Stadium Discussion

new renderings just dropped! inside of the stadium. Looks interesting, but are they really expecting to have concerts inside the entrance? I assume that's specifically a rendering for non-matchday events
Also is that brad sims in the rendering?
1727792409820.png

...also i think this answers some of our food questions?
 
Shwafta said:
new renderings just dropped! inside of the stadium. Looks interesting, but are they really expecting to have concerts inside the entrance? I assume that's specifically a rendering for non-matchday events
Also is that brad sims in the rendering?
View attachment 13541

...also i think this answers some of our food questions?
Click to expand...
I've been told that the renderings being released today were all matchday related and so I can see a cover band performing pregame as people are filing in. Some non-matchday event stuff may be coming out soon...

That one pic does kind of look like Brad, lol.

I think the plan for this area food-wise was always this kind of set up. More local vendors, etc, food-truck-ish. I wouldn't be surprised however if they did something like this and then used a larger vendor for the remainder of the stadium. No info on this or anything, just my thoughts.
 
SoupInNYC said:
I've been told that the renderings being released today were all matchday related and so I can see a cover band performing pregame as people are filing in. Some non-matchday event stuff may be coming out soon...

That one pic does kind of look like Brad, lol.

I think the plan for this area food-wise was always this kind of set up. More local vendors, etc, food-truck-ish. I wouldn't be surprised however if they did something like this and then used a larger vendor for the remainder of the stadium. No info on this or anything, just my thoughts.
Click to expand...

from the writeup, sounds like this area will be an open all the time food court/hall that can support non-matchday events and accessible to the public. does this mean that prices will be reasonable since no one would go there on non-matchdays otherwise? who knows. ha
 
moogoo said:
from the writeup, sounds like this area will be an open all the time food court/hall that can support non-matchday events and accessible to the public. does this mean that prices will be reasonable since no one would go there on non-matchdays otherwise? who knows. ha
Click to expand...
Yup, should be accessible to the public on non-matchdays. But the food court/hall won't be the only thing going on there.

Food and beverage prices are definitely something high on my list to talk to Brad about. Especially considering the data that is coming out of Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
 
SoupInNYC said:
I've been told that the renderings being released today were all matchday related and so I can see a cover band performing pregame as people are filing in. Some non-matchday event stuff may be coming out soon...
Click to expand...
that's really cool, then!! I think that's an awesome idea and also a great way to get people to enter the stadium early.
 
That has the potential to be a really cool space and the most popular concession offering inside the stadium if it includes local vendors making their authentic cuisines.

Could also see that room become the de-facto home of watch parties and other team events instead of the team renting out event halls around the city, like they did for their Fanfest last weekend.
 
CCMore said:
Reminds me of a smaller Dekalb Food hall in Brooklyn. So much fun and music and drink. Especially with it open more than just game days, this place will be incredible. And most importantly… ITS NOT LEGENDS!
Click to expand...

it could still be legends as far as we know, for the main concessions. but having local vendors food hall option is definitely a bonus, considering the location of the stadium.

i am very curious about food & drink prices though with reference to what Soup said. Atlanta has always had a lot of success with their lower pricing model to bring in families and such. i have a feeling the club won't feel the need to do that because, unlike atlanta, we don't have a 80K stadium to fill.
 
moogoo said:
it could still be legends as far as we know, for the main concessions. but having local vendors food hall option is definitely a bonus, considering the location of the stadium.

i am very curious about food & drink prices though with reference to what Soup said. Atlanta has always had a lot of success with their lower pricing model to bring in families and such. i have a feeling the club won't feel the need to do that because, unlike atlanta, we don't have a 80K stadium to fill.
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Fair, they could still do the rest of the stadium with Legends. But as a vegetarian that has still yet to find a decent reoccurring vegetarian option in YS, having a food hall with local vendors raised my chances of actually eat a meal at the stadium by 99%. Thank god for Shake Shack at Citi field.
 
Psst. You wanna know a secret?
It's actually not a secret but for some reason people act like it isn't true even though it's obvious.
The problem with Yankee Stadium food is not Legends. It's the Yankees.

Legends will provide whatever its clients want. The Yankees have an ugly grey industrial ramp and hallway stadium with institutional food options, because that's the team culture. The Yankee culture is "We're the Yankees. What else do you want from us? And everything is the best and top rate even though it isn't. Did I mention we're the Yankees?"

Legends is not the Yankees, even though the Yankees are substantial owners.
Go look at the food options at Levi's Stadium, Banc of California, SoFi, Allegiant, and all the other Legends clients and none of them are like Yankee Stadium food, and almost all are significantly better, with more local vendors, and more variety, including beer.
Same with prices. Legends will charge consistent with client parameters. If Legends were to get the Mercedes Benz Stadium contract the food would still be cheap because that's what Arthur Blank wants and he will make sure that happens regardless.
CFG, Brad Sims and the NYCFC hospitality liaison team will provide a set of instructions to whoever they hire. That entity will propose options. NYCFC will be in charge. Legends doesn't tell its clients we'll give you expensive hospital food and you'll like it. The Yankees asked for expensive hospital food.
Whether Sponsor Stadium uses Legends or Aramark or some other vendor, if the food and beer sucks or if they are crazy expensive, that's a NYCFC problem, not a Legends or Aramark problem.
 
