Bucks entertainment team prepares for game without fans
With recorded crowd noise, cheers, boos, thunder sticks, goal is to make it feel like home despite sparse audience
On a recent night inside the empty Fiserv Forum, the Bucks entertainment and presentation team put up Christmas decorations. They ran holidaythemed Bucks logos on the enormous scoreboard and put Bango in a Christmas suit.
All of this was in preparation for the home opener on Christmas Day, a game unlike any the almost-new arena has ever seen. Bango won’t be high-fiving roaring fans. And huge Bucks banners will be draped over the prime seats in the lower bowl.
On Friday, only about 100 people will be inside the 17,000-seat arena, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. And there’s no plans for fans in the foreseeable future.
That’s not stopping the Bucks entertainment team, many of whom are operating in a business-as-usual fashion. They’re working to create a home court atmosphere inside the building and provide clever new ways to engage fans at home.
“We want it to be a good experience for everyone who is there,” said Johnny Watson, executive producer of arena and event presentation.
Half the people inside Fiserv Forum will be involved in the production — cranking out the music and running the scoreboard videos and replays. The other half, of course, will be busy playing or coaching an NBA game.
If a glimpse of the building gets on the national television broadcast, the Bucks organization wants Fiserv Forum to be showcased as a state-of-the-art basketball arena.
“Complacency is never an option, even without fans. My groups and I have a lot of pride in that,” Watson said.
The No. 1 goal is to make sure the players feel like it’s game day even without fans.
Canned noise includes thunder sticks
The NBA has provided crowd audio to every arena in the country. That includes the ambient noise of a full buzzing arena and the clattering sound of thunder sticks fans like to smack together during opponents’ free throws.
Watson said there are many things the Bucks can do from an operations standpoint to give Milwaukee a home court advantage.
They can play boos for opponent plays or bad calls. They can play exuberant cheers over a “Defense” chant if the Bucks block an opposing shot.
Player introductions will go as normal to get the Bucks amped up for the coming game.
“You get into a player’s psyche. We can use the manufactured audio to mess up the opponent’s routine, their cadence,” Watson said. “We’re trying to recreate what it would be like if you had fans in here.”
Watson was in the NBA Bubble when the season restarted over the summer. He took feedback from players and coaches to do everything he can to give a home court advantage to the Bucks.
“The sound you play, the music, the audio, it controls the whole vibe,” Watson said.
Some players said they don’t pay much attention to what is going on outside the court.
“I think it’s just on the court. I mean, there might be a few people above my pay grade that take that into account, but for me, and I think the majority of my teammates, it’s about making sure that we’re focusing on the things that we have to do,” said guard Pat Connaughton.
The entertainment staff recognized advantages of playing at Fiserv Forum, especially being able to control the big screen in the middle of the court.
Workers in the control room will be able to cue up replays that might help coach Mike Budenholzer challenge a call or banter with the referees a little bit.
“Even in a regular season, we kind of have staff trying to be aware of different things in the arena that can help us and enhance our players,” Budenholzer said. “Assistant coaches will be tuned in.”
Matt Morell, director of multimedia production, will be helping control the replays.
“We’re catering a lot more to the basketball ops, so it’s a lot more focus on replays and stats and highlight videos. Something players can get excited about,” Morell said.
The Bucks rearranged the operations room to make sure everyone is seated at least 6 feet apart. They have nine people, which is about half the usual staffing.
“We just had to make it work,” Morell said.
DJ Shawna tweaking her beats
Also working to juice up the arena is Shawna, “DJ Shawna” Nicols, the official Bucks DJ, was also in the NBA Bubble. She learned a lot about how her DJing needs to be different when there isn’t a crowd.
“I won’t play a call and response song that tells you to clap your hands, because we know nobody is here. It is something I had to eliminate,” Nicols said.
She’ll cue up more beats that can get Bucks players excited on the court.
“The goal is always to add value to the player and game day experience for the 17,000-plus people who are in here,” she said.
“Normally we’re entertaining. Instead, we’re switching it up and making sure just the guys are having a good day. A value added for anybody in here is what I look to do.”
Mascot Bango will be on hand for the occasional on-screen cameo and for something aside from the game for announcers to talk about.
“He’s doing a lot of stuff on social media. He’ll wave a flag and do things he would do normally,” Watson said. “You definitely want to create some type of an environment for people in the building and broadcast on the storytelling part.”
Other production elements are in the works, like a possible separate screen experience on the Bucks app that will include in-game host Melanie Ricks, who can entertain fans at home during timeouts and halftime.
“I want to do everything right away, but we’re going to crawl before we walk here,” Watson said. “The goal is to be innovative and be the ring leader, leading the charge when providing entertainment.”
Other parts of Watson’s entertainment team, like the 414 Dance Crew, Rim Rockers, and promotions team will not be involved for the time being.
“I want these kids to get back to work because they do such a great job,” Watson said. “The sooner we can get them back, the better, but I’ll hold off until we get fans back.”
The entertainment team is being as positive as it can be despite the dire COVID-19 situation.
“It’s a mixed bag of emotions. I’m not nervous or anxious. We’ve just never done it before,” Watson said.
“The pandemic, no fans, it stinks,” he said. “We have a championship-contending team. We have to do what we can do to make it great.”