Dropping Season tickets

[Tech83]

That depends....who signed the contract with Gladieux to run concessions? Concessions have pretty much blown chunks since they took it over.

I am assuming this was publicly bid and the low (and/or best) bid was awarded the contract. Then it comes down to contract administration. But I don't know how you enforce the contract if the food is crappy. Its not like you get to sample food or it would even matter, when you are selecting the low bid for a service contract. I have been involved on the periphery of food contracts. Typically the contract centers on the types of food (burgers, salads, dogs, etc).... not whether it is actually edible.

And do we fault the AD because facilities (which I think is unionized) decided there was enough TP and soap. I'm sure he's on the phone this morning giving some one an earful..... but he doesn't control facilities.

My recommendation is more to the larger whole of "game day" experience. Which I think more about pre-game/game/post-game activities for fans. Is it fun to come to the game? This is where you contact the AD and ask how to get involved.

Concessions are what they are...... publicly bid mass produced fare. I have yet to have a decent cup of coffee at a sporting event. Miami has Starbucks....... in a box...... and it sucks. But then again... I hate Starbucks coffee.

Miami has a nice variety of food since they built the new East Stands. I think they even have a BBQ sandwich from Montgomery Inn.

[hammb]

ADs at non-football-factories generally don't get canned because the football team has a couple down years.

Also, blaming the AD for a concession stand running out of hot chocolate is a lot like blaming Obama because my garbage didn't get picked up this week. Let's keep the personal agendas out of here.

That depends....who signed the contract with Gladieux to run concessions? Concessions have pretty much blown chunks since they took it over.

Why couldn't they do concessions in house? This seems like an after thought for all involved. Have many of you attended other MAC schools to see what concessions are like? I've been to Toledo, Akron and Western MI. All are much better than BG.

Funny...

BG did do their concessions in house up until, what 2-3 years ago? I remember those days too. It was usually volunteers (Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, etc) running the stands. Lines were often VERY long and VERY slow moving. The selection was pretty poor, and running out of stuff like coffee & hot chocolate for cold weather games was a common occurrence. I remember a few years ago many of us were clamoring for the athletic department to hire the concessions out.

Now that we've had a taste of the Gladieux run concessions, I can only say they're worse. The selection of food items is better than it was but the prices are so much higher that who cares. The only concessions I typically buy are pop & popcorn. Pop is fine, but the popcorn quality has gone WAY down...it's $3 for a small box (same size was a $1 before Gladieux) and it is seemingly always stale. They still seem to run out of hot chocolate & coffee most games, and the lines don't seem to move much faster than they did back then.

I honestly don't know what the answer is. When BG ran the concessions the prices were much cheaper than any other sporting events I've ever been to. That was nice, but obviously it had its issues. Now the prices are more in line with what you'd pay at any other sporting venue, but we seem to suffer many of the same issues that we had before Gladieux came along. I wish I had a good answer, but I certainly don't...

[factman]

Just wondering if leasing each individual booth out might work. Some service organizations might be interested, some individuals or other groups. It would create some competition between each and probably increase selection as well as lower prices! Problem is that we would probably have to walk to the opposite side, where ever that may be for our favorite vendor. I'd love to have Mr Spots, Myles Pizza, DeBenedettos and Chipolte running a concession stand! Now, if we could get enough people in the stands to make it worth while, they would probably consider doing it!

[Redwingtom]

$2.50 for a regular size bag of peanut M&M's that supermarkets and carry-outs sell for like $.89. Enough said.

And awhile back we even had vendors in the stands selling pop, popcorn and candy.

The MudHens (also under a Gladeiux contract) do the volunteer thing and the stands seem to run quicker because the organizations get a percentage of the take.

[Tech83]

To Hammb's point about long lines etc.

This has to do with the design of the concession stands. They suck and are not designed for efficiency. I have done a number of concession/food service renos for large venues. Hobart Arena being the largest (4,500 seats). Simply put...... we need new concession stands designed and built. They need to be located opposite of their current location.

To Factman's/RWT request for local service groups and/or restaurants

Let me assure you.... service groups are not the way to go. They struggle to get people to sign-up and show-up. Been there - done that. When a service group asks me to work the concession stand.... I just ask them how much money do you want for me not to show up. Toledo Mudhens (Dayton Dragons do the same) can draw from a much larger pool of high school bands, soccer groups, and so on.... but even then... I tell them I give them a check... BTW the cut isn't that great and you typically don't get paid until the end of the season.

Local restaurants will be hesitant to operate a booth, trailer, stand at the game. They want you to come to their establishment before and after the game. They will make much more money that way. However, it does not preclude the University from purchasing 100 (800 slices) pizzas from Myles to be sold by the slice during the game. Our local high school does this with Dominos and Papa Johns. They might even be sold at a discount or donated to the school. The number of pizzas, subs and so on from a local establishment will be based on their capacity to produce the item and NOT critically impact their own business. (You'd be ticked off if you went to Myles for a pre-game pizza only to find out they are unable to get your pie to you quickly because they are pushing out pies for the stadium)

You really needs to do something like.... Tony Paco's Hot Dogs or something similar where you can purchase the produce and prepare it at the stadium.

