NRG Stadium is undergoing a complete overhaul of its food service operation with a big piece occurring before the 2017 Super Bowl in Houston.
There have been a few upgrades on the food side in the years since the stadium opened in 2002, but the time has come for a major refresh of general concessions and premium dining, said Jamey Rootes, president of the Houston Texans, the facility’s co-tenant with the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.
The tenants, along with Aramark, the stadium’s concessionaire, and Harris County, the building’s owner, are sharing the cost of the $20 million project. More food-related retrofits are planned for a two-year stretch after the Super Bowl.
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Bars like The Spur will be redesigned (rendering above) to make drink service more convenient, while keeping the theming.
Photo by: RICHARDSON DESIGN
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“Super Bowl gives you the ultimate deadline, and this is an opportunity to show off our facility in the best way possible,” Rootes said.
Work has started on renovating general concession stands and expanding points-of-sale where space is available to improve efficiency and speed of service. The refresh extends to the two “ice house” stands at midfield
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| Photo by: COURTESY OF ARAMARK |
along both sidelines on the 100 level, where new rear-loading beer cooler systems are less intrusive for customers, said
Joel Nash, Aramark’s district manager in Houston.
On the club level, four bars with distinctive shapes — a boot spur, football, star and horseshoe — will be given more traditional layouts to help improve service. (Fans congregating at a point on the star-shaped bar, for example, could be standing eight feet from the bartender, not the best scenario for grabbing a drink.) The newly configured bars will keep their identity through new signs displaying their respective names, Nash said.
The revamp extends to updating the 205 suites, featuring new induction cooking tops and refrigerators, plus communal tables in the center of the interior space.
Separately, in conjunction with the stadium’s wireless upgrades for Super Bowl, Aramark plans to expand its traditional in-seat delivery on the club level by introducing delivery of beverages through the Texans’ mobile application, in a partnership with tech vendor Appetize.
In-seat orders are 85 percent beverage-only among the Texans’ 8,000 club-seat holders, and Aramark wants to stick with what generates the most business, Nash said. Food could be added later to the mobile program, which will be in place for the Super Bowl.
> NEW EXPERIENCE: Mobile technology firm Experience has named Greg Foster CEO. He takes over the role filled by Ben Ackerman, the company’s co-founder and president.
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Atlanta-based Experience, which works with teams and venues to provide seat upgrades and perks tied to those upsells through mobile devices, has grown its roster to include 400 properties and 15,000 events across sports and entertainment.
Over the past four years, it has quadrupled its accounts, and Ackerman, who has served as Experience’s de facto CEO, thought it was important to have another person take over that position as the company forms new strategies to expand its business.
Foster, 43, is an Atlanta native who graduated from Georgia Tech and earned an MBA at Harvard Business School. He worked for Turner Broadcasting in corporate development and has been an investor and board member for multiple tech firms, including Statsheet and Play On! Sports.
As he settles into his new job, Foster is having discussions with teams that go beyond seat upgrades to how they can generate incremental revenue to help pay construction debt on their facilities: That’s the case with one big league team and its desire to sell more merchandise toward that end. Foster declined to identify the club because it has not yet signed a deal with Experience.
Experience hired search firm On Partners to help find a new CEO. Ackerman said he had serious discussions with a dozen candidates before selecting Foster.
Don Muret can be reached at dmuret@sportsbusinessjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @breakground.
