Many businesses have had the opportunity to pivot their services in 2020, whether they wanted to or not. For some, that meant adapting their services to a unique environment, while others created entirely new products. One of the leaders in pivoting their services were professional and college sports. The majority of sports leagues that were able to resume playing were not allowed to host fans. The absence of fans not only changed the aesthetic of the games, but also eliminated ticket revenue which helps make the games possible. To help alleviate these problems, many sports teams turned to seat covers.
Seat covers are large banners that are fitted to cover large sections of seating at a stadium or arena. Teams often use seat covers to display sponsors or team branding when the seats aren’t in use. Seat covers aren’t an uncommon product for us to produce, and we knew right away they would be a solution for many of our clients. With teams forced to compete in front of empty crowds, using seat covers hides the seating in the lower bowl and allows teams to display team logos or sponsor messaging instead. Covering the empty seats created a more pleasing visual for television audience, while the sponsor messaging helps teams recoup some of the lost ticket revenue.
The Penn State Nittany Lions were one of the teams we produced seat covers for this fall. Penn State University used their seat covers as a way to not only create a cleaner aesthetic and feature sponsors, but also to honor their students with a special seat cover for the student’s section. This seat cover features a large “S” in the middle, with all of the names of the students in the 2020-2021 classes printed around the graphic. In addition to seat covers, Softline Padded A-frames were also fabricated for this project.
When it came time for game day, the seat covers and a-frames were installed and created an appealing visual that supported the home team. However, before anything was installed, the staff at AMI had to work hard and work together to get the job done right.
After the seat covers were printed on our large format printer, reinforced webbing is stitched into the hem (left) and grommets are installed as needed (right).
To cover wide seating sections, multiple pieces of material are heat welded together to create a nearly seamless final product.
A view from above gives a clearer picture of the all-hands-on-deck mentality that the AMI staff tackles any project with. In the bottom left corner of the photo, an AMI employee stitches Softline A-frames for the sidelines of the field. On the table behind him, another AMI employee prepares a seat cover to be stitched. On the table behind him, a third AMI employee installs grommets on a different seat cover for PSU. Finally, on the far wall, our large format printer is printing another panel for one of the PSU seat covers. The individual effort and ability to work as a team allows the AMI staff to tackle large projects with confidence.
Penn State University’s vision coupled with the hard work of the staff at AMI created a stunning display on game day. No matter how big or small your vision is, we’re here and ready to help you navigate all of your signage needs now and in the future. Reach out today to turn your vision into a reality!
Check out more blogs from the We’re Here We’re Ready series:
Part 1: We’re Here. We’re Ready
Part 2: Teamwork
Part 3: Adapting
Part 4: Seat Covers
Part 5: The Future
