There are actually several reasons why stadium food is getting better: 1) stadiums are pushing vendors for higher rents and the only way to get that done, given that they are already serving at maximum capacity, is to sell higher priced, higher profit food, which means, better food. 2) Visitors have come to expect better food and fear novel foods less (could you imagine a char shiu burger in the 1960s?) so vendors are compelled to improve their offerings to satisfy fans and keep their contracts. 3) Franchising is a QSR standard so the the big players (e.g. Aramark) are able to get franchises of already perfected fast food options, which makes it much easier for them to offer quality efficiently. 4) New stadiums are built with food service in mind so they can have the room and equipment to produce, store and serve food. That is particularly true because they need better quality for the corporate boxes, which have now become a major part of stadium revenue.
Aug 4, 2022·edited Aug 4, 2022Liked by Katherine Spiers
Agreed. Sporting events are definitely catered to a higher income crowd. In Washington DC, even the food choices around the Nationals baseball stadium are on the higher end. Seafood towers, "artisanal" pizza...Shake Shack. Not that I'm complaining except for the 5 hour baseball game.
This is so interesting, thank you! I have a question about point #3 - do the fast food options include non-branded outlets? The rotisserie chicken at this stadium is great, but it's just called something like "L.A. Chicken," which is not a brand I'm aware of. I'm not sure it is a brand, is what I mean. There used to be more food options at the stadium, but most of them seem to have closed - maybe they streamlined?
Adding to #3 of Jan K's comment, I've noticed 2 types of vendors at arenas and stadiums: marquee chef/restaurant names (national or local) and your QSR. A company like Sodexo can staff up the regular hot dog/burger/LA chicken concession stands for arenas for customers who don't want the more high-end food. Eater has a good video of the Barclay's Center food operations.
There are actually several reasons why stadium food is getting better: 1) stadiums are pushing vendors for higher rents and the only way to get that done, given that they are already serving at maximum capacity, is to sell higher priced, higher profit food, which means, better food. 2) Visitors have come to expect better food and fear novel foods less (could you imagine a char shiu burger in the 1960s?) so vendors are compelled to improve their offerings to satisfy fans and keep their contracts. 3) Franchising is a QSR standard so the the big players (e.g. Aramark) are able to get franchises of already perfected fast food options, which makes it much easier for them to offer quality efficiently. 4) New stadiums are built with food service in mind so they can have the room and equipment to produce, store and serve food. That is particularly true because they need better quality for the corporate boxes, which have now become a major part of stadium revenue.
Agreed. Sporting events are definitely catered to a higher income crowd. In Washington DC, even the food choices around the Nationals baseball stadium are on the higher end. Seafood towers, "artisanal" pizza...Shake Shack. Not that I'm complaining except for the 5 hour baseball game.
This is so interesting, thank you! I have a question about point #3 - do the fast food options include non-branded outlets? The rotisserie chicken at this stadium is great, but it's just called something like "L.A. Chicken," which is not a brand I'm aware of. I'm not sure it is a brand, is what I mean. There used to be more food options at the stadium, but most of them seem to have closed - maybe they streamlined?
Adding to #3 of Jan K's comment, I've noticed 2 types of vendors at arenas and stadiums: marquee chef/restaurant names (national or local) and your QSR. A company like Sodexo can staff up the regular hot dog/burger/LA chicken concession stands for arenas for customers who don't want the more high-end food. Eater has a good video of the Barclay's Center food operations.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jeJQz99BFA