A crowd of 44,835 -- the "largest for soccer" in Tennessee history -- turned out on Friday for the U.S. men's national team's 4-0 victory over Guatemala at Nissan Stadium, but social media still is "lighting up with complaints from fans about overwhelming traffic, and long security and concession lines," according to Michael Murphy of the Nashville TENNESSEAN. Titans VP/Facilities & Game Day Operations Bob Flynn cited "several contributing factors" for the stadium's congestion. He said that the city's fireworks show held the next night "was at least partially to blame," as the fence for fireworks "blocked the view of some gates, leading people to think only one was open." The stadium's bag policy "was another sticking point." Despite the NFL's bag policy "being posted on the Titans' website four days in advance of the match, the policy being printed on tickets sold through Ticketmaster and tweets by U.S. Soccer and the Titans on game day, many attendees were unprepared." Retrieving the checked bags "was an even bigger ordeal" (Nashville TENNESSEAN, 7/7). Flynn said that the stadium’s concessionaire, Aramark, was "short-staffed after about 100 concession workers did not show up." He said, “We had a plan for 300-plus people to be here, and people just didn’t show up here to work. It’s disappointing. It can’t happen again.” Flynn said that it is "unclear how many were Aramark employees, how many were temporary workers and how many were volunteers who run concessions as a fundraiser." Flynn: "I take this personally. This is what I do, and right now, this is not a good reflection. Saturday and Sunday was not a fun day for me” (WSMV.com, 7/6).
UNDER MY THUMB: Indianapolis Motor Speedway President Doug Boles said that the track "likely will host its next concert" in '16, which will "allow ample time to tweak and refine" what 50,000 Rolling Stones fans experienced on Saturday. In Indianapolis, David Lindquist notes the infield concert site, located northeast of Pagoda Plaza, was "an open field with no bleachers, chairs or elevated terrain." That posed a "challenge in terms of viewing the actual musicians onstage." Some attendees also said that they "spent too much time trying to exit parking lots after the show." Boles said that IMS "plans to consult local law enforcement on strategies for easing the exit process" (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 7/7).