Last edited:
mgarbowski said:
Psst. You wanna know a secret?
It's actually not a secret but for some reason people act like it isn't true even though it's obvious.
The problem with Yankee Stadium food is not Legends. It's the Yankees.

Legends will provide whatever its clients want. The Yankees have an ugly grey industrial ramp and hallway stadium with institutional food options, because that's the team culture. The Yankee culture is "We're the Yankees. What else do you want from us? And everything is the best and top rate even though it isn't. Did I mention we're the Yankees?"

Legends is not the Yankees, even though the Yankees are substantial owners.
Go look at the food options at Levi's Stadium, Banc of California, SoFi, Allegiant, and all the other Legends clients and none of them are like Yankee Stadium food, and almost all are significantly better, with more local vendors, and more variety, including beer.
Same with prices. Legends will charge consistent with client parameters. If Legends were to get the Mercedes Benz Stadium contract the food would still be cheap because that's what Arthur Blank wants and he will make sure that happens regardless.
CFG, Brad Sims and the NYCFC hospitality liaisons will provide a set of instructions to whoever they hire. That entity will propose options. NYCFC will be in charge. Legends doesn't tell its clients we'll give you expensive hospital food and you'll like it. The Yankees asked for expensive hospital food.
Whether Sponsor Stadium uses Legends or Aramark or some other vendor, if the food and beer sucks or if they are crazy are expensive, that's a NYCFC problem, not a Legends or Aramark problem.
Click to expand...
As someone who’s work for Legends I can’t say I agree with you. I’ve never been to those other facilities so I can’t speak to their food. But when I used to work for them they paid a contract to the Saratoga Performing Art Center (SPAC) to be their food vendor. A majority of my coworkers were day of event labor who were under trained and doing this as a side gig. Fine. But they were by no means bought in to providing a great service. They barely knew what to do cause long lines for overly expensive drink and food was the norm. I used to pull crappy boxes of frozen rubber burgers and chicken strips out of the freezer so someone who could barely run a fryer could heat them up or stick the burgers on a flat grill. Unless you’re just buying a drink in a can you were going to have to wait to get over priced, crummy, usually cold food that wasn’t heated properly. And trust me I never saw a vegetarian option. Now from my 3 years there I don’t know if I ever saw a representative from SPAC visit us to discuss anything with regards to the service we provided. I just got a text before the beginning of the season saying we got the contract again and we start the first week of May. I remember a bunch of the guys I worked with said they used to work for Armark but then Legends won the contract so they just transitioned over to Legends.
I was a part of the Warehouse staff, so all we did was move food and beverages to where they needed to go. But I do remember the staff saying that working for Armark was a better experience. Of course I am biased. But I will say working there was a great time and I was treated right as a full time seasonal employee. But seeing what we served customers, and how we trained our day of staff, and the service that was provided at the gut wrenching price. I was embarrassed by it.
 
