Masking Ambient Light in an Arena

The $30M Fortnite World Cup Tournament.

Esports has become big business. Witness the Fortnite World Cup Tournament, a three-day spectator competition where professional video gamers competed for $30 million in prize money. The USTA Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing, NY provided this year’s venue where thousands gathered to watch.

Event producers wanted to create a completely immersive playing and viewing environment. It required darkening the stadium since its retractable roof is translucent. Enter Chicago Flyhouse, one of the leading stadium rigging companies in the country. The Chicago Flyhouse plan to darken the ambient light conditions included development and installation of a massive set of masking curtains for the stadium ceiling.

Chicago Flyhouse complemented their skills in strategy and rigging by hiring a partner to manufacture the curtains. They chose Rose Brand, the fabricator that has both the in-hand fabric inventory and the expert sewing capacity to accomplish soft goods jobs of massive scale.

In just a single week, Rose Brand developed 80 curtain panels, each approximately 51’ x 16’, delivering over 65,000 sq ft of fabric to the stadium. Chicago Flyhouse then worked round-the-clock to complete the project on time, engaging a team that included 12 Rope Access Riggers for the installation.

Game on!