With three of the nation’s four prominent professional sports leagues in action, the May calendar is abuzz with action. The National Basketball Association and National Hockey League playoffs remain in full swing, while Major League Baseball has hit the one-month mark in its summer-long grind to the Fall Classic. Fans are pouring into stadiums from coast to coast and partaking in treasured rituals rooted in team, civic, and familial pride. But amid that energy, fans are enjoying something else beyond the competition: an increasingly dynamic foodservice environment that’s invigorating a once-mundane element of game day.

For decades, stadium concessionaires largely existed to feed the masses. They dispensed hot dogs and pizza, cotton candy and nachos, beer, soda, and packaged goods. Game-day foodservice stood a utilitarian experience and a secondary consideration to the competitive action. Those days, however, have evaporated alongside baseball’s three-inning save and basketball’s low-post game. Across all four professional leagues and in cities dotting North America, stadium foodservice has become something far more diverse and daring. Stadiums are now employing executive chefs, roaming mixologists, and pastry artisans; leaning on new technologies to provide in-seat delivery and to power kitchens; creating environments that drive convenience and social interaction; and serving inventive, locally inspired cuisine more often associated with upscale restaurants than bleachers. For Chris Bigelow, who has been involved with stadium foodservice for more than 40 years, including the last 30 as a consultant to arenas looking to elevate their foodservice game, the winds began shifting about a generation ago when stadiums began adding club levels. In developing a premium strata of seating, Bigelow contends, stadiums began targeting premium foodservice to match. Suddenly, steaks and sushi appeared alongside hot dogs, and imported Italian wine alongside Old Style beer. And as foodie culture intensified over the last decade, the pace only accelerated. “You can still get hot dogs, beer, and nachos because that’s what’s associated with the ballgame, but there’s so much more available now to create a more engaging, special experience for fans,” Bigelow says.

At the same time, new stadiums emerged with hospitality baked into the design. Thinking beyond a bowl with a playing surface in the middle, many team owners, stadium designers, and their foodservice partners rallied around the total fan experience, which included elevated food and beverage. That prompted partnerships with James Beard Award–winning chefs, food hall–like environments, clever culinary promotions, and black tie–caliber service. “When you start thinking about how you can make it better to be at the game, you can strike gold,” says Diana Evans, vice president of marketing at Centerplate, a stadium hospitality provider whose portfolio includes noteworthy spots such as Safeco Field in Seattle and the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans. And the evolution continues to chug along. One of the more notable trends in the broader restaurant industry of late has been the marriage of celebrity chefs with the quick-service model. It was inevitable, Bigelow says, that this rising trend would flow into stadiums and arenas. “It’s rare that a stadium will start a foodservice trend, but it will certainly emulate one,” he says. Seattle’s Safeco Field, for instance, features culinary concoctions from award-winning chef Ethan Stowell, while Michael Mina–crafted dishes are available at Levi’s Stadium, home of the San Francisco 49ers. Hungry to further represent their city’s unique culinary flair, stadiums have also partnered with heralded local concepts. Both Chicago baseball stadiums, for instance, serve Italian beef sandwiches from Buona, an established Windy City staple, while Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia serves Philly cheesesteaks from Campo’s and Tony Luke’s. “We started going hyperlocal as a counter to the sameness out there,” Centerplate’s Evans says. “When you walk into a New Orleans Saints game, you’ll see the expected core items, but also some unique options singular to New Orleans that you won’t find in Denver, Miami, or Indianapolis.” That can also lead to some creative offerings characteristic of the local scene. Playing to Seattle’s sophisticated beer market, Safeco Field hosts the wildly popular “Firkin Fridays” with local brewers. In Boston, Fenway Park recently debuted Crème Brûlée French Toast, a house-made pastry cream and chocolate ganache with Vermont maple syrup and Fenway Farm’s strawberry sauce.

On another novel culinary front, Aramark has experimented with bringing fans into the R&D process with its pop-up-style Launch Test Kitchens outfitted with state-of-the-art equipment and digital signage. At Launch stands, which are now present in six U.S. venues, Aramark tests menu concepts and gathers real-time feedback from guests with the most successful programs rolled into permanent operations. In years past, much of a stadium’s culinary creativity or operational capacity was largely limited by infrastructure. Increasingly, however, new stadiums have unveiled high-powered kitchens with hoods, grills, and fryers, while older stadiums have incorporated ventless hoods to bring cooking capabilities to once-ignored stadium corners. Not only have stadiums supported more robust concessions spaces, but they’ve also invested in more of them. Bigelow says old stadiums might have had one cashier for every 1,000 fans; today, that ratio is trending toward one-to-100. Concourse spaces that might have typically been reserved for customer service or first aid are being replaced by concessions. By increasing points of service, stadiums boost convenience and speed for fans, while often capturing higher sales, as well. “A 25 percent increase in concession sales at a new stadium is not all that unusual given the added points of service alone,” Bigelow says. In addition to the fixed concession spaces, stadiums continue embracing mobility, giving a modern-day spin to the old-time hawker. Last year, Aramark debuted its Sip & Soar cocktail concept. Modeled after airline carts, Sip & Soar features bartenders who move throughout the stadium and concoct craft cocktails. Aramark also developed a Tuk Tuk program, outfitting three-wheeled electric vehicles with different concepts, including a cookie and ice cream concept called Jane Dough. “These types of innovations allow us to move with fans,” says Danielle Lazor, vice president of design and development at Aramark’s Sports & Entertainment division, which caters to some 100 million fans each year across more than 30 professional sports arenas. – Source: QSR.