GREEN BAY, WIS. (AP) - With the kickoff to Sunday’s Denver Broncos-Green Bay Packers game approaching, long lines of fans waiting to enter Lambeau Field still stretched deep into the stadium’s parking lots.
Heightened security measures proved to be an inconvenience for fans who didn’t heed the team’s advice and arrive earlier than usual.
Fans initially were searched with security wands as they entered the stadium Sunday. But with big lines backing up, a team spokesman says the Packers and local police decided 30 minutes before kickoff to go back to their previous system of pat-downs.
“We think that that did move it along quicker, and we think we got the majority of people in on time, but we know we did have some who didn’t,” said Jason Wied, the Packers’ vice president of administration/general counsel. “We do feel bad about that. We don’t want anybody to miss the kickoff.”
Wied said the team will try to make security measures more efficient, but reiterated that fans should arrive early.
“We’ve got to still follow the protocols that the league sets forth, we want to follow best practices from the league, and they did want to tighten things up a little bit more in terms of pat-downs at the gates,” Wied said.
“So we worked with the police, we came up with a plan that we’re comfortable with, but we’re going to try to be more efficient for our next home game. The biggest thing for us is we want to get the word out to our fans as early as they can get there, the better it is.”
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