The situation
In March 2020, the league shut down mid-season as COVID-19 spread. Restarting meant something no sports organization had attempted: moving players, staff, families, media partners, and vendors into secure single-site campuses and keeping everyone healthy for more than 90 days.
The operational problem was as hard as the medical one. Every person entering a campus needed health screening, document processing, and tiered access credentials. The existing tooling was a patchwork of spreadsheets, email, and manual checks. None of it could handle daily testing cadences, campus entry logistics, and family transitions at league scale.
What we did
Working on the league’s ServiceNow platform, the program combined Safe Workplace, HR Service Delivery, Customer Service Management, and Field Service Management into nine customized workflows that screened, tracked, and granted tiered access for everyone staying on both campuses.
Semaphore led the safe transition of players’ friends and families into the bubble: intake, health screening, document collection, and campus onboarding for the people arriving mid-season to join players already on site. This was one of the most sensitive parts of the program. Families arriving from all over the country had to clear the same protocols as day-one arrivals, without disrupting a season already in progress.
Results
- 2,600 players, staff, vendors, and guests screened and monitored across two campuses
- 13,000 essential documents and forms processed through digital workflows
- 172 games completed during more than 90 days on campus
- Both seasons finished without a positive test disrupting play
- Wristband-based tiered access to testing sites, practice facilities, and restricted areas
Public coverage
The league’s platform vendor published its own accounts of this program: