At the Rink: Philadelphia Flyers Flex Potential of 4K Kinetic Centerhung as Fans Return to Wells Fargo Center

At the Rink: Philadelphia Flyers Flex Potential of 4K Kinetic Centerhung as Fans Return to Wells Fargo Center Game pres team experimenting with new looks and effects for board that debuted in 2019 By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital

Friday, April 9, 2021 - 2:55 pm

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The National Hockey League was the last of the four major American sports to host a non-bubble regular season. As fans gradually make their return to the seats, how is that affecting in-venue productions and digital content? Similar to At the Ballpark, On the Gridiron, and On the Hardwood, At the Rink will look at the operations of NHL organizations to see how their coping with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and adapting back to a sense of normalcy.

Tina DiVilio had just moved across the country. It was a seasonably cold day in Philadelphia in early January and it was Tina's first day as the new Senior Director, Event Presentation for the NHL's Philadelphia Flyers.

The 2021 season started in less than 48 hours.

The Flyers had made it to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs the previous summer in the NHL Hub City of Toronto. But this was different. For the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the team would play in its home arena of Wells Fargo Center.

Sure, there wouldn't be any fans in attendance, but it was good to be home.

Before departing her previous job - a four-year stay with the San Jose Sharks on their game presentation team - a good friend back in the Bay Area, Laura Johnson (Director, Game Day Production & Live Events for the San Francisco 49ers), offered a bit of advice.

Nothing will prepare you for a building with no fans, recalls DiVilio.

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The Flyers hosted their in-state rivals, the Pittsburgh Penguins, that Opening Night and, sure enough, Johnson was right.

You feel like the Chosen One' just being in the building, laughs DiVilio, who, prior to her time with the Sharks, also worked in game presentation for the Washington Wizards and Mystics for Monumental Sports & Entertainment and as a production assistant for the YES Network. You're almost entertaining yourselves. That's the goal. You know if you are entertaining yourselves, you are doing a great job.

Making the Transition To Limited Fans Last summer, the Flyers had launched a new brand campaign - Anytime, Anywhere - to coincide with the team's run in the playoffs up in Toronto. Since the messaging still felt apropos in light of the continued pandemic restrictions, the team brought it back in 2021 and looked to expound upon it.

Artie Halstead is senior producer for the Philadelphia Flyers and serves as the show caller for the in-arena show. He's been with the club for more than 15 years. (Photo Courtesy Philadelphia Flyers)

The in-venue show, which is headed up by senior producer and show caller Artie Halstead (a veteran of the building for 15+ years), spent the first two months of the season building out a script that was designed largely for the players on the ice. What music would they enjoy and how could their group build a home-ice advantage that the players could capitalize on?

While all that was going on, the team was already building a plan for what things would look like when fans, hopefully, did return at some point in the season. They initially planned for much fewer numbers but when the city announced it would allow for 15% capacity (or 3,100 spectators), it was a pleasant surprise. Select members of Flyers faithful returned on Sunday, March 7.

One of the most notable challenges? Pumping in artificial crowd sound to fill the mostly-empty building with some atmosphere. That task was taken on by producer and production assistant Justin Ott.

The perfect person to do the crowd noise is someone who knows video games, who knows the game of hockey, and someone who knows how to use audio equipment. Justin was the perfect person, says DiVilio. He embraced it and became the voice of the fans.

Having fans, though, she continued, [Justin] had to change his whole mindset to how do I supplement what the fans already sound like?' That was one of our biggest challenges. It took a game or two but he hasn't missed a beat. Whatever the fans sound like, he's amplifying it and making it sound like 100% capacity. That machine is probably the most scrutinized machine in the industry at the moment. Everyone has an opinion about the crowd noise. With [Justin], we haven't dealt with much negative feedback because he's embraced it so well.

Game Presentation Manager Alexa Ikeler serves as the lead floor director on game days. She also played a critical role in a second-screen experience that the team produced for fans during the Stanley Cup Playoffs last summer. (Photo Courtesy Philadelphia Flyers)

Game Presentation Manager Alexa Ikeler has played a key role in adjusting much of the execution of the show now that fans are back. Naturally, some of the new content inc

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