State Farm Champions Classic Event Staff for Brands and Alumni
Eleven8 provides professional event staff for concourse promo staff, brand ambassadors, production assistants and guest check-in hosts for the brands, agencies, alumni groups and companies working around the State Farm Champions Classic Staff your tournament activation today.
State Farm Champions Classic Suite and Reception Hosts
The State Farm Champions Classic opens the college basketball season with two games on one night between four of the sport's biggest programs: Duke, Kansas, Kentucky and Michigan State. Eleven8 provides event staff for the brands, agencies, alumni groups and companies that work around it, from brand ambassadors at a concourse display to hosts for a suite or a pre-game reception. The next edition is on Tuesday, November 10, 2026, at the United Center in Chicago, with Michigan State against Duke and Kansas against Kentucky.
It is a doubleheader, not a tournament, and that sets the staffing. One ticket covers both games, so the arena holds four fan bases at once, and the crowd changes through the night: supporters of the first two teams arrive early, and many of the second pair come in during the first game. The half hour between the games is the busiest time on the concourse all evening. We staff a display for that peak and for the hour before the first tip, and we keep a lighter crew on while play is under way.
None of the four schools is local, so most of the people in the building are alumni who live in the host city plus fans who have traveled. Alumni chapters and companies hold pre-game receptions in restaurants and bars before heading to the arena, and because the game falls on a weeknight, firms use suites to entertain clients after work. Our check-in staff and hosts cover those events as well as the arena. In November the weather in Chicago is cold, so any line outdoors has to be kept short.
The host city changes. The event has been played in New York, Chicago, Indianapolis and Atlanta, and the sites for 2027 and 2028 have not been announced, so each year we put together a local crew in that year's city under the same account manager. What can be displayed inside the arena is decided by the event's organizer and the venue, who also run tickets, doors, security and credentials. Our staff work in the space your company has arranged. Tell us what you have planned through the quote form and we will send rates and staff profiles.
State Farm Champions Classic Staffing Schedule for Game Night
Every State Farm Champions Classic crew follows our 11-step process, fitted to a single evening. There is no second day to correct a mistake, so the plan is fixed early: who stands where before the first game, who moves during the break between games, and who stays through the late finish of the second. Each person receives that schedule, the arena map and your brief before the day.
From the moment you confirm, one account manager is responsible for your program and remains your contact until the report is delivered, with our operations office supporting them at no additional fee. You and the crew are on separate message channels, so a last-minute change to a guest list or a display reaches the right people before doors open.
On the day, staff arrive ahead of their call time, confirm attendance by location check-in and walk the arena with their lead: the display, the nearest restrooms, storage, the route to your suite and the areas they may not enter. A group chat links the concourse team, the hosts and anyone at an outside reception until the building empties after the second game.
Eleven Steps in a State Farm Champions Classic Evening
One evening, two games, one planEvent Staffing Types at State Farm Classic
Our Concourse Promo Staff run the display your company has arranged inside the arena at the State Farm Champions Classic. They set it up, hand out giveaways, run contests and photo moments and keep the line moving during the two rushes of the night: the hour before the first game and the break before the second. While the games are on they restock and reset. Directing fans, checking tickets and controlling entry are done by the arena's own staff.
Clients We Staff Around the State Farm Champions Classic
The companies we staff around the State Farm Champions Classic are mostly consumer brands that market to college sports fans, such as drinks, snacks, apparel and technology, along with banks, insurers and the agencies that manage their programs. Alumni associations book hosts for receptions, and firms book them for client suites. Many of these clients continue with us to the end of the season at the Final Four, five months later.
Eleven8 is an independent staffing agency. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by State Farm, the Champions Classic, ESPN Events, the United Center or any participating university. "State Farm" and "Champions Classic" are trademarks of their respective owners. We provide event staff to the brands, agencies and hosts working around the event. All marks belong to their owners and are used for identification only.
Four-Step Booking for State Farm Champions Classic Staff
Pre-Game Reception Staff for the State Farm Champions Classic
Much of the business around the State Farm Champions Classic happens before anyone reaches their seat. Alumni chapters of the four schools gather in bars and restaurants, companies host customers for dinner, and brands set up at those gatherings as well as in the arena. For the 2026 game in Chicago that means the West Loop and downtown, a short ride from the United Center. Our hostesses and check-in staff run the door and the room, and our event managers keep the timing so that guests leave for the arena before the first tip.
Staffing Services
Explore our wide range of staffing solutions
Promotional & Experiential Staff
Trade & Conference Staff
Experienced Arena Staff for the State Farm Champions Classic
Staff Who Follow College Basketball
Only a small share of applicants join our roster, and for the State Farm Champions Classic we choose the ones who watch college basketball. They know the four programs, their coaches and their rivalries well enough to hold a short, friendly conversation with any fan in the building, and they treat every school with the same respect while they introduce your product.
Used to Large Arenas
An NBA-size arena has several concourse levels, club areas and a ring of suites, with service corridors the public never sees. Our staff are used to these buildings. They learn the route from the loading dock to your display and from the entrance to your suite before doors open, and they stay alert through a shift that can run from late afternoon to nearly midnight.
Polished in Front of Clients
A weeknight game draws many business guests as well as students and alumni. Our staff dress to your standard, arrive early, know your guest list and keep their phones away. At a display they are lively, in a suite they are quiet and attentive, and in both places they give the accurate, consistent account of your brand that you asked for.
Insured and Ready for a Long Evening
Our staff are fully insured, and certificates are sent to the arena, a restaurant or a hotel when they are required. They are prepared for an indoor event with two games back to back: a long time standing, a crowd that swells and thins several times and a late finish, with warm clothing for any work outside in November.
Arena, Suite and Reception Covered
A State Farm Champions Classic program can include a concourse display, a suite and a reception across town. We staff all three from one roster under one account manager, so guests are checked in once, handed from the reception host to the suite host by name, and your display is staffed from doors opening to the final buzzer of the second game.
Changes Handled on the Night
With one evening to get it right, changes have to be dealt with as they happen. If a delivery is delayed, a guest list grows or a display needs more hands in the break, our operations team is reachable throughout and can move staff or send the reserve within minutes, so the problem is solved before the second game starts.
From the first tip to the final buzzer of the second game, our staff give your brand a capable, friendly presence at the State Farm Champions Classic, wherever it is played that year. If your plans in Chicago include other venues, our Wrigley Field staffing page shows how we work in the city. To get started, send a staffing inquiry with the date, the spaces you have and the number of guests, and we will come back with a crew and a price.
Elevate Client Feedback
Robert N.
Top Notch Service
They were professional. Polite. Hard working. Friendly. And got the job done. Will definitely use them again.
EK C.
It was a great pleasure that I can work with you. All Elevate members successfully led KCON. I hope everything goes as well in future events as it did this time! If i ever go to LA for events, I will definitely reach out to you :)
Eugene R.
We were really happy with the team everyone was incredibly helpful and nice to work with. Thank you for selecting such professional people for our event!
State Farm Champions Classic Staffing FAQs
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