<\/p>\n
Workers prepare for the Republican Party’s upcoming convention at American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, Monday, August 31, 2026.<\/p>\n
Anja Schlein\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n
The circus has left the building, but another kind of juggling act is just getting started.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Trucks carrying risers, fencing and other event equipment lined up Monday outside American Airlines Center<\/a> as Freeman<\/a>, a North Texas-based global event production company, began transforming the arena for next week\u2019s Republican convention<\/a>.<\/p>\n Workers for Freeman, a Dallas-Fort Worth-based global event production company, file into American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, Monday, August 31, 2026.<\/p>\n Anja Schlein\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n For Freeman, the assignment is both a homecoming and a sprint.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The company began its decadeslong run as the GOP\u2019s convention contractor in 1984 in Dallas, where President Ronald Reagan won renomination.<\/p>\n Forty-two years later, Republicans are returning for a convention-style rally with no official party business, announced by President Donald Trump<\/a> barely two months before he takes the stage.<\/p>\n Read more: Trump\u2019s Dallas Convention: Complete coverage\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n What Freeman builds will help shape how the Sept. 9-10 event and its speakers are presented to the country.\u00a0<\/p>\n The home of the Dallas Mavericks<\/a> and Stars<\/a> will become something close to a giant TV studio, with a large stage framed by LED screens, camera positions, media suites and broadcast areas.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Together, those elements are designed to project the party\u2019s message far beyond the supporters and spectators inside, aimed at voters in advance of the November election.<\/p>\n Dallas is\u00a0preparing a Republican convention at\u00a0American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, Monday, August 31, 2026.<\/p>\n Anja Schlein\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n Preparing an arena for a political convention typically takes several weeks. Freeman has about 10 days to create it all.\u00a0<\/p>\n The curtains closed on a Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey performance on Aug. 30 and the Republican organizers moved in.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re building this plane as we fly it,\u201d said Trump aide John Hiller, who was sent to Dallas as CEO of the convention. \u201cWe\u2019re on a short timeline, but we\u2019ve got a great team.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Freeman declined multiple requests for comment, but its staff assisted media outlets during a tour of the arena last month.<\/p>\n A deep resume<\/p>\n Since 1984, Freeman has been the go-to general service contractor for Republican conventions.\u00a0<\/p>\n The company supported the party\u2019s conventions in Milwaukee in 2024, Cleveland in 2016 and Tampa in 2012. The 2020 convention was largely virtual due to the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n Freeman was paid about $14.7 million<\/a> for its work for the 2024 GOP convention, according to the Milwaukee Business Journal.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Freeman is headquartered near the Dallas North Tollway and Spring Valley Road, but it reaches sites across the world.\u00a0<\/p>\n The company has helped create events such as the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas and the 75th anniversary of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in Washington.<\/p>\n This convention is unprecedented because it is set during a midterm instead of a presidential election, when the party normally hosts a nominating convention.\u00a0<\/p>\n Workers stand outside American Airlines Center as work begins for an upcoming Republican convention in Dallas, Texas, Monday, August 31, 2026.<\/p>\n Anja Schlein\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n Convention buildouts typically take four to six weeks, while dismantling the sites can take another one to two weeks. In Dallas, Freeman must work much faster.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n