) covering the in house process of a concert tour? From load in to load out, there is a repeated sequence that happens every day for these shows. Rigging, staging, power, sound, lighting, backline, catering, wardrobe, pyro, video, projection, effects, trucking, crews, stage hands, and more. Each is it's own world, and they need to work around each other on a daily basis. I've lived in that world, I could see you guys doing it justice!
I'd love to see the level of detail in this vid, on building/demo'ing the concert set.
I worked for a Canadian punk band for a few years. We prided ourselves in being able to load out in less than 20 minutes when motivated to get to a very fancy Motel 6 for the night!
Totally different worlds, obviously.
I think there was something about the set-up of the Rolling Stones concert years ago (where they played in Rio) on National Geographic or Discovery. I remember because they had two full stage sets and they leapfrogged over each other as the set-up and breakdown took too long, especially if including transport to the next city.
@@johnchedsey1306 While a small, even mid size band is interesting, it's also nothing compared to some acts. I'd be really interested how a huge band like Rammstein, also with their insane stage setups and pyrotechnics and costumes do it. Like, they load and unload a few full size trucks worth of setup halfway across countries, often within a single 24 hrs. That is truly mindblowing.
@@koenven7012 Not uncommon. I remember when Floyd toured in the 90s, or the massive U2 Stadium tour with the claw stage, they had 3 sets at any given time. One being built for the next shows, one being used, and one being struck from the last show. They would leap frog around the planet in that way, always moving. Crazy logistics.
i worked conversions at "climate pledge" arena (lol) and our procedure was a bit different. we didn't resurface before covering, just yeeted a bunch of MDF boards on top of the ice, and then once the ice was covered we'd come through to remove the glass (those suction cups are fun to play with). also the lower deck seating for the stage was on a mechanical system so nobody needed to physically move any of the seats. we were always min. 4hrs on union contract, but would often get an ice-to-stage setup done in under 2 hours. stage-to-ice was always way worse tho, we had cirque du soleil come thru and it took like 3 hours for loadout before we could even start pulling boards. we also had union stagehands to help with in-house stage setups and they were always chill af loved those guys. anyway idk how accurate this is still its been a bit since i worked there but it was fun and absolutely draining
I wouldn't be surprised if the resurfacing starts happening once Seattle gets an NBA team again, since I imagine the basketball teams are pretty persnickety about their floors.
what other differences where there vs the arena in the video? I got to climate pledge often for concerts and games and I'm really curious.
...Huh. I didn't realize until now that _most_ stadiums probably have to go through this... and yeah, that seems on brand for Key Arena.
American Airlines Center in Dallas doesn't resurface either. It's all based on preference.
Using quotes on "climate pledge" is so accurate it hurts.
I used to do this for the college in my town. And I'm glad you went so detailed cause whenever I explain the process to friends, they get so confused so now I can just send them this.
The last big concert I saw (Taylor Swift, Seattle) had so much stuff on the floor - stage, lighting, audio, etc. - that I gave up even trying to figure out how they set it up or how long it took them to do so. “Military precision” would be an understatement.
Big shows means more people and more/bigger equipment - they still have very short conversion windows.
They may have also reserved the venue an extra night before, for setup.
All possible by the large number of tickets (and sometimes their price).
A major act like her is going to have two whole stage setups and road crews, so that one can be broken down, moved, and set up while a concert is going on at the other. And then there's Trans-Siberian Orchestra, they not only have two entire stage setups and road crews, but TWO ENTIRE BANDS! One tours the eastern part of the country, the other tours the western part. And each will typically do two concerts at each stop, so on any given day of the tour, there will be up to four concerts happening. This is completely necessary to meet demand, as they only tour in November and December.
@@KingdaToro Ah, TSO and the late, great, "I never met a visual effect I didn't like", Paul O'Neil. The amount of work that goes into a TSO tour stop is amazing and there's a huge amount of "detail" work going on right up to doors opening.
I'm gonna say no more than 3 days. The eras tour was massive, but overall the objective is the same. You have crews of like 150-200 per shift and often will have rotating crews, so when one crew gets off, the other crew is coming in. 10 hour shifts with an hour lunch at 5 hours
Yeah, I heard Ms. lip sync really puts on a show.
There's something so satisfying about seeing a large group of people worked as a well-oiled machine. Every cog knows their single purpose, and it allows for something much bigger.