[BGorDeath]

I miss the Panera and DiBettedeto's booths.

[BGFalconfromCincy]

all of this is why I don't bother with concessions and eat before the game, whether it be at home or tailgating

[Redwingtom]

To Hammb's point about long lines etc.

This has to do with the design of the concession stands. They suck and are not designed for efficiency. I have done a number of concession/food service renos for large venues. Hobart Arena being the largest (4,500 seats). Simply put...... we need new concession stands designed and built. They need to be located opposite of their current location.

Seems to me a cheap investment of some ropes to make some queues at each stand would go a long way to making things run smoother.

[gmartin]

Fwiw, Gladeux contract was not renewed for the Mud Hens. They have decided to go in another direction next year.

[hammb]

To Hammb's point about long lines etc.

This has to do with the design of the concession stands. They suck and are not designed for efficiency. I have done a number of concession/food service renos for large venues. Hobart Arena being the largest (4,500 seats). Simply put...... we need new concession stands designed and built. They need to be located opposite of their current location.

Thanks for chiming in with your architectural background on this. I was going to mention in my post above that I wondered if the design of the stadium/concession booths had something to do with this. Seems that no matter who runs the stands the lines are long and slow moving....they certainly aren't as efficient as they are at other sporting venues I've been to.

As to the offerings, I've always wondered why we couldn't get local favorites there. I hate that BG has some of the best pizza available (Myles, Pagliai's, Pisanello's), but we have always had national chain GARBAGE pizza at our sporting events. Mr. Spots, DiBenedetto's, etc, would be awesome additions as well. Unfortunately, you're probably onto something that they want you to visit their locations after the game, rather than sell you a single slice of pizza at the game. Still, it would be awesome to see local fare there.

As somebody else mentioned, I'm not the target concession audience. We always eat so well during the tailgates, I have never bought food inside the football games. I used to always buy popcorn at the hoops games, but since Gladieux came along and tripled the price while lowering quality, I stopped that as well.

[gmartin]

How about we just call Jimmy Johns, Mr. Spots or other restaurants and have our food delivered to the Doyt. Give them our section, row and seat number. Maybe then someone will figure out how bad our concessions really are.

[Tech83]

To Hammb's point about long lines etc.

This has to do with the design of the concession stands. They suck and are not designed for efficiency. I have done a number of concession/food service renos for large venues. Hobart Arena being the largest (4,500 seats). Simply put...... we need new concession stands designed and built. They need to be located opposite of their current location.

Seems to me a cheap investment of some ropes to make some queues at each stand would go a long way to making things run smoother.

Queues are one way to handle ordering....You can also create multiple lines for different fare or single lines (factory style ..... get drink first... then dog.... then corn... then pay and out.) Most people think a a queue as one point of entry that then feeds to multiple servers (think going to the bank and waiting for a teller). This actually doesn't work well for large concessions. For larger venues... the large open counter works best with lines forming at multiple points with each server having everything within one or two steps of their station. This means having multiples of equipment. Not one popcorn warmer but maybe three or four. The best examples are the major league parks.

It also helps to make the price of items simple.... Miami does this crap where an item is $3.75 and a bottled drink might be $1.50.... and peanuts $1.75... and you start ordering 3 sandwiches 2 drinks, popcorn and peanuts and the server is back there with a freaking solar powered calculator..... that freezes the line immediately. Suffered through that last Tuesday.

The thing is .... concessions can be a draw to bring you back to a venue. If there was a spectacular BBQ sandwich at the Doyt, you'd be happy to keep going to the game as the food item becomes part of your experience. Yager (Miami) hot dogs have a slight sausage flavor to them..... very tasty.

At Hobart Arena we talked about providing food for those moms who are there at a hockey tourney all day or a skating competition for hours on end..... a chef salad, chicken salad, maybe a soup.... not many moms want to feast on hot dogs all day. So the client (City of Troy) was pushing the concession contractor to provided some items outside the box. Hot dogs were not going to cut it alone. The City actually purchased the food equipment as to push the food envelop. We put in a hot drink machine that could serve cappuccino before it was trendy.

BTW - Popcorn - unless you see the large popper in the back.... is pre-popped off-site, then put under a warming lamp. So no..... its rarely fresh stuff. There is/was a company in Springfield that actually produced popcorn for movie theaters. It would be warmed up by the theaters under those warmer lights, but it was days if not weeks old.

Would anyone like to talk about concessions and mice I can tell some fun stories there also.

[Falcon Fanatic]

Would anyone like to talk about concessions and mice I can tell some fun stories there also.

No thanks....

[AyZiggy97]

Awesome fan base we've got here. Roll along indeed.

[Tech83]

Awesome fan base we've got here. Roll along indeed.

Take it all with a grain of salt

"Its just the normal noises in here." Meaning these are the same comments heard around the country.... different school same comments.

I have all the faith in the world that gmartin will be back next year sitting in the front row in his big orangy raccoon coat cheering for the Falcons. Sometimes people just need to vent.

In Hammb's defense.... its the alcohol poisoning.