Make the food and drink free at TCF

fmlizard

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There's been a lot of debate on how to goose ticket sales, particularly in the era of all the games for free at home in HDTV.

What if you just made all the food and non-alcoholic drinks free at TCF? Walk up and get whatever you want, within reason. Think about that for a sec.

How much money does the U really make on concessions? Would it not be worth it in increased ticket and ancillary revenue, as well as in the gameday atmosphere bump?

It's one of the only things they could offer that would:

  • Appeal to casual fans and die hards alike (everyone likes free food)
  • Be something fans can't get at home (done for them and for free, at least)
  • Would really appeal to students and younger fans
  • Not require some huge infrastructure investment
  • Get certain national publicity
I think beer would still cost $, and there would be some kind of card or ticket system to keep things from being totally abused. I think it's an idea though. Going low cost on concessions worked really well for the Atlanta Falcons in their new stadium.
 

We lost money on beer charging people. May as well lose even more by not charging peope
 



Seriously? You should have stayed in school. The reason they don’t make a lot on food is because there is significant cost for providing food. If it’s free then becomes a massive loss.
 



Seriously? You should have stayed in school. The reason they don’t make a lot on food is because there is significant cost for providing food. If it’s free then becomes a massive loss.

Hey I love free food as much as the next guy, but yeah....this wouldn't work.
 


reconsidered post, was political content.. deleted by me

.. blamed that snake Mark Coyle though!
 



It's always amazing how easily people can spend other people's money.
 


We lost money on beer charging people. May as well lose even more by not charging peope

Yeah, it's clearly something the Ath Dept doesn't do real well so why not put energies into things that might go better. Like getting butts in seats.
 

Seriously? You should have stayed in school. The reason they don’t make a lot on food is because there is significant cost for providing food. If it’s free then becomes a massive loss.

Of course there's a cost. It's not huge when we're talking about low cost things like fountain soda, popcorn, dogs, pizza, and nachos. Maybe $10 a head, tops. Probably less than that if we're not including free beer and it's just food costs, not prices.

Let's say the average ticket the U isn't able to sell right now is $50, which is conservative. If the rather significant and unique promo gooses ticket sales by 20%, then it already breaks even. Add in parking, merch, and beer revenue for that group and shazam, we're in the black. With no maroon and gold chairs showing.
 



To be fair to the OP, we were told on here that we shouldn’t consider profits from concessions as an advantage of higher attendance so why should we consider losses from concessions?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

How about just hiring a competent food vendor? There have been countless times over the past few years, where they run out of simple things like Diet Coke and condiments (or don't refill them), by half-time. And remember, the stadium is not even sold out. Things like this just add to the fan frustration and experience at TCF.
 

Does TCF have any concession stands run by people like Chick-fil-A, Panda Express or Famous Dave's? These high profile brand stands do much better in sales than ordinary concessions at the ballparks I go to.

Sweet Martha's could use a revenue stream other than the State Fair! A Johnsonville Brat house!
 

Does TCF have any concession stands run by people like Chick-fil-A, Panda Express or Famous Dave's? These high profile brand stands do much better in sales than ordinary concessions at the ballparks I go to.

Sweet Martha's could use a revenue stream other than the State Fair! A Johnsonville Brat house!

Subway
Dino's


off top of my head

I think TCF did good job of improving food last year
 

How about just hiring a competent food vendor? There have been countless times over the past few years, where they run out of simple things like Diet Coke and condiments (or don't refill them), by half-time. And remember, the stadium is not even sold out. Things like this just add to the fan frustration and experience at TCF.


They've never ran out of beer.

They did apparently run out of water last year
 

One thing they need to change is security. How about not getting practically strip searched when you try to enter the game?
Some will never come back because of the lousy experience of having our fourth amendment rights abused.
 



Does TCF have any concession stands run by people like Chick-fil-A, Panda Express or Famous Dave's? These high profile brand stands do much better in sales than ordinary concessions at the ballparks I go to.

Sweet Martha's could use a revenue stream other than the State Fair! A Johnsonville Brat house!

Do those brands have people who usually work those jobs. ... work there?

Half the battle with food and such at TCF is how slow it is with folks who I'm not sure do it that often.
 

It is an interesting idea. For those questioning it, the food and drink are not really free- it is factored into the cost of a ticket- similar to an all-inclusive vacation. It would make TCF stand-out, that's for sure.

