It's Showtime: TD Garden Preparing For Its First Stanley Cup Final Game

Delaware North Sportservice, seizing the opportunity to cash in on the first Stanley Cup Final in Boston in 21 years, has greatly expanded its lines of merchandise at TD Garden. The '11 Stanley Cup championship moves to Boston for tonight’s Game Three and Wednesday’s Game Four. Delaware North Cos. owns Sportservice, the Bruins and TD Garden. For Game Seven of the Eastern Conference Finals in Boston, when the Bruins beat the Lightning to advance to the Cup Final, the concessionaire saw retail sales jump 28% over the regular season, said Sportservice President Rick Abramson. To keep the momentum going, Sportservice worked with its suppliers and licensees to produce 34 new items for the finals, ranging from hats to T-shirts, to collectible coins, pins, mini hockey sticks, commemorative pucks and “dueling team” pint beer glasses. "We expect an even bigger bump for the Finals,” Abramson said. “The Bruins are one of the best brands in sports and we have grown our business tremendously in the playoffs. The fans have been unbelievable in their support of the team. We challenged all our people to get creative to come up with new items and they have risen to the occasion, from concessions to suites to dining rooms and retail.”

TRYING TO MEET DEMAND: To meet demand for Stanley Cup-branded merchandise, Sportservice set up 12 more points of sale in food concessions. In addition, every retail stand is now equipped with wireless handheld units to ring up merchandise and shorten transaction times. In TD Garden’s premium areas, suite holders have the option to order merchandise and have those items delivered to their skybox. On the food side, Sportservice has rolled out three more combo meals. Prices range from $11 for a hot dog, chips and a Stanley Cup-branded souvenir soda to $12.50 for a slice of pizza and souvenir beer cup. In the suites, Sportservice continues to offer those high-end patrons a limited selection of Huge Bear wines, a California winemaker. Company executives liked the brand’s tie-in to the Bruins and introduced Huge Bear’s Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc for the regular season. Those wines, produced in St. Helena, Calif., sell for $98 per bottle in suites, Abramson said.