ATLANTA — The Atlanta Hawks today announced that the team’s home venue, State Farm Arena, is the first sports and entertainment venue in the country to successfully become Sharecare Health Security VERIFIED®, addressing the critical need to establish confidence with sports fans and live event attendees, as well as players, performers, and employees in the age of COVID-19 and beyond. This verification process and platform was developed by digital health company Sharecare, with the support of CAA ICON, the world’s leading owners’ representative and strategic management consulting firm for public and private sports and entertainment facility owners/operators, and Oak View Group (OVG), a global advisory, development, and investment company for the sports and live entertainment industries.

“Based on the combined expertise of our partners at Sharecare in the health industry along with the knowledge of both CAA ICON and OVG in the complexities of superior live event venue operations, this verification gives us added confidence that we are doing everything possible to protect the health and safety of all that enter State Farm Arena for work or play,” said Steve Koonin, CEO of the Atlanta Hawks and State Farm Arena.

Going far beyond basic facility standards and establishing a consistent global baseline for health security, Sharecare’s solution requires that live sports and entertainment venues verify their health protocols on an ongoing basis across more than 140 expert-validated standards and over 600 checkpoints, including health and hygiene protocols, air and water management, physical distancing, the attendee experience, and health safety communication with patrons and employees. Additionally, participating venues have the option to track daily employee health screening results and provide relevant tools for fans and visitors including clinically validated health screeners and information and updates on that facility’s guidelines. This health security verification also comes with an easily identifiable “seal of approval” – the Sharecare Health Security VERIFIED® badge – for stadiums, arenas, and live event venues to display on their official websites and on-property.

“For the last several years, we have worked closely with the Atlanta Hawks on our shared vision to improve the well-being of all Atlantans, and – for a myriad of reasons – the pandemic has required us to approach this differently than before,” said Jeff Arnold, founder and CEO of Sharecare. “In addition to supporting Hawks fans through the Sharecare app, we are proud to work with State Farm Arena to give people confidence that their in-arena experiences are safe and secure. We commend the Hawks and State Farm Arena on their health security verification as well as for taking a leadership position among sport and live event venues to create a culture of accountability as we work toward recovery.”

In November 2020, Sharecare debuted a strategic partnership with Forbes Travel Guide to empower the hospitality industry to mitigate the operational and health safety challenges introduced by the pandemic and restore confidence among guests and travel planners. Since then, more than 100 hotels and resorts across the globe have become Sharecare Health Security VERIFIED® with Forbes Travel Guide. Additionally, Internova Travel Group selected Sharecare and Forbes Travel Guide to validate the procedures and protocols at more than 50,000 hotels booked through its systems, each of which Internova expects to be Sharecare Health Security VERIFIED® with Forbes Travel Guide by the end of Q1 2022.

To learn more about State Farm Arena’s approach to COVID-19 safety visit statefarmarena.com/covid-19.