Delaware North team at MetLife StadiumDelaware North
Delaware North set an NHL Stadium Series retail record for gross sales during last weekend’s Devils-Flyers/Rangers-Islanders doubleheader at MetLife Stadium. DN handled food and beverage, premium hospitality, catering and retail, resulting in a roughly $53 per-cap ($40 for F&B and $13 for merchandise). The event recorded a Stadium Series merch sales record of $874,000 on Saturday, before breaking that mark the next day with $948,000 worth of merch sales, aided in part by all four teams wearing special jerseys for the first Stadium Series doubleheader. “We’ve done a lot of big events here at the Meadowlands,” said Delaware North’s MetLife Stadium GM Bill Lohr, "and this one is way up near the top.”
F&B efforts included a 100-foot-long tent outside the stadium for pregame eating and drinking. Though the tent shut down prior to the original 2:30pm ET start time, per-caps were undoubtedly helped by puck drop Saturday being delayed 47 minutes because of sun glare off the ice. All 200 suites were full that day for the Rangers-Islanders game. Delaware North’s catering team fed all four NHL teams before and after their games, including 300 Flyers players and their friends and families following Saturday’s game, and catered the crews setting up and breaking down the setup.
Delaware North partnered with Fanatics and the NHL on the merch program. Fans averaged $96 per transaction, said Delaware North Retail Dir Joe Valenza, with 2,300 transactions per hour at the highest point. Over 62,000 items were sold across 19 locations (inside and outside of the stadium), including knit hats, sweatshirts, the special Stadium Series jerseys, and commemorative pucks. Valenza said the merch gross sales were higher than a Giants or Jets game and were more akin to a concert. The Stadium Series-themed hooded sweatshirt in black was the top-selling item. “At a football game you’re not as captured as you are at this event. You had to come here to get it,” Lohr said.
The games, which welcomed more than 150,000 fans to the venue over two days, were the first February events at MetLife Stadium since the venue hosted the Super Bowl in 2014. The venue partially closed Jan. 7 following its final regular season NFL game but was brought back online beginning two weeks ago when the NHL and crews first showed up to begin the ice rink, fan zone, and broadcast buildouts. MetLife Stadium, which was recently awarded hosting rights for FIFA’s 2026 Men’s World Cup final, will close again until mid-April when it begins preparation for the Giants and Jets’ NFL Draft party later that month.
Delaware North at MetLife Stadium
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Pregame New Amsterdam Vodka Bar
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Pregame hospitality tent outside MetLife Stadium
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2024 NHL Stadium Series at MetLife Stadium
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Delaware North team at MetLife Stadium
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