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Regal Tent Productions makes its first Super Bowl appearance.
Regal Tent Productions Ltd., Stoney Creek, Ont., Canada, is no stranger to a big stage, having provided tents for events ranging from past Olympic Games to the Great Canadian Baking Show. But Super Bowl LIII in Atlanta, Ga., in February was the first time the company contributed to the NFL championship—one of the sporting world’s biggest annual events.
“We were fortunate to work with the event planner Kreate Inc. [of El Segundo, Calif.] in 2009 when they came to Canada to plan festivities associated with the NHL All-Star Game in Montreal,” says Michelle McCulloch, Regal Tent vice president of sales and operations. “They reached out again in 2018, and we were able to strike up a partnership.”
Regal Tent provided 40 tents and structures for Super Bowl LIVE presented by Verizon, which served as the Atlanta Super Bowl Host Committee’s free public fan village. The installation included large clearspan structures for the stage and the food and beverage area, custom structures including a double-decker tent, and the company’s new Q-Series structure by HTS Clearspan Structure Systems for the sponsor activations, along with more than 30 support tents.
“Our new Q-Series structures were designed to maximize branding opportunities for the sponsors,” McCulloch says. “With full branded panels at the front and side of the tents, integrated flooring and glass wall systems, and a unique half-tent look, these structures are a very appealing option for activations at large festivals.”
Preparations began in April 2018. After multiple site visits, the Regal Tent crew arrived on-site on Jan. 7 and spent 18 days installing tents across Centennial Olympic Park in downtown Atlanta.
“Our standby crew kept everything in tip-top shape for the eight days of the event, and then our staff arrived back on-site on Feb. 4 and had only seven days to complete the removal,” McCulloch says.
The two largest structures were 50-meter-wide clearspan tents, which were installed on a grassy area with a 6-foot slope.
“Regal Tent did a laser level of the site and customized different leg heights that ensured the tents would sit level on the sloped surface,” she says. “At the high point of the ground, we used 10-foot legs. At the low point of the ground, the legs were over 16 feet high.”
To ensure that the grass wasn’t damaged, SignaRoad® mats were laid wherever vehicles and equipment needed to go.
“A crew was hired just to install these roads and move them around the site during installation and removal, which added a lot of time to the schedule,” she says.
McCulloch says that the crew lucked out with generally good weather, but the company contended with other last-minute adjustments.
“Just before we started installation, the client asked if we could do a custom-branded gable for the 50-meter-wide food and beverage tent,” she says. “We worked with our printing partners in Toronto [PNH Solutions] to get the vinyl printed and then back to our warehouse, where our staff manufactured the vinyl into the custom 50-meter gable. The gable just made it onto the last truck out of our warehouse and to Atlanta where it could be installed.”
For an event with many moving parts, close communication with the logistics coordinator helped keep the crew on top of any changes and ensured that the company’s warehouse staff was aware of additions to the order, McCulloch says.
“Kreate Inc. was thrilled with our work on-site, and we heard nothing but accolades,” she says. “We truly felt like a partner in this project and look forward to working with them again.”