The Trail Blazers and Rip City Management on Thursday announced a multiyear deal making Levy Restaurants their new culinary partner. The agreement, which applies to the Rose Garden and Rose Quarter, goes into effect July 1. The choice concludes a 13-week search process. The Rose Garden now becomes the 22nd NBA venue in which Levy will oversee food and beverage services. Ovations Food Services is the team's outgoing concessions partner (Trail Blazers). The Blazers also announced that Rip City Management would “take over management of the Rose Garden Arena from AEG Facilities.” The Blazers and AEG in a joint statement said that the two companies “mutually agreed to let the current arena management contract expire at the end of its term.” The statement said the Rose Garden going forward will have "a self-operating facilities model much like what was in place" when the venue opened 18 years ago. In Portland, Allan Brettman noted the Blazers, before choosing Levy, “searched for more than 13 weeks, narrowing the field to five finalists.” Blazers President & CEO Chris McGowan “targeted the Rose Garden's food and beverage services as one of his areas of focus when he was hired late last year” (Portland OREGONIAN, 4/26).
