Orlando City SC has signed Spectra to a five-year food services deal for the team’s 25,000-seat stadium, opening next year.
Rob Parker, vice president of corporate partnerships for the MLS club, said the team interviewed six candidates before selecting Spectra. He outlined factors that led to the decision, including a commitment to community programs and local hiring, as well as Spectra’s understanding of the logistics of food management as it relates to soccer.
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Spectra plans to incorporate a Latin flavor into menus when Orlando City SC’s new stadium opens next year.
Images: COURTESY OF ORLANDO CITY SC
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Spectra, the food division of Comcast-Spectacor formerly called Ovations, also has MLS deals at Talen Energy Stadium (Philadelphia Union) and Avaya Stadium (San Jose Earthquakes), in addition to Bonney Field, home of Sacramento Republic FC, a USL club aiming.
As part of its Orlando operation, Spectra officials plan to incorporate a Latin flavor into menus for both general concessions and premium dining and have hired Mike
Bass, a well-known local bartender, to serve as beverage manager, said Tom Anastasia, Spectra’s regional vice president. Bass, most recently employed with a restaurant in Winter Park, Fla., will serve his signature craft cocktails on the stadium’s club level, using a tap system topped off with a few handmade ingredients to mix drinks more efficiently in a
stadium setting, Anastasia said.
To provide flexibility and maximize space, Spectra also is developing concessions stands with dual concepts — such as gourmet burgers paired with tacos and empanadas, Anastasia said. Portable food carts will carry a street-food scene to the stadium, as well.
On the premium side, the stadium’s east and west clubs will both be all-inclusive, with food and drink covered in the cost of their ticket packages. Domestic beers and house wines are part of those packages; premium beer, wine and hard liquor are additional, Anastasia said.
One point of difference is that the east club, unlike the west club, does not have an indoor lounge. On the east side, club seat patrons will eat and drink in an open-air setting through a grab-and-go program with sandwiches, some hot items and a bar. Spectra also plans to bring in some local brands, but to this point, no deals are signed.
Charles Whitehead, Spectra’s assistant manager at Talen Energy Stadium, has been appointed general manager at Orlando City’s stadium.
In addition to the Spectra deal, Orlando City has signed FBC Mortgage and Southern Ford Dealers as new partners, adding to its stable of 50 sponsors. Nearly all of those companies will carry their partnerships over into the new stadium, said Orlando City founder and President Phil Rawlins.
Team officials declined to comment on the financial terms of the multiyear deals but did say that the second-year MLS club has seen total sponsorship revenue grow by more than 30 percent as a result of new business this season.
Parker said the club expects an additional 30 percent to 40 percent increase in the growth rate next season as it moves into the new stadium. That would put Orlando City into the top quarter of MLS clubs in terms of sponsorship revenue, with much of the new growth expected to come from a stadium naming-rights deal.
Orlando City’s stadium had been slated to open this summer, but earlier this year its debut was postponed until 2017. Parker said conversations about a deal have intensified as site work has become more visible.
Orlando City is being assisted by Gemini Sports on naming rights and is seeking at least a 10-year commitment. Interest has come from both local and national companies, as well as global brands, Rawlins said.
“If you look at us in the marketplace, we feel we have a somewhat unique position in having international appeal while being heavily committed locally, which we think could be attractive to a number of companies,” Rawlins said.