Props to you for getting to film this yourself.
I love how you showed every detail during the conversion. I saw a video a couple weeks back about converting Acrisure Stadium from the University of Pittsburgh Panthers to the Pittsburgh Steelers, but it only talked about the switch without actually showing it, since it was released before the Pitt game. Thank you for going the extra mile!
That one would have had to be much easier, I assume
One additional point-a dirt event was not mentioned. Rodeo, arena cross, PBR, Monster Jam-that adds another layer of complexity and dump trucks.
Our AHL team’s arena is also the hall for the agricultural fair. It’s a wild transformation. The arena always has a faint manure smell
Glad to see someone mention Dirt events!
I've worked with Monster Jam on a handful of events, so I'd like to call myself a bit of an expert on load in and load out on a MJ event; the amount of logistics that go into one show is incredible- from the plastic and safety holds to the partially burried pod supplies, from painting and lining the track to staging trucks and setting up for pit party... it's absolutely incredible to get a chance to see all that up close and personal, even if I often want nothing more than to not move for a few days when I get home (although, as one of the college kids that occasionally get thrown at Monster Jam and told to work, I still have to get up the next morning and go to class).
I came here to say the same thing. The video answers questions we've been asking for years. But I'd still love to learn how they remove a dirt floor dirt or install swimming pools.
I work at the United Center and it was so cool to see a breakdown of a major aspect of our operations that I didn't know much about! It really does take so many interwoven parts to make an arena like this work. Great video.
Absolutely loved this episode, the on-site footage really made a huge difference in understanding the details.
I used to work at Allegiant Stadium as a Conversion Technician. Our conversions took over 16-18 hours, and only 4 to 6 to get rid of the UNLV turf. We didn't even get overtime until we unionized with the Teamsters a few months before the Super Bowl. I have mad respect for people who do this job (unless you're lazy or a manager/full-time employee who bullies people), especially the people in this video, because I grew up in Chicago and was inspired by these guys.
8:56 I did changeover at the PNC, now Lenovo Center with the Carolina Hurricanes/NCSU Basketball. One time I remember we screwed up where the first couple of pieces were supposed to be and didn’t notice until we were over half way done. It was a pain, we had to take it all apart, then put it all back. Ended up being there for like 6 hours. We got time and a half past 4 hours, but it was absolutely exhausting. We were lucky the game was the next day and not 2 or 3 hours later.
I work for various concert/comedy/exhibition events and some TV work. I’m used to an empty arena to build in.
The conversion is a side I never get to see as i’m in part way into the build usually around 7/8am till end of show.
Fascinating video.
The way a process like this comes into being is so fascinating to me. The amount of experience, coordination, design and standardization that goes into setting up a process like this is insane.
I work in a smaller store and every morning and every night we have to run through our own process of cleanup and making ready for the closing and opening and just in that small process, carried out by three or four people, so many things go wrong all the time. If any one person is not fully aware of every step that needs doing, it throws a wrench in the machine. Sometimes it's small and quickly resolved but other times the consequences keep carrying over. If one person earlier in the day isn't aware of one small detail that would cost them only seconds to correct, it can mean someone else has to do half an hour of extra work during closeup at night.
To scale this up to a process like arena conversion, it's both terrifying and incredible to think about. These crews can work independently, without constant supervision, they know what they have to do and as long as they can trust that everyone else also does their job exactly as they should, preferably in the exact same way every time, even if the crews differ each night, the process can go this smooth and take only 2hrs.
8:09 sound to me like they need some laser cross hairs installed into the roof. Set it up once, then flick a switch and there’s your markers.
It's crazy that they do this all quickly multiple nights a year.
I remember one time a NBA game got cancelled due to condensation on the court. I guess they didn't put in the rubber mats in correctly.
The condensation would be due to a failure in the dehumidification system more than the rubber mats being installed incorrectly
They can also do this for OLYMPIC SWIMMING POOLS!
Myrtha has a thing they use like this in event centers for things like Olympic Trials.
(Typing this pre-watching the video so sorry in advance if it WAS mentioned)
This is a great video! I would love to see one on the logistics how pro sports leagues schedule all the games for a season when dealing with dozens of multipurpose areas like this
I was on a changeover crew in Raleigh. It's backbreaking work.
