Cleaning Stadiums, Concerts and Sports Venues

William R. Griffin
Apr 24, 2017
2 min read

Considerations for appropriate staffing at your Venue

Stadiums, arenas, and sports venues come in many sizes. Cleaning and maintaining these types of facilities is not a job that can be approached haphazardly, and demands planning, preparation, communication, coordination, and the ability to quickly adapt. The concepts outlined here are the same regardless of the size of the facility.

Primary factors impacting cleaning:

Type of event
Attendance
Set-up and tear down requirements
Cleaning shifts
Weather

Know your Break down of shifts:

Pre-event cleaning
Event cleaning
Post event cleaning
Next event scheduling.

Staffing Assignments

When hiring a new maintenance crew to your venue, for events it is a good idea to over staff by 40 percent. Typically event labor are temporary employees, and or part-time workers who can be dismissed if you don’t need them.

Assign teams to specific areas according to their task. Cleaning positions include:

Pickers: They pick up large debris in the sports bowl or seating area.
Blowers: They clean up smaller debris using air-blowers while moving downward toward the main floor.
Sweepers: They use brooms to sweep across the rows of seating and then down the stairs to the main floor; they should bag as they go if the pile gets too big.
Pressure washers: They clean surfaces such as concrete, rubber, plastic, and stairwells in areas with appropriate drainage.
Restroom team: This team is responsible for cleaning and stocking the public restrooms. These are critical areas that will generate complaints if workers do not properly clean and stock them.
Trash team: This team is responsible for the collecting, bagging, and disposal of trash, cardboard, and other recycled materials.
Suite crew: This team is responsible for suites, boxes and offices, etc.

Staffing Numbers

Facility sizes and attendance levels will affect the amount of cleaning staff you need. The most common staff numbers for particular facility sizes are:

5–7 people: 0–1,000 attendees
10–15 people: 1,001–5,000 attendees
15 people: 5,001–10,000 attendees
20 people: 10,001–20,000 attendees
30 people: 20,001–40,000 attendees
45–60 people: 40,001–65,000 attendees.

Once your numbers grow to more than 70,000 attendees, you should hire two additional people for every 5,000 building occupants.

Here are some other staffing tips to consider for different types of areas and scenarios:

Outdoor seating areas: These normally require approximately 30 percent fewer staff due to assistance from using water hose/pressure washers.

Restrooms: Set up restroom cleaners in teams of two with one restroom cart. A restroom with 6–12 stalls should take 15 minutes to clean; a restroom with 20 stalls should take 25 minutes to clean. Suites: Suites may require one working lead, two vacuum positions, and four cleaners.

Concourses and walkways: These will require staff to take care of trash, dusting, and damp mopping; depending on the size of the facility, you may want to allow eight working hours to clean each level.

Time frame: On the last night of any event, expect the event to run 30 to 60 minutes late.