Ravens Hospitality Tent Volunteering 2018

Our church's youth group usually volunteers for handing out programs at Baltimore Ravens home games.

Ravens Stadium

Occasionally the group is called upon to staff the hospitality tents outside the stadium. Corporations or individuals can rent a tent for two and a half hours before game time. The stadium provides food and drinks and thirty tickets to the game per tent. We volunteers had to show up earlier for our shift but the shift ended just before the game, so we had more time to enjoy afterwards. Orientation was pretty easy--check that each person had an ID for their tent. The game was right after Thanksgiving, played against the Oakland Raiders. So only ten tents sold.

Our work area before anyone got there

We had more than enough volunteers to cover the tents, so we were able to take breaks and wander around. The most popular wandering spot is Ravens Walk, a wide sidewalk path between the Ravens Stadium and Camden Yards, where the Baltimore Orioles play. Lots of vendors and other attractions line the streets for pre-game festivities and giveaways.

Some of Ravens Walk

Dunkin' Donuts was giving away free coffee (since it was in the high 40s temperature-wise) and Safeway had free snacks. Some companies offered activities. Under Armour had a bucking raven, much like the bucking broncos popular in southwestern (and southwestern-themed) bars. I did not try it.

The bucking raven

A hapless rider

Further down the walk was a stage with a band playing, a fun sight at 10 in the morning!

Yes, people were drinking too

The Maryland Zoo sponsors two mascots for the team. Rise and Conquer were on display and ready for their photo to be taken with fans. No autographs.

On display

A closer look

One spot showed the handprint of quarterback Joe Flacco, the team's main quarterback. He was out with an injury and Lamar Jackson played in this particular game.

My hand, smaller than his

A few members of the marching band played for the crowd around the stadium. As part of the tent party package, the small band came and played a few songs.

A sampling of the Marching Ravens

One of our tents was rented by a couple. It was the husband's birthday and thirty of their friends came. The band played Happy Birthday along with a few other tunes.

Serenading the birthday boy

While we were manning the tent, someone brought their massive mastiff by. Only service animals are allowed in the stadium, so they were just out for a walk among all the excitement.

Not looking too excited

As the game drew closer, the full band came marching into the stadium.

Marching Ravens marching in

The tents closed at 12:30, so we were able to clean up and return our stuff before the 1 p.m. kickoff. One benefit of working the tents is getting to eat leftover food. The vendors can't take the food back into the stadium and they would throw it away otherwise, so we went in and had a taste of the good life. I ate beef tips and crab cakes, with mac and cheese and fruit sides. They also had popcorn and cookies. We had a nice meal before we had to turn in our badges and get complimentary tickets. We didn't get to our seats until the game had already started. We had some really good seats.

View from my seat

If you're Santa Claus, you can afford front row seats

The game was exciting, with the Ravens up by three points at the half. For the halftime show, two local high school teams faced off on matching obstacle courses in hopes of winning free jerseys from a sponsor.

Football-style obstacle course

The other half of the halftime show was a short concert by LoCash, a country music duo. The concert stage was the same area as the marching band--across the stadium from our seats. Our best view was on the big screens.

Watching the concert

The guys are over in there somewhere

At the end of the third quarter, the cheer leading squad had a big performance on our end of the stadium. We watched the full team put on an impressive performance.

All the cheerleaders

The Ravens put on an impressive performance too, winning the game 34 to 17. I had fun volunteering and watching the game and am looking forward to the last game on December 30. Hopefully it won't be too cold!