Just do it while walking backwards, you'll get abs in no time then.
Me too. Works at the PNC arena
7:05 Hell yeah, Muse!!
2:32 "And maintaining NHL quality ice is no easy feat".
You can say that again. I'm a referee so I've skated on so many rinks and there's usually nothing better than an NHL rink. The only other one I've skated on that's as good is the Angel of the Winds arena (Everett Silvertips WHL rink) and NHL practice complexes.
It's also not only the ice but also the atmosphere. Skating on an NHL rink gives you such a different view. (And also holy crap if a rink just has a jumbotron and no side-scoreboard it sucks... looking at you SAP Centre, I had to look directly up at the jumbotron to get the time remaining on the penalty. I think they use one during NHL games but didn't let us use one).
I thought NHL teams were required to have the clocks on not only the center-hungs, but the side ribbon boards on each end too?
I haven't read the book, but yeah I think they are during NHL games. I was working at that rink for a youth game and they weren't using them which caused me to hate face-offs after goals.
@@samschwartz5824 Not required but it's become standard practice. Some teams will also have them on the ribbon boards at center ice but most do not.
You forgot the Food & Bev staff member who provides constant fresh coffee and pizza throughout the night!
Brilliant video, love to see my city get featured! Along the lines of this video, the crowd control one, and the concert tour one, I'd be very interested to learn more about the logistics of music festivals, like Lollapalooza held in Grant Park. The sheer magnitude of those events has always blown me away.
Just went to a noon Hockey game in Cleveland, and by 7pm there was a basketball game. It was crazy. Thats less than 4 hours!
And they open doors in under 3 I would guess, amazing
I remember watching an early episode of The Simpsons when I was a kid, where a rock band was playing an arena show and there were puddles of water all over the stage. The joke was that the venue doubled as a hockey rink, and the staff had done a poor job mopping up the melted ice. Ever since then I assumed the joke was based in fact and that that's how they actually do it. Just learned today that I was wrong lol
Usually the ice is covered only when there is another sport or event in the arena, so between hockey games the ice is exposed and the air temp is kept low (65°F or so) and the chillers are running. When it's clear the arena and home team won't be in the playoffs, the arena melts the ice. If a concert is the next day after the last game, it's conceivable that there would be some water needing mopped up. Where The Simpsons took liberty is implying the stage is in place with the ice on top.
I was actually wondering “I wonder if they shot this video, or if it was file footage”. Cool to hear your team recorded it.
I have worked these types of conversions in Oregon and basketball floors are REALLY HEAVY, and finicky to pin together. Each of those basketball floor panels gets pinned together and slid together which is intensely tiring. It is still incredible that a group of people can convert a stadium in a matter of hours.
I’m literally like “how did you get this footage? Who let you go back there?”
At Madison Square Garden (and likely other hockey arenas), there are 2 or 3 times a year where they have to do this conversation IN THE SAME DAY so there are both basketball and hockey games within a few hours of one another.
Yeah. If you search “arena conversion” on TH-cam, one of the top results is a timelaspe from one of these times where MSG held both basketball and hockey games in the same day.
They also do this at Lenovo Center (formerly PNC Arena)
They did this at TD garden in Boston a few weeks ago
For those wondering how this relates to airlines.......it is the UNITED CENTER so that is the obvious connection. Well played Wendover, well played.
It's a logistics channel.
@@rogink It´s a channel about how the world works - with a facination of the airline industry.
@rogink With a debilitating airline fetish.
@@madhavyu even bigger fascination on BRICKS
@@Homer-OJ-Simpson Just because I don't care doesn't mean I don't understand.
1:01 what a pane
im going to tickle you
i’ve been waiting two whole years for a wendover hockey video. few would get it.
Great video! I work in the Less Than Truckload industry & I honestly think it would be right up your wheelhouse for a video. I’m sure that you’re aware, but basically attach the logistics of package delivery with the addition of thousands of pounds of freight!
As an important point, once hockey season is over, they do melt the ice exposing the concrete underneath, however the boards will remain in place as they are permanently affixed to the concrete floor
I saw the length and thought this would be a short topic but it seems you've covered it as efficiently as the stadium staff did
I’m part of the “crew” at another multi-purpose stadium. Fortunately it’s not a venue where we have to change the floor the same night after a game. ‘Cause we spend three to four hours after each game just cleaning the place up! When I go around just one row of seats, I can barely fit all the trash into one 45 gallon garbage bag. It’s crazy how many people seem to forget their overpriced concessions.
