The Best Seats
In The House

We field many questions here on a daily basis and one that comes up more often than most would think, is the difference between Grandstand and Stadium Bleacher seating. This quick article will go over the two setups in detail, including the main differences, draw backs and benefits to each seating system.

Grandstands

Grandstands  are the larger, more complex seating systems when comparing the two. Grandstands may have basic bench seating-but can also feature individual chair back seats. They can sometimes be seen covered with a roof-but are open on the front, can be multi-tiered, have various-sized press boxes and can feature a covered bandstand.

Stadium Bleachers

Bleachers are much smaller than grandstands and are both much more basic and versatile. They consist of raised, tiered rows of benches. Stairways access the horizontal rows at each stair step. Stadium bleachers are commonly found at places like high school baseball fields, softball fields, soccer fields, rodeos and racetracks. 

For one of our recent projects, we were back up in the beautiful Ottawa Valley to once again assist the Renfrew County District School Board with an outdated problem at MacKenzie High School.

As with all things and the natural passage of time, seating structures can degrade and wear out, requiring repair or replacement. Depending on the age of the school, many of these bleacher structures were installed decades ago and have since become inoperable or just plain unsafe to operate. 

Depending on who you ask, some may tell you that the gymnasium inside an academic institution is the heart of the building. As it is often located centrally inside a building, it naturally and easily exists as the location where gatherings take place.

In addition to assemblies and other events, gymnasiums are the hub for indoor sports, attracting spectators not only from within the school but those from outside as well, such as friends and family.

As athletic programming continues to ramp up across Canada and the United States, these institutions are doing everything they can to remain relevant with regards to the programs they offer, as well as with the equipment located inside their gymnasiums.

As with any high traffic area, the opportunity to more actively brand your organization or team is highly beneficial in the gymnasium of a highly spirited school.  With many of the walls already adorned with banners and ribbons from years gone by, today’s institutions are starting from the ground up when it comes to branding their beloved schools.

Located roughly 16 miles southeast of the glitz and glamour of Las Vegas is Henderson, Nevada, home to residents that work in and around Las Vegas who enjoy the lifestyle southern Nevada affords them. With beautiful Lake Mead to the east and nearly 40 miles of trails through the Las Vegas Valley, Henderson is a wonderful place to make a home and to live an active outdoor lifestyle.

It was here that we  were recently contracted to take on a project, a first for us in that area of the country. During the height of the pandemic, we were brought in by a design group out of the state of Florida who was in search of partners for a project in the region. Set at the Pinecrest Academy’s Cadence campus, the Florida design group had been involved in a number of projects for the school and was looking for an experienced partner for a big project.

When it comes to custom digital graphics, our proprietary GameDay GraFX solution has been making waves in the athletic space since launching it a few short years ago. Having done a number of custom graphic projects on bleacher seats in the past, we made it our mission to perfect the process and offer the marketplace a digital graphic that would look brilliant and wouldn’t scuff or wear off over time.

As the market got a hold of it, so did a number of our partners, including architects across North America. A recent project included the request for our innovative digital graphic technique, providing an excellent example of how an ancillary product can really take an organization’s design to the next level.

If you’ve been fortunate enough to spend any time in the Maritimes on Canada’s east coast, as the saying goes, you’re fortunate enough. It’s always a pleasure to head down to beautiful New Brunswick and work with our partners in the area on new and exciting projects.

This time, we were united with our partners at Interior Visions in their home province. Looking to tackle yet another sizable job, we found ourselves at the drawing table for a brand new telescopic bleacher system. One of the area's largest community colleges, Collège communautaire du Nouveau-Brunswick (CCNB) was in search of some innovative seating for their gymnasium.

At a site that was once home to a local hockey rink since the early 1970s, we were brought in to help develop the plan for the future. Located in picturesque North Rustico, PEI, the North Stars Arena had been home to local hockey in the area for years but was in need of improvements considering the building’s outdated infrastructure.

We’ve got a knack for making things stick, especially when it comes to our GameDay GraFX logo product. Digitally adhering logos and other graphics to HDPE bleacher seats, our process leads the industry in quality and durability. Since launching this game-changing product, we’ve worked with schools and institutions across Canada and the United States to boost school spirit with crystal-clear logos on their indoor bleachers.

Founded in 1967 in the Greater Toronto Area, Durham College is located in Oshawa, Ontario. The college currently has roughly 95,000 alumni and offers programming including business, information technology, media, art, design, general arts, science, skilled trades, justice, emergency services, health and engineering technology.

Having designed and built many bleacher systems for clients around the world, when large colleges and universities are in need of  large outdoor seating solutions, Sport Systems is always among the first contacts made. 

Operating 79 elementary schools and 20 secondary schools, the District School Board of Niagara reached out to our team to explore options for upgrading the gymnasium at one of their schools. With a focus on student success, the board takes both academics and athletics very seriously and as such, is frequently looking for new and innovative ways to improve their school’s offerings.

Jean Sauvé French Immersion Public School was in the process of upgrading some components of their gymnasium and was in the market for a new seating option. Looking for a retractable bleacher system that could easily be rolled out for sporting events or retracted when not in use was the most logical option.