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Portable Event Seating: To Buy Or Not To Buy, That Is The Question

Maybe your team or the event that you produce has got to travel to various locations over the course of a given season. That means the seating you use might also have to go on the road with you. You cant, after all, expect fans and spectators to stand throughout the entire event.

The most practical sort of seating for sporting events and other kinds of spectator-oriented activities tends to be bleachers. Theyre simply constructed, serviceable and are probably the most efficient way to seat a large number of people, particularly if you have a limited amount of floor or field space. For the most compact seating arrangement possible, they cant be beat.

So, you road warriors are probably wondering about portable bleachers: How much will they cost me? Should I rent or purchase? What is the best kind to buy for my needs?

The cost is related to the “rent or buy” question, so lets approach that first. If youre going to have just a handful of events that require moveable seating, or you dont have a large enough staff to set up and break down seats when you need them, the answer is simple. You should rent your seating rather than buy it.

You never have to store rented seating when its not in use. That saves you the trouble and expense of locating and maintaining an area used specifically to keep your portable seating equipment. Also consider the setup and breakdown processes all by themselves. If you rent, the service you work with will likely deliver the seats to your specified location and provide a crew that will set them up for you and break them down at the end of the day. That kind of convenience is hard to beat.

However, if your team or event is on the road a great deal of times over the course of a year or a season, and you have a reasonably full staff that can handle maintenance and construction work, purchasing seating can be the more cost-effective of the two choices.

True, you must store, transport, set up and tear down seat at each event. But if you factor in the cost of renting seating for all of your events, and that adds up to more than the cost of buying and hiring staff to manage portable seating, it obvious that purchasing them will save you money over the long run.

You must factor in wear and tear on purchased seating, since that will have an effect on the number of years youll get out of the equipment. If you expect portable seats to last for eight to 10 years, you should spread the costs over the course of eight to 10 seasons, and compare that with the cost of renting.

If you do a little bit of math, youll have your answer in no time at all.

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