Cowboys To Immediately Begin Using New Concessions Company

(l to r) Hal Steinbrenner, Stephen Jones, Mike Rawlings, Jerry Jones And Jerry Jones Jr.

The Cowboys and Yankees yesterday formally announced the launch of their new joint concessions company Legends Hospitality Management (LHM), and Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones said that the Cowboys’ new concessions “would start right away, by serving more of Texas’ most beloved eats and drinks, such as burritos and margaritas,” according to Tharp & Plagianos of the N.Y. POST. Yankees co-Chair Hal Steinbrenner: “The old model of stadium concessions is broke. Fans want, and deserve, a better experience for their sports entertainment dollars.” Steinbrenner said that “waitress service could be offered at the new Yankees stadium’s field-level seats.” LHM, in addition to managing concessions at the new Yankees and Cowboys stadiums, “expects to win concession contracts as they come up for renewal at other professional stadiums, college arenas and other public spaces and institutions” (N.Y. POST, 10/21). LHM Chair & CEO Michael Rawlings: “We’re not going to be the biggest sports business services company out there, but we do believe we’re going to be laying out what the best product offering is” (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 10/21). Jones noted both the Cowboys and Yankees in building their new stadiums are "spending well over a billion dollars. This is taking a time when we are proud of the architecture, proud of the stadiums, but (the venture) lets us put the blood in the things that mean the most, and that is the fan experience” (“Street Signs,” CNBC, 10/20). In DC, Tim Lemke reports LHM “will pay the Cowboys and Yankees a rights fee to operate in their stadium, which would be set at a market rate. That fee would be subject to revenue sharing, but any revenue derived from the business with other teams would not.” Industry experts said that the new company “would be smart to focus on the more premier sports franchises” (WASHINGTON TIMES, 10/21).

FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Menus and pricing for the venues have not been announced, but Rawlings said that LHS “will tailor its offering to the individual markets.” In Ft. Worth, Andrea Ahles reports LHM plans to “survey fans on what kinds of food and beverages they would like to buy,” and “cut lines from about 250 fans in one line throughout a game to 100 to 150 fans” (FT. WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM, 10/21). Rawlings said that LHM “will institute a new ‘progressive cookery’ system that prepares food closer to when orders are received, thus preventing items like hot dogs from sitting out for long periods of time”  (WASHINGTON TIMES, 10/21). Rawlings “did not say what a beer would cost the average fan but stressed how sports fans, even in a bad economy, are more concerned with quality than price” (N.Y. TIMES, 10/21).

THE BOSS: On Long Island, Ken Davidoff notes a video taped message from Yankees Chair George Steinbrenner and Jones aired during the news conference to introduce LHM, and Steinbrenner “spoke mostly in short phrases, and at times, he appeared to slightly slur his words. The image was consistent with that of Steinbrenner in recent years: a man who is not anywhere near as robust as he was even five years ago.” Hal Steinbrenner said, “He’s doing fine. You can draw your own conclusions (from the tape). He’s 78. He’s slowing down, as we know” (NEWSDAY, 10/21).