Sports stadiums are assumed by many to be a safe viewing place for fans; however, this assumption of safety was destroyed as the hearts of spectators were gripped with fear after bombs went off around Stade de France in Paris, France. The act of terror killed dozens and injured many more near the soccer stadium. The people in the stadium did not feel the direct blast, but if one man was able to get through security that day then those same people that were scared for their lives may as well have lost their lives.

        The stadium was a primary target for the ISIS bombings in France as thousands were packed into a tight space to watch the friendly soccer match between the French and German national teams. A man wearing a bomb vest was heading into the stadium until he was stopped by security at the gate, causing him to blow himself up there. This security checkpoint caught the man’s threat due to the procedures that were put into place by past terror events in sporting history.

        “In the wake of a string of terror attacks in Paris, including one outside a soccer stadium, officials with U.S. sports leagues discussed security measures for their events this weekend,” wrote USA Today.

        Including the happenings in Paris, multiple events have shaped the safety procedures in the sports world, starting with one of the worst events in sports history, the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, Germany otherwise known as the Munich Massacre. The group known as Black September, a Palestinian terror group, captured and held hostage nine members of the Israeli Olympic team which they eventually murdered. This terrible event overshadowed the great performance American swimmer Mark Spitz put on.

“According to a long-secret Israeli government document, the Kopel Report, which was made public this year, members of the Israeli Olympic delegation sent to Munich in 1972 talked among themselves about the obvious lack of security at the athletes’ living quarters. They knew that ground-floor dormitory accommodations were dangerous. They worried about their proximity to the Sudanese team’s dorms. They were wary of Palestinian workers employed throughout the Olympic Village. The athletes also noticed a dearth of security personnel. But they convinced themselves that this posed no threat. Surely security officers were on the job, but would be hard to spot if they were working undercover,” said Janet Maslin in an article for New York Times regarding the events of the Munich Massacre.

After that attack on the Olympics, another one happened in 1996 but this time it happened in the United States.

The US hosted the summer Olympics in Atlanta that year, marking the last time the US has hosted the event. The Olympics are very unlikely to return to the US because that year a terrorist bomb was placed and exploded in the stadium killing one and wounding over a hundred people. A guard had actually discovered the bomb before the detonation and cleared most people away from the immediate blast.

        Another event that affected sports happened again in the US, but it was not a bombing at a stadium or a kidnapping.

        While it was not a direct hit to any sporting event, the events of September 11, 2001 affected sports in a major way. In the MLB, all games before September 16 were postponed which forced the World Series to be played in November for the first time. The NFL had to postpone games and the Super Bowl was moved to February. Various sporting events were either postponed or cancelled altogether due to the event.

        “The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has helped train colleges on how to guard against terrorism at sporting events,” said Eli Saslow on ESPN.com. In 2006, the FBI investigated potential terrorist threats at NFL stadiums.

        Even films are using terrorist attacks at sporting events to portray a point. In the movie The Dark Knight Rises, villain Bane exploded bombs beneath a football stadium in Gotham, taking the whole field out from under players’ feet. Bane then used this as a venue to explain his message and take over the city.

        While this is obviously fake and an unlikely event, this type of event should be worried about as it is something that may come into fruition. It shows the potential that an event like this could occur.

        However, things are improving in sporting events security as the NFL and some college stadiums have implemented procedures such as mandatory, regulated clear bags for use inside stadiums. They have prohibited any other bags that are not regulated from entering the stadium. This procedure allows for security to see if anyone is attempting to sneak a bomb into a sporting event.

        Though it has risen in popularity, this policy is only established in a few college stadiums around the country.

        Along with this, many stadiums have metal detectors, forcing people to empty all items for scanning when they enter.

        Even with all these security procedures that have been or are going to be put into place, some people still doubt the security in stadiums around the world. The United States is specifically judged for their security.

“Security in the United States is all about bells and whistles,” said Rafi Sela, a former official with the Israel Defense Forces to USA Today. “You see the guards standing at stadiums and bus stations. It’s not even considerable deterrence anymore.”

        The guards that are hired at sporting events have been known to not be necessarily professionals due to lack of training according to USA Today. Many guards that are hired have had criminal backgrounds. Also, multiple states do not require security guards to have licenses and some do not even require prior training. Many stadiums reword security and make it event staff to avoid the price of training security guards. Stadiums tend to spend less on security because of the cost of a high ranked security outfit.

        USA Today reported that in 2013, two students with video cameras attached to their heads showed how easy it was to break into the Super Bowl on February 3 in New Orleans. Also, a news reporter in Denver showed how easy it was to sneak a real gun and a fake gun into a stadium. The stadiums were later contacted afterwards and refused to comment on the matter. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has advised stadium officials for years and conducted assessments to detect vulnerabilities.

Also reported by USA Today was that the magazine Inspire, a propaganda newspaper for Al-Qaeda, listed heavily populated sporting events as targets.

        No matter how much security has risen over the years, people can still find ways to break past security. The expense of putting into place some of the security changes needed are too high for some teams.

        Regarding safety at North, Athletic Director Ron Lear said there is a safety protocol regarding possible bombs threats at sporting events, but would not give details for security reasons.

While nothing can ever be perfect, security should be a top priority in sports especially against a major threat such as terrorism.

“If this could happen at a Super Bowl, imagine what is going on at other venues,” said Dane Dodd, CSC’s vice president of training, over the two students breaking into the Super Bowl.