Looking to the Super Bowl for Inspiration

Scott Lowery, operations manager for the upcoming 2010 World Equestrian Games to be held in Lexington, Ky., paid close attention to the 2008 Super Bowl. It’s unknown which team he was cheering for, but reports confirm he was paying special attention to the event’s details.

Lowery and his staff were interested in touring the Super Bowl’s operations planning to see how the community of Phoenix, Ariz.–where the big game took place–was impacted by the event, so they could take lessons home to Lexington and plan for 2010. Lowery toured the bus and parking operations with Super Bowl Gameday Management’s Tony Vitrano, who is also a transportation consultant for the 2010 World Equestrian Games.

Lowery said it was eye-opening to see the amount of preparation and planning involved for a one-day event. “Our transportation plan [for the 2010 World Equestrian Games] will play an even bigger role than the planning for the Super Bowl because we have more than 16 operational days, and much less on-site parking available,” Lowery says. “I’m confident with Tony’s experience with major events like the Super Bowl, and events with similar transportation matters to ours, like the Daytona 500, that he is the right choice to help us handle such an important operation in our Games.”

Lowery also observed the Super Bowl’s security operations with the Games’ security consultant, Kevin Tyo, and toured the catering, concessions and hospitality set-up. Lowery noted that Phoenix and the surrounding communities embraced the Super Bowl extremely well. Phoenix, Scottsdale, Tempe and Glendale each hosted all types of events in their communities, day and night. He also observed that the Super Bowl brand was presented well in every town, and that the host city took great efforts in working with the surrounding communities to create a complete schedule of events, both official and unofficial, across the region.

“It was a great reminder of the opportunity that Lexington and the whole state of Kentucky will have when thousands of visitors from other states and overseas land in Kentucky for the first time, looking for a unique experience while attending the Games,” Lowery says. Lowery will take his observations back to the Games’ transportation committee, which includes Gameday Management, state consultants, the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, the Kentucky Horse Park, the Lexington-Fayette Urban-County Government and Lextran.