Getting Ahead of It All: Preparing Your Agency for Major 2026 Events

Large-scale special events have a way of appearing on the horizon faster than expected and when they do, they bring significant logistical demands for law enforcement agencies. The real question: Is your agency ready?

If a major event were requested tomorrow, would your internal off-duty coordinator and staff have the bandwidth to manage such an engagement without burnout, excessive stress, or workflow bottlenecks? Major events don’t wait for ideal timing, and neither should your preparation. It is increasingly important to be proactive not reactive in these 2026 events to make the attendee experience a positive one to remember.

Massive Events Are Coming: Is Your Agency Ready?

The year 2026 isn’t just another busy year—it represents one of the largest multi-event operational surges in U.S. history. Agencies are already navigating staffing shortages, increased special event requests, and heightened public expectations. Add global-scale events to that mix, and even well-resourced departments risk being overwhelmed without advance planning. Nationwide competition for officers means agencies will be bidding for the same limited pool. Increased federal oversight and threat assessments (cyber, counterterrorism, crowd control, protest activity). These are all areas that deem adequate event coordination. This upcoming year brings a lineup of high-impact, high-attendance events that will require substantial law enforcement staffing, coordination, and oversight across jurisdictions. Among them:

Major Sporting & Entertaining Events

These events consistently draw massive crowds and extended deployments. Below are some stats from last year and forecasted numbers for this year.

Houston Rodeo (Houston, TX) — Set an all-time attendance record of 2.73 million fans over 23 days in 2025.
Super Bowl LX (Santa Clara, CA) — Attendance reached approximately 65,700 in stadium, with surrounding security zones and fan areas.
NBA All-Star Weekend — Last year’s events drew 17,500+ attendees, plus fan activations and auxiliary events.
World Baseball Classic — Over 1.02 million attendees across host cities in the most recent tournament.
Formula 1 — Miami and Las Vegas continue to see crowds upwards of 275,000–300,000 attendees + per weekend.
2026 FIFA World Cup — Forecasts estimate over 6 million attendees across 104 matches throughout the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.
NCAA Men’s Final Four (Indianapolis) — Always a major multi-day draw – 68,252 attendees in 2025.

National & Political Events

America250 — Celebrating the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence.
25th Anniversary of 9/11 — Expected to prompt significant commemorations and heightened security needs.
Midterm Elections — Rallies, voting locations, and demonstrations requiring strategic deployment.

Space & Science Events

NASA Artemis II Mission — Scheduled lunar fly-around in 2026, drawing global attention and national events with large attendee participation.

Why These Events Strain Agencies

Every one of these events demands extensive pre-planning, coordination, staffing logistics, and multi-agency collaboration. For many agencies already working at capacity, this level of demand can strain internal systems and personnel quickly.

Instead of stretching internal resources thin, imagine offloading the heaviest operational lift to an event experienced partner equipped to manage complex deployments at scale. A partner with proven systems, technology, and nationwide experience.

Partner With Off Duty Management and OfficerTRAK®: A Proven Solution for Large-Scale Deployment

Off Duty Management, supported by its advanced OfficerTRAK® technology platform, offers an integrated event and workforce management system built specifically for the realities of law enforcement operations.

Why Agencies Choose OfficerTRAK®

Real-time officer tracking for accuracy and accountability
Interactive mapping for clearer command-and-control oversight
Multi-jurisdiction coordination to support regional events
Free internal use for city-funded projects and overtime management
Scalable design built for events ranging from local festivals to global spectacles

Our experience includes successful event planning for:

Colorado Rockies
Baltimore Orioles
MLB Spring Training
Gillette Stadium
Madison Square Garden
Major concert tours, including Taylor Swift
College and University campus events
And many more!

When you partner with Off Duty Management, you get more than software — you gain a team with years of operational experience managing high-visibility events, mass-attendance venues, and complex logistics. This is a no-cost investment to your agency with a value that will bring much community building, as we are built by officers for officers.