Indianapolis International Airport (IND) is all spruced up to welcome nearly 100,000 visitors to town for the College Football National Playoff Championship. Festivities will be taking place all weekend leading up to the Jan. 10 championship game at Lucas Oil Stadium.
In addition to lots of fun signage and pop-up souvenir spots, IND will be hosting live music performances in Civic Plaza by Indy musicians from January 7 to 11 from 1 p.m. â 4:30 p.m.
There’s also a photo opp site set up outside the Ground Transportation Center featuring a goalpost mural with 3D effects.
And the 22 For 22 poster show is on display in Civic Plaza through Jan. 11. The exhibit features poster art by 22 graphic artists and illustrators from Central Indiana and focuses on a theme of common football phrases.
Fans are invited to bid on framed 24×36 prints of their favorite designs through Sunday, January 9. Proceeds go to Teach Indy.
College basketball fans arriving at Indianapolis International Airport (IND) this week will find some special art, music, food, and exhibits, courtesy of the city’s trademark Hoosier Hospitality.
In addition to a custom-wrapped INDY car in the airport’s Civic Place, there are digital displays of cascading basketballs and the #LoveIndy statue for photo ops.
Eat, Drink and Shop
Pop-up retail stores in the pre-security Civic Plaza and Concourse B are selling NCAA apparel and gear, as are other retail stores throughout the terminal. And, for that special souvenir, Scoreboard, in Concourse A, is selling an Indiana University basketball made with Swarovski Crystal.
Hungry fans can stop in for the famous St. Elmo shrimp cocktail at Harry and Izzyâs or at Shapiroâs for local delicatessen eats. And the new Sun King Tap Room is serving its âHoops There It Isâ specialty beer – wheat ale with peach.
Art and music too
In partnership with the Arts Council of Indianapolis, 10 temporary murals featured work by local artists on vinyl are on display in Concourses A and B.
THe party doesn’t stop there. There will also be live music at IND on Fridays and Saturdays through April 3. And, thans to the Childrenâs Museum of Indianapolis, an exhibition of pieces from the National Art Museum of Sport (in Concourses A and B).
This big game will take place on Friday, February 5 from 10 a.m. MST to 11 p.m. MST.
The mini football âstadiumâ will be filled with six Australian Shepherd puppies that will up for adoption on a first-come, first serve basis through Denver’s Dumb Friends League, a socially conscious animal welfare organization.
DEN’s event will take place in the center of the Jeppesen Terminal on Friday, January 31 from 10 a.m. to noon.
Adoptable puppies from Denverâs Dumb Friends League will play in Denver International Airportsâ fifth Puppy Bowl. Members of DENâs Canine Airport Therapy Squad (CATS) will serve as ârufferreesâ.
The rules? Who cares – these are puppies.
Here are are few photos from past DEN Puppy Bowls, including some of the fun giveaways travelers can take home.
Airports and TSA bracing for Super Bowl travelers Â
Long before the final matchup was set for Super Bowl LIV on February 2 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, South Florida airports and security officials were making game plans.
The task: deal with record-setting numbers of arriving and departing fans.
âThere wonât be a place on the airport where you wonât see
some reference to the Super Bowl,â said airport spokesman Greg Meyer.
To prepare for and impress sports fans, many of whom may be visiting the airport and the area for the first time, FLL has put 160 live plants throughout the terminals and artificial greenery in the restrooms.
Teams are polishing terrazzo floors, shampooing the carpeting, pressure cleaning the sidewalks, scouring the restrooms and detailing the shuttles that run between the terminals and the rental car center. Â
âWe do much of this cleaning normally,â said Meyer, âbut
doing it just prior to the game will make sure we look our best.â
Before and after the big game, FLL will have extra staff on duty and more than 60 volunteers on-site to help guests navigate through the airport.
Airport concessionaires are doing their part too. Store hours are extended hours and there’s plenty of official team and game gear for sale.
Magically, memorabilia to celebrate the winning team will be for sale immediately after the game.
MIA is about 18 miles from Hard Rock Stadium and expects above-average passenger traffic on the three days prior to and the day after Super Bowl Sunday. On Monday, Feb 3, about 90,000 passengers are projected to depart MIA, which would be a single-day record for departures at the airport.
In addition to a pre-game facility spruce-up, MIA is adding some bonus features as well.
Through Super Bowl Sunday, MIAâs public address system will
be playing rotating welcoming messages from three former All-Pros: Miami
Dolphins legends Dan Marino, Nat Moore and Jason Taylor.
And through the end of February, travelers can view Duane Hansonâs iconic, hyperrealist sculpture, âFootball Playerâ on the D Concourse, between Gates D47 and D48.
Also through the end of February, the Wolfson Moving Images exhibition on Concourse F is featuring archive video from past Miami Super Bowls and Miami Dolphins history on a set of old-style flight monitors.
Both FLL AND MIA also have detailed airport navigation information, arrival, and departure tips on their websites. Each airport also has important alerts about human trafficking, on the âCountdown to Takeoff Playbookâ posted on their respective websites.
And passengers arriving before the Super Bowl on Thursday and Friday (1/30 and 1/31) at Palm Beach International Airport (PBI), 58 miles from Hard Rock Stadium, will be greeted with special welcoming messages as well as giveaways and promotional items in the Bag Claim level.
Concessionaires at PBI are laying in the
sports-themed memorabilia as well.
TSA gearing up for the game
During the Super Bowl week, TSA, local and county police
departments, Customs and Border Protection, and other agencies will be adding
extra teams and showing a hi-visibility presence at all area airports
And to help with the crush of fans leaving on February 3, some security checkpoints will open early at both FLL and MIA and additional checkpoints will stay open 24 hours.Â
While not all security precautions being taken can be
shared, according to TSA spokeswoman Sari Koshetz, FLL will have 6 extra canine
teams, additional support from Federal Air Marshals (FAMs) and the Broward
Country Sheriffâs office, and 40 extra Transportation Security Officers on duty
to help at checkpoints and baggage areas.
Koshetz says 10 additional TSA canine teams will also join the eleven TSA canine teams already at MIA. There will be 60 additional TSA Officers to augment the TSA Miami Officer staff and help keep additional checkpoint lanes open on throughout the day.
Follow the countdown plan
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA), the National Football League, hospitality organizations and the airports are encouraging passengers heading home after the game on February 3 to follow the â5-4-3-2-1â plan.
The campaign encourages travelers to check out of hotels 5 hours before departure flight time; to return rental cars 4 hours before their flights, and to check-in at the airline ticket counters 3 hours before their flights. TSA hopes travelers will go through security at least 2 hours before their flights and be at their gates an hour before flight time.
For security reasons, TSA is
also asking Super Bowl travelers heading home after the big game to pack their
commemorative programs in carry-ons, not in checked bags.
In previous years, the
composition and thickness of these programs prevented TSAâs machines and human
scanners from seeing beneath the booklets in checked bags, requiring those bags
to alarm and be opened.
(My story about airports and TSA getting ready for Super Bowl fans first appeared on USA TODAY in a slightly different format.)
