by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
The members of Jaguars nation have lofty expectations heading into the 2006-07 season. Those same expectations can be taken to the concession stand.
Tampa-based Ovations Food Services has signed a 10-year contract worth between $8 million and $10 million annually to provide concessions everywhere in Alltel Stadium except the South end zone and the skyboxes. The decision to go with Ovations, which topped six other concessionaires that responded to the Request for Proposal the team sent out earlier this year, is a bit of a risk, but one the team feels comfortable with.
“We are excited about the change,” said Bill Prescott, the team’s senior vice president of stadium operations and chief financial officer. “This is their first NFL stadium, so this is a major thing for them. We expect they will go out of their way to make sure things operate at a high level.”
Ovations replaces Centerplate, which had the concessions contract for the first 11 years the team played. Prescott said two factors contributed to the decision to seek a new concessions management company: the option to renew with Centerplate expired May 31 and, thanks to the new lease agreement with the City, the team was granted control over concessions and the revenue generated.
Prescott said no local companies responded to the RFP.
“Most companies that can handle a stadium this size are from out of town,” he said. “We sent the RFP to 10 companies and seven reviewed the facility with us. For us, their (Ovations) concept of fresh food and fresh service was what we were looking for.”
With a new concessionaire comes, naturally, new concessions. There will still be the standards — popcorn, peanuts, pretzels, hot dogs (although they will be pulled fresh off a roller and placed in a warm bun, not prewrapped in aluminum foil and placed under a heat lamp) — but fans can look for new options, too.
“We will have service stands with barbecue, Bubba Burgers and a couple of Mexican food stands,” said Prescott. “We’ll also have spicy food stands where you can get things like jalapeno poppers. The big thing, though, is the service. We believe the quality of the food and the level of service are at a new level.”
Previously, Centerplate also managed merchandise sales. That is being taken over by Denver-based XP Events.
“The sole thing they do is merchandise and that’s important to us,” said Prescott.
Both Ovations and XP Events will have a management team that may consist of employees from Tampa and Denver, respectively, but a majority of their game-day employees will be local, said Prescott.
The biggest off-field issue facing the team and the City is the naming rights to the stadium. The current lease with Alltel ends Feb. 28, 2007. Prescott said the team has hired an outside consulting firm to help find a new longterm sponsor. Prescott said he’d like to get a deal done before the end of the season.
“You don’t want the stadium to go dark without a name on it,” he said, adding the team will bring prospective sponsors in throughout the season.”We want a partner who has the intent to fit in with the team and the city.”
Prescott said whoever lands the naming rights deal needs to understand Jacksonville is one of the league’s smaller markets.
“We will always be constrained by the fact we are a small market,” said Prescott. “We will yield more results than the last contract. I am optimistic it will be better than the last deal.”