Future Hospitality Trends in Stadium & Sporting / Entertainment Precincts

The diversity of our projects across a range of industries provides for constant and engaging evaluation internally as we consider food and beverage trend applications across properties of all shapes and sizes.

The first half of this year (and some of 2020), Future Food enjoyed working with two sports centric environments. We have been very proud to partner with both the Australian Turf Club on Royal Randwick & Rosehill Gardens, and with the Christchurch City Council as they seek to develop a new stadium to replace Lancaster Park/Jade Stadium, lost in the earthquakes of 2010/11.

One of the most pleasing aspects of both projects was our ability and agility of working on projects interstate and internationally whilst under lockdown constraints of Covid 19. Usage of modern technology has accelerated uptake and development, including our new proprietary software that provides Future Food with a new competitive F&B/hospitality threat & gap analysis tool – the application & results of which, have paid off immensely with the restricted working environment.

The modern-day benchmark for food and hospitality in sporting stadia is driven by the standards of the high streets. It is no longer acceptable to consider what has been successful in the past to be adequate for the future.

In the past we accepted a meat pie and a beer, now the expectation is to get a veggie pie vegan options, wines by the glass, cocktails, etc etc. We used to get cash sales only, now the expectation is predominantly EFTPOS based physical transactions that are bolstered by a range of sales opportunities, including order/click & collect, vending, mobile concessions, elevated dining and beverage choices, a range of environments plus pre & post-game entertainment. As such, the modern multi-use arena needs to be inherently agile in its approach to hospitality.

The future of stadia must also be considered in a very fast-moving space – technology has the potential to significantly change our approach to stadium/event catering as is the changing nature of retail globally.

Hospitality at contemporary sporting events can be considered as an integral component of the ‘experience.’ The Aussie Open – case in point. Melbourne & Olympic Park and their key stakeholders such as Tennis Australia understand that an F&B strategy must compete with a multitude of other events and competition for the finite entertainment dollar. Whether it's other events, the High Street, shopping centres, or even pay-per-view television and food and beverage delivery services; the alternatives to visitation of a stadium or event experience grows ever stronger, therefore modern stadia must reflect the trends of food and hospitality in the wider community in order to remain relevant maximise uptake and subsequent revenue. The arena must contribute to a whole of city offering rather than competing with it.

Food Trends in Modern Sporting Venues
A new breed of stadia of a number of shapes, sizes and sporting codes continues to expand the inventory of benchmark stadia, Sofi Stadium, Allegiant Stadium (home of the LA Raiders), the often talked about and frequently benchmarked Tottenham Hotspur Stadium; as well as our own incredible new stadia such as Optus Stadium in Perth, Bankwest Stadium in Parramatta, Queensland Country Bank Stadium (this year becoming the first regional stadium to host the State of Origin) or the Sydney Football Stadium (currently under rebuild/development). Yet regardless of code, we see familiar trends of hospitality and F&B emerging:

 ·      Casualisation of the premium & corporate products
·      Elevated GA experiences (a direct inconsistency with the premium trend curve)
·      Expanding Functions inventory (i.e. greater range of experiences, evolving menus and customisation)
·      Expanding pre & post dwell times (maximising the business case for the Stadium)
·      Increased range of retail and corporate products (offer and price-point)
·      Female friendly experiences
·      Localisation of procurement – ensuring support from the local community and a unique experience for visitors
·      Service experiences beyond the grab & go/belly up approach
·      Externalisation of F&B – A year revenue opportunity regardless of event/non-event day
·      Increasing use of technology especially at the customer ordering interface

Whilst our projects and the subsequent observations represent a number of different sports, codes, events and business models they all share a similar trait – F&B is/will be a key contributor to the patron experience and business case for future operation of these venues.

It is important that the overall F&B strategy is incorporated into the design/redesign, so that both capability, revenue potential and customer experience are well considered, not as an afterthought, but as an integral component of the planning and design of the venue.

Game’s On!