CCMore said:
As someone who’s work for Legends I can’t say I agree with you. I’ve never been to those other facilities so I can’t speak to their food. But when I used to work for them they paid a contract to the Saratoga Performing Art Center (SPAC) to be their food vendor. A majority of my coworkers were day of event labor who were under trained and doing this as a side gig. Fine. But they were by no means bought in to providing a great service. They barely knew what to do cause long lines for overly expensive drink and food was the norm. I used to pull crappy boxes of frozen rubber burgers and chicken strips out of the freezer so someone who could barely run a fryer could heat them up or stick the burgers on a flat grill. Unless you’re just buying a drink in a can you were going to have to wait to get over priced, crummy, usually cold food that wasn’t heated properly. And trust me I never saw a vegetarian option. Now from my 3 years there I don’t know if I ever saw a representative from SPAC visit us to discuss anything with regards to the service we provided. I just got a text before the beginning of the season saying we got the contract again and we start the first week of May. I remember a bunch of the guys I worked with said they used to work for Armark but then Legends won the contract so they just transitioned over to Legends.
I was a part of the Warehouse staff, so all we did was move food and beverages to where they needed to go. But I do remember the staff saying that working for Armark was a better experience. Of course I am biased. But I will say working there was a great time and I was treated right as a full time seasonal employee. But seeing what we served customers, and how we trained our day of staff, and the service that was provided at the gut wrenching price. I was embarrassed by it.
Click to expand...
I can't say you're wrong about your experience.
What I know is I did a broad but completely non-rigorous survey of posts about stadium food in a dozen or so sports subreddits and found that:
  • Food everywhere costs too much except Atlanta, which subreddit I didn't check because it's such a special case.
  • Nobody anywhere thought the basics (hotdogs, hamburger, chicken tenders, nachos) were good and reasonably priced.
  • Almost everywhere says food was better and cheaper in the past. I'm not sure if that's mostly nostalgia. It probably is, but also some pointed out that things got worse after Covid and never recovered, which is reality in a lot of hospitality and travel services. It could also be that teams and venues like to make a good showing when a new venue opens or a new vendor takes over, but really they don't care so over time things inevitably decay.
  • One person worked at Aramark and said it was the worst job he ever had so screw Aramark and he roots for Legends. I'm not kidding.
  • When a stadium changes vendors everyone cheers. Within a few years they hate the new vendor.
  • Any post asking what should I eat at XXX Stadium gets multiple replies saying "it's too expensive; bring your own if allowed; eat beforehand; except YYYY in section ZZ is great."
  • So basically what distinguishes stadium food is the number of exceptions.
  • The number of exceptions runs from 1 to 6. Legends stadiums were often on the high end.
  • Both Angels Stadium and BMO (LAFC) fans pointed to Petco Park (non-Legends) in San Diego as having the best food. Padres fans tell everyone who asks there's only a few good options and everything else is mediocre and expensive.
  • Banc/BMO/LAFC had a practice of swapping out all the subvendors every year. Not sure if it's still the case. This understandably led to "I wish they'd bring back ____" comments but also sounds interesting and worthwhile.
In the end I still say the vendors don't matter. Teams and venue owners just don't care. They are happy to have high prices and meh food. NYCFC and Sims are talking a lot but we'll see (and I don't see much emphasis on affordability even now). I just don't think it matters who they hire. The one exception would be if they hire AMBSE, which is Blank's company. But they seem not to have any clients not owned by Blank or in Atlanta except they run the PGA Tour Superstores.
 
mgarbowski said:
I can't say you're wrong about your experience.
What I know is I did a broad but completely non-rigorous survey of posts about stadium food in a dozen or so sports subreddits and found that:
  • Food everywhere costs too much except Atlanta, which subreddit I didn't check because it's such a special case.
  • Nobody anywhere thought the basics (hotdogs, hamburger, chicken tenders, nachos) were good and reasonably priced.
  • Almost everywhere says food was better and cheaper in the past. I'm not sure if that's mostly nostalgia. It probably is, but also some pointed out that things got worse after Covid and never recovered, which is reality in a lot of hospitality and travel services. It could also be that teams and venues like to make a good showing when a new venue opens or a new vendor takes over, but really they don't care so over time things inevitably decay.
  • One person worked at Aramark and said it was the worst job he ever had so screw Aramark and he roots for Legends. I'm not kidding.
  • When a stadium changes vendors everyone cheers. Within a few years they hate the new vendor.
  • Any post asking what should I eat at XXX Stadium gets multiple replies saying "it's too expensive; bring your own if allowed; eat beforehand; except YYYY in section ZZ is great."
  • So basically what distinguishes stadium food is the number of exceptions.
  • The number of exceptions runs from 1 to 6. Legends stadiums were often on the high end.
  • Both Angels Stadium and BMO (LAFC) fans pointed to Petco Park (non-Legends) in San Diego as having the best food. Padres fans tell everyone who asks there's only a few good options and everything else is mediocre and expensive.
  • Banc/BMO/LAFC had a practice of swapping out all the subvendors every year. Not sure if it's still the case. This understandably led to "I wish they'd bring back ____" comments but also sounds interesting and worthwhile.
In the end I still say the vendors don't matter. Teams and venue owners just don't care. They are happy to have high prices and meh food. NYCFC and Sims are talking a lot but we'll see (and I don't see much emphasis on affordability even now). I just don't think it matters who they hire. The one exception would be if they hire AMBSE, which is Blank's company. But they seem not to have any clients not owned by Blank or in Atlanta except they run the PGA Tour Superstores.
Click to expand...
Well, I will say I very much appreciate all your research into this info. I think you may be right that it can all be pretty much the same where ever you go and who ever is providing the food service even if I still am biased against Legends.

My big take away is I believe having City Square open on non-game days means those specific food vendors will have full time staff with better experience with the food they are making and the equipment they are using. This hopefully translates into a little more experience in their work. Nothing to say I think they will also have better ingredients because they (the food stands) want guests to come on non-game days and no one will choose stadium food when you have Queens (food capital of the world) around you. I think it goes a long way towards getting a decent bite at the stadium. If the rest of the stadium is Aramark, Legends, or another similar food service company then so be it, I’ll get only a soda and popcorn from them at halftime.
 
CCMore said:
My big take away is I believe having City Square open on non-game days means those specific food vendors will have full time staff with better experience with the food they are making and the equipment they are using.
Click to expand...
This.

When I saw these renderings I thought they were the most exciting stadium news drop we've seen. If they can replicate Chelsea Market, Smorgasburg, Gotham West, etc., even with predictably high prices I would no longer be unhappy or slightly disgusted getting food at the stadium.
 
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