I think a more reasonable approach is what the Atlanta Falcons are doing. Make food and drink roughly the same price as outside the stadium. Food in stadiums is so expensive and lousy. That is a bad combination.
 

It is an interesting idea. For those questioning it, the food and drink are not really free- it is factored into the cost of a ticket- similar to an all-inclusive vacation. It would make TCF stand-out, that's for sure.

I think a more reasonable approach is what the Atlanta Falcons are doing. Make food and drink roughly the same price as outside the stadium. Food in stadiums is so expensive and lousy. That is a bad combination.

The twins did an all you could eat section. I never did it myself but some folks I know who did it said ... it was as unpleasant a section as you might imagine with folks spending a lot of time stuffing their face.

I'm not sure it was a big success as much as gimmick that maybe did or didn't do much.

But yeah the Mercedes-Benz Stadium food prices for basics would seem at least reasonable to try.
 
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The twins did an all you could eat section. I never did it myself but some folks I know who did it said ... it was as unpleasant a section as you might imagine with folks spending a lot of time stuffing their face.

I'm not sure it was a big success as much as gimmick that maybe did or didn't do much.

Twins have at least two sections that are all you can eat/ drink. Behind home plate and the catch club in the outfield.

Sat in the Catch club once. Food was ok and beer and (bad) wine was plentiful. As for amounts eaten, it seemed no more than other areas. People eat a lot at baseball games (my pet peeves are the guys out eat sunflower seeds or peanuts and create a mess on the ground). Problem with Catch club is you can't see very much of the outfield.

Pretty sure TCF has a section where food is included in ticket price- indoor club maybe?
 

It is an interesting idea. For those questioning it, the food and drink are not really free- it is factored into the cost of a ticket- similar to an all-inclusive vacation. It would make TCF stand-out, that's for sure.

I think a more reasonable approach is what the Atlanta Falcons are doing. Make food and drink roughly the same price as outside the stadium. Food in stadiums is so expensive and lousy. That is a bad combination.

Exactly. Nobody says they couldn't silently work some of those costs into ticket prices over the years. They jacked them and gave nothing, so this would be better than that.

I like the idea because it seems really easy to try. Just turn the cash registers off for SDSU and GSU as a promo, gather the publicity (it would be national), and see if it moves the needle. If so, there's a workable idea to raise attendance. If not, it was a promo to gin up interest in a non-con game. No major investment or big white elephant sitting around if it doesn't work out.
 

The twins did an all you could eat section. I never did it myself but some folks I know who did it said ... it was as unpleasant a section as you might imagine with folks spending a lot of time stuffing their face.

Are you talking about this? https://www.mlb.com/twins/tickets/season-tickets/suites/catch
I have never sat there, but I do know those tickets are hard to come by.

Also the Champions Club (right behind home plate with the cushy chairs) has all you can eat and drink, including alcohol. But those tickets usually run around $300.

Maybe the Gophers could try something like the above with the DQ Club? As far as I know they don't offer free food there. Or is this section already sold out?

They could also just offer season ticket holders 10 or 20% off concessions.
 

How about just hiring a competent food vendor? There have been countless times over the past few years, where they run out of simple things like Diet Coke and condiments (or don't refill them), by half-time. And remember, the stadium is not even sold out. Things like this just add to the fan frustration and experience at TCF.

I wonder if they have a hard time finding lots of vendors willing to bid, since it's just a 7 or 8 home game season? Maybe it's not worth it to some of the "better" vendors. Or are all the Gopher sports tied into the same contract with the same vendor?
 

Twins have at least two sections that are all you can eat/ drink. Behind home plate and the catch club in the outfield.

Sat in the Catch club once. Food was ok and beer and (bad) wine was plentiful. As for amounts eaten, it seemed no more than other areas. People eat a lot at baseball games (my pet peeves are the guys out eat sunflower seeds or peanuts and create a mess on the ground). Problem with Catch club is you can't see very much of the outfield.

Pretty sure TCF has a section where food is included in ticket price- indoor club maybe?

I wasn't thinking of the clubs or fancy places (that's a different kind of thing), they had an upper deck section for a while years back, it was a "cheaper seats" section that included all you can eat, but the seats of course had a bit of a premium price tacked on.
 

I wasn't thinking of the clubs or fancy places (that's a different kind of thing), they had an upper deck section for a while years back, it was a "cheaper seats" section that included all you can eat, but the seats of course had a bit of a premium price tacked on.

Was that at the dome or Target Field?
 




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