Fans were encouraged to head to Lambeau Field gates earlier than usual to avoid any noon kickoff rush, and they did. Approximately 75 percent of fans were in the stadium 45 minutes before kickoff.
Increased staff, the opening of more security lanes, additional staff training and fans arriving early expedited traffic into the stadium for today's game vs. the St. Louis Rams.
"At 11 a.m., we had some sizable backups at some gates and we made some security modifications to the screening to help get through the heavy entry period," said Jason Wied, vice president of administration/general counsel. "Our number one goal is fan safety and, as we implement the NFL-mandated enhanced screening, we will continue to have that as our priority."
Besides the Green Bay Police Department having increased the number of officers providing screening, there was also staff hired by the Packers to communicate to fans throughout the parking lot.
"We had staff communicating in the parking lot, telling people to take metal items out of their pockets," Wied said.
Fans were also told what gates were experiencing minimal backups so that fans would have real-time updates.
"We need to give a big thank you to the fans for arriving earlier than normal," said Doug Collins. "Today's success could not be possible without the fans' early arrival and the Green Bay Police Department working so hard to maintain fan safety."
"Our goal is to improve fan safety in a way that minimizes the impact on our fans," said Jeff Miller, the NFL's vice president/chief security officer. "We will continue to refine our process in support of that goal."
The Packers will take a full look at game entry video to review and continue to make further tweaks to accommodate fan ingress.
Fans are encouraged to continue to arrive at the gates earlier than normal for all home games.