People are disgusting slobs.
1:08 this is one of those situations where you need to move your tool closer to your work.
I also like the the storage room is organized by rule of first retrievability
> The ice always stays there, no matter what is happening in the arena
A whole new meaning to "on thin ice" lol
ICE hockey. Not just hockey. ICE hockey.
9:46 He new he was getting recorded 😂
I love this type of content. A detailed behind the scenes look how spaces are transformed to accomodate different entertainment. I would love a detailed look at how city streets are transformed into formula 1 tracks. The paddock, track markings, curbs, grandstands, barriers, signage, media telecoms, lighting for night races, road closures...theres so much work to put those weekends together.
11:48 is it just me or is he saying “we can afford to fly out to” instead of “can’t”? The subtitles say “can’t” but I hear “can”
T in cant is often dropped in American English. I recommend watching some TH-cam videos about it. Can and cant (with t dropped) actually sounds different in a sentence in American English
The title should be “Allowing two Chicago teams to lose in 24 hours in the same building”
Man I had no idea the conversion crews had regular jobs outside the arena, that's insane commitment
This is why I love Wendover productions, a video I’ve always wanted to see and we finally got one with details. It’s really crazy the magic arenas are setup for for various events
I just recently started driving the Zamboni at my local hockey rink and this video is stuff I ABSOLUTELY LOVE. It's really cool to get an inside look at the conversion and everything. Thanks Wendover.
Also GO LEAFS GO. 😅
I work as a stage hand part time and yes arenas but also concert halls are converted to a lot of different configurations multiple times a week. work is usually late nights and a lot of stuff that needs to be done. I usually do work at the local concert hall and it's constantly being converted from seating configurations to standing configurations depending on the show and bringing in all the stuff the act has brought with them from props and for tours full PA systems and tons of lighting gear. it requires a ton of people working midnight shifts even with all the different equipment used to make it as easy to do as possible
It's not always overnight! I went to a Lakers game last weekend and the LA Kings just finished a playing an NHL game a few hours before the Lakers started!!!
During my student years, I worked for a while in arena conversions (basketball, ice hockey, concerts, handball). It was one of the worst jobs I’ve ever done because everything was so intensely automated. I’ve worked on construction sites a lot, too, but it’s just not comparable pushing through such a rigidly scheduled plan every single night. I’m so glad I got out of that.
I'm usually on the incoming client side of the setup, but converting a big arena is something I've always appreciated from a tech point of view.
I work at the United Center and I'm always in awe of how fast they change everything
The speed and accuracy with which these conversions happen is mind-boggling.
I've had a summer job as teenager for a travelling market/fair and the fact that after being in town for less than week they would open until midnight on the last day, then clean up, disassemble about 50 stalls, load them, clean up the square, drive to the next city and finish setting up there before noon to catch a few hours of sleep before opening that evening amazed me. I'm handy and I felt very much out of place during the whole process.
Great video!
Comparing this to the new SAP Garden in Munich, there's an astounding variety on how to accomplish this conversion...
This is so funny! This is the first time I get to watch a wendover video and understand what he's talking about. I do this for a living 😂
I'm impressed. I used to do changeovers here in dallas all the time. I have since moved up, so that is no longer my job, but this is exactly how this type of thing goes down. With a good crew, going from ice to basketball and back take only a few hours. They pay us minimums to make the job more worth it for the crew but yeah, this was very detailed and very accurate to how these changeovers go down
6:11 Maybe Sam should make a t-shirt saying something like "Loading a cargo ship and setting up an NBA court: Just like Tetris!"
Wendover x NHL is the coolest collab i‘ve ever seen! What an awesome video!
I'd do this for 2 and a half hours as a part time thing
2.5 hours is insane. Also, one shouldn't forget that there is always something unexpected that comes up. They probably have a good routine but something always breaks or needs special treatment in some way. The fact that they can still do it in this short amount of time is crazy.
I used to do temp work and occasionally they would hire me to do this for the krakens hockey rink. It was pretty cool how we could do the whole floor in a few hours and have it set up for concert by the end of the night.
