Measure crowd flows in arenas and stadiums

Arena crowd monitoring is crowd management data for arenas and event venues: it measures people entering and leaving, occupancy per zone and the flows between gates, concourses and seating sections. 3D sensors count at each gate, and Wi-Fi measures the concourses. Bumbee Labs is the company behind the only footfall method in Europe approved by a data protection authority.

The short version

• 3D sensors count people in and out at the gates, and Wi-Fi measures the concourses, kiosks and the forecourt.
• An event is read wave by wave: the entry before the start, the interval on the concourses and egress at the end.
• Alerts arrive in near real time via the Crowd Alert add-on; the other figures come as dashboards and through an API.
• Seven questions are answered below, from the gates to the forecourt, with seven shorter ones after them.

Which crowd management questions can arena data answer?

The questions below are answered per zone: gates, seating sections, concourses, food and beverage, retail and the forecourt outside. Every zone is measured on its own and against the others, by visits, dwell time and the paths between them. The same zoning is used in theme park analytics, here adjusted to the timing of an event.

Everyone arrives just before the start. Will our gates cope?

An arena’s gates take the entry surge before the start. 3D sensors over each gate count people in and out by direction, and occupancy is read against the safe limits you set. Gate by gate, you see how the entry built up and where gate staff are needed next time. Xovis people counting suits gates that need exact counts.

The interval sends thousands to the concourses at once. Where does the pressure build?

At the interval, an arena’s concourses fill within minutes as people queue for the same kiosks and toilets. Wi-Fi measures dwell, paths and crowding on each concourse, and occupancy per concourse zone shows where pressure builds break after break. At Hovet Arena, this analysis of break-time surges decides where staff and security stand.

During the break itself, staff can be alerted in near real time via the Crowd Alert add-on when a concourse zone passes the threshold you set, as described under data deliverables.

How quickly does the arena empty, and which exits take the load?

At the final whistle, the whole arena leaves together. 3D sensor counting at the gates records people leaving by direction, and Wi-Fi measures the flows through the concourses. The exit flows show how quickly the building empties and which routes carry the load, so stewards and security can be placed for egress at the next event.

Which kiosks does each seating section actually use?

Linking each seating section to the amenities around it shows which kiosks each part of the stands uses, so stock and staffing follow real demand. Dwell and queues at food and beverage points reveal where serving capacity is lost, and concourse flow heatmaps show which kiosks fill and which stay quiet. Bumbee Labs does this at Hovet Arena.

How many people walk past each sponsor board on the concourse?

Footfall per zone shows how many people pass each advertisement in the arena during an event, on the concourses, at the kiosks and outside, so sponsor space can be priced on exposure. Bumbee Labs does this at Hovet Arena. The counts cover the day of the event; DOOH metrics explained shows how exposure figures are built.

Tickets show what was sold. How many people are actually in each section?

Some sold seats stay empty. In an arena, gate sensors count how many people are actually inside the building, and Wi-Fi people counting shows where they are concentrated, by seating section and concourse, and where they head next. Kiosk stock and staffing can then follow the crowd that actually came.

How many people gather outside before the doors open?

The forecourt outside an arena is a zone of its own, like the gates and concourses. Wi-Fi measures the outdoor approaches, so occupancy on the forecourt shows how many people gather before an event and how that builds hour by hour. Around the wider venue area, catchment analysis from mobile data covers large outdoor areas without an app.

What else do arena operators ask about their crowds?

• What can we show our safety organisation about entry per gate? For crowd safety planning, counts by gate, direction and hour give the safety organisation an evidence base to work from.
• Where does the toilet queue build at the interval? People queue for the toilets in the same narrow window as for the kiosks; tell us which toilet areas matter and we will set the zones around them.
• A concert or a match: does the crowd move differently? Each event is a day of its own in the data, so the flows of a concert and a match can be set side by side.
• Can cleaning rounds follow how each zone was used? The rounds depend on the crowd’s waves, and zone counts by hour show the load on the areas each crew covers.
• How crowded does the standing area in front of the stage get? Across standing areas, Wi-Fi measures crowding as anonymous flows, zone by zone.
• Are the lounges and VIP areas being used? Tell us which hospitality areas you want to follow, and we will look at how they fit the venue’s zones.
• From the gate to the platform: where does the crowd go after the event? Exit flows show which routes carry the load out of the arena; measurement inside the station is described for public transport hubs.

Where does arena crowd monitoring run today?

This approach runs at Hovet Arena in Stockholm, a long-established multi-arena venue hosting large crowds. There, Bumbee Labs links seating sections to amenities, analyses the intense break-time surges to place staff and security, and quantifies how many people pass each advertisement. More customer results are on case studies.

How are visitors kept anonymous in a full arena?

In a full arena, visitors are counted as anonymous, aggregated flows, and no guest is ever identified. The gate sensors process video for analytics only and store no personal images. The method is statistical, so very high visitor numbers make the data more accurate. Sensors add precision at the gates where exact counts matter, and the results come as dashboards and through a documented API.