RNC begins buildout work at Fiserv Forum, unveils renderings of main stage

With work now underway to transform Fiserv Forum into the primary venue for the 2024 Republican National Convention next month, organizers on Wednesday unveiled details and renderings of the main stage where Donald Trump is expected to accept his party’s nomination for president.

The convention’s build-out team, with its Dallas-based general contractor Freeman, officially moved into the downtown Milwaukee arena Monday, commencing a six-week transformation effort to accommodate the party’s nearly 5,000 delegates and alternates and much of the 15,000 members of the media covering the July 15-18 event.

The centerpiece of the venue will be a stage spanning 26 feet tall and 60 feet wide, with a backdrop made of nearly 1,200 high-density LED panels, RNC officials unveiled Wednesday. The display will feature multiple protrusions to create an immersive experience for attendees, and the LED panels will be programmed with graphics, lights and colors to fit each night’s theme, which means the set won’t have to be physically rebuilt each day.

“This gives our team enormous versatility. We’ll be able to create dramatically different looks to captivate audiences each night of the convention based on the theme of the day,” RNC committee on arrangements chairwoman Anne Hathaway said during a press conference.

She added the stage will be partially suspended from the ceiling and partially mounted on the floor.

The stage will serve a central role in the production of the convention not only for the thousands of people inside Fiserv Forum, but also those tuning in across the globe, said Republican National Committee chairman Michael Whatley.

“We’re going to have a world class television production that is going to be able to take what happens on the stage and communicate that out not just across the country but to the entire world,” said Whatley.

What’s been referred to by organizers as a “four-day live TV show” will be broadcast and covered not only on all the major networks and their affiliates across the country and overseas, but also through platforms like Snapchat, TikTok, Google News and X (formerly Twitter).

Build-out of the stage structure and the rest of the convention arena is being carried out by hundreds of tradesmen, technicians, local vendors and specialists, organizers have said, although it remains unclear what local companies, if any, have been awarded subcontracts for the project.

The RNC is expected to draw 50,000 visitors to Milwaukee and generate an estimated economic impact of $250 million to the region.