Everton fans will not have to miss any of the first half in order to buy a half time drink, with local beers and effortless ordering on offer at Bramley Moore Stadium, according to a new record-breaking commercial deal announced by the club today.
Everton have secured stadium retail experts Aramark to provide food and drink at the new Bramley Moore Stadium and says it is one of the biggest commercial deals in the club’s history. The company is now a founding partner for the new stadium and has already hinted at what fans can expect from the deal.
It includes, says Aramark local food and drinks companies. In Germany, where Aramark operates Hertha’s Olympiastadion, fans can pay a little over 4 Euros for Warsteiner, straight from Germany’s largest privately owned brewery. In the US, where Aramark provides for several NFL stadiums, local beers can be found in each alongside more mainstream options such as Bud Light.
It intriguingly opens the doors for a local brewery to appear at Bramley Moore. It could be Baltic Triangle’s Love Lane, newly acquired by the owner of Home Bargain, or the popular Glen Affric, which now has its own bar in Liverpool John Lennon Airport.
It’s an enticing opportunity for Evertonians, who have also been told the days of leaving early to get to the bar at half time are over. Aramark have recently been installed self-serve beer machines in its stadiums including several La Liga and Bundesliga clubs. The systems allow you to scan a card and then pick up a beer quickly and easily without queues.
Aramark has revealed mock ups of what the ‘self service’ drinks sections would look like and while it looks like a quick and easy way to get a half time drink it probably would need plenty of security.
The new stadium partner also has big plans for The Plaza outside the stadium, where some of the proposed 1,200 new staff hired locally will be working on curated food and drink stalls with a rotating menu of offerings.
The club says: “Alongside pre-match entertainment and activities, Aramark will work alongside the Club to design food and drink offerings that will be flexible and on-trend, seasonally adapting to the needs of Evertonians and visitors, as well as any events taking place throughout the year.”
Speed of service is probably one of the biggest complaints at Goodison Park