Rojo Hospitality Group, operating its first Super Bowl, reported a food and drink per cap of $72.14 for the Super Bowl at University of Phoenix Stadium. It’s a record number for the building, which opened in 2006.
By comparison, the 2014 Super Bowl produced a record per cap of $94.60 at MetLife Stadium, where Delaware North Sportservice runs the foodservice.
Rojo, the Arizona Cardinals’ in-house concessionaire, topped more than $5 million in gross sales from the official attendance of 70,288.
The per cap covers all general concessions and premium dining at the stadium, including some catered functions on plazas and the adjacent eight-acre Great Lawn. Rojo Hospitality shares an undisclosed percentage of Super Bowl revenue with the NFL as part of its agreement with the league.
This year’s average spend was down significantly in large part because of fewer premium spaces at the facility, said Ken Wilson, Rojo’s general manager. MetLife, home of the Jets and Giants, has 218 suites, about 150 percent more than the Glendale venue. University of Phoenix Stadium has 88 lofts, the term used for marketing suites at that building.
Rojo, which took over the Cardinals’ foodservice in 2010, did beat the numbers posted for the Super Bowl in 2008, the first time the facility played host to the NFL championship.
Seven years ago, the average spend was $45.38 under Centerplate, the stadium’s old vendor. That number also covered food and drink on game day at the NFL Experience, the fan festival accompanying the event, which was held on site, Wilson said.
This year, the NFL Experience was held at the convention center in downtown Phoenix, so those numbers were not included.
Rojo’s Super Bowl per cap was about three times the average spend for the 2015 Pro Bowl, held a week earlier at University of Phoenix Stadium. That game generated a per cap of $26.51, on par with a typical Cardinals home game, Wilson said.