Having worked a fair few amount of concerts as an IATSE stagehand it's really interesting to get a glimpse to what happens to the space before/after my work begins. Very cool!
So glad this video was made. I took my nephew to his first hockey game. His first question was how do they get it set up for basketball the same week. Couldn’t have asked for better timing. Thank you Wendover.
I’ve been waiting for a Wendover video on arena logistics for years, thank you guys so much!
As a former member of I.A.T.S.E we would work with the arena crews a lot for all sorts of setups. From ice shows, to concerts and all other sorts of performances. This was a very good video on how all this happens.
Great video! Most of similar infrastructure sit idle between games, even though they cost hundrets of millions of dollars to build. Having such a high use rate for a location is great, also allows for better experience for visitors, since the venue is used by much more people.
at the wells fargo center, they had an arena football team there at the same time as basketball and hockey season. so, they’d have to do not just all this for hockey and basketball, but also lay down the turf (more like a carpet), put up the goal posts, and put padding on the boards, and on top of that, the wings also play there for box lacrosse
Damn, respect for Wendover to head down to get footage first-hand. You'd think this channel would stay with stock footage, but the quality has been improving, and so has the access!
We all knew he had it in him gotta master the voiceover before you can really expand I think this channel is gonna keep cooking
I was thinking it was odd how much information he had regarding the specific conversion that was filmed, and usually you don't get that kinda info with stock footage.
I wonder if Amy from HaI got to go
as far as we know sam, christine (writes on some wendover projects + production manager) and alex (editor and camera man) were involved - if corinne (non-fiction writer who sometimes assists on wendover projects, but has written i.e logistics of X) and tristan (main wendover writer besides sam) were in chicago, we don’t know. sam posted a story of them filming a while back w/ christine and alex in it. amy would likely not have been involved as she’s pretty exclusively comedy (so HAI, Jet Lag, Getaway + Abolish Everything). non-fiction crew is basically the colorado office.
@@mio1260 thank you for the answer. I was trying to be funny but learned something 🙂
I did this conversion many times at a large, nationally known arena. I don't remember the Zamboni conditioning the ice before it was covered. In fact, just behind the crew removing glass panels, another crew was laying the protection for the ice. This affair of moving seats looks labor intensive, something I don't remember ever doing. We never needed 50 people and we always finished faster than the time we had to do the work.
This is the best and most thorough video I’ve seen about this conversion process. I’ve worked on the conversion crew at the Oakland coliseum but that was between football and baseball, not hockey and basketball.
This was a great video.
Cool to see a portion of a video I suggested less than 2 weeks ago. :)
Would still be cool to see how a stadium gets build (the city logistics) and how it commercially operates.
Ahh thats why a regular season game costs $500 to $3500 / seat in that area 😂
How has Sam not done this topic before? I have watched most of the channel and one would have thought that this would have been one of his first videos.
So many people think about how they do this. I know I have searched it half a dozen times because I forget and it’s so amazing
It’s so cool that you got the opportunity to film this in person! I was wondering how you got so many detailed shots during the video. Loved it!
As a Chicago fan, I really REALLY appreciate this video. This was awesome, even without the Chicago connection. Thank you.
this is SO much better than VO over stock footage. this is real journalism. reading a wikipedia article over stock footage is not.
It's actually amazing how much work is put converting from hockey to basketball. Details and precision matter. Coincidentally, I went to see the Bulls live the next day when you recorded this. So mega job for documenting this :)
As a huge NHL fan and also an NBA fan (go Bolts and Magic) this is a really neat video. Great work Sam!
i find these videos interesting and i hope to see a follow-up one where the conversion includes a Monster Jam show i don't know how that would work but I'd love to see one done at your level of detail
You never think about this but it's some crazy engineering
That's a helluva transformation in such a short amount of time. Pure amazement 😲👍🏾
I believe that this is the shortest (non teaser video) Wendover video in over 3 years. That doesn’t have any impact on the quality though clearly!
This is fascinating. I've been one of those part time workers at a stadium, and always appreciated the orchestration involved... but the stadium where I worked didn't have ice hockey.
Correct me if I am wrong but when the Islanders played at Barclays Center in Brooklyn the ice was melted and the water was sent out into the streets before converting to basketball because the arena wasn't built for handling hockey on a regular basis, other arenas can chill the concrete floor so the ice remains solid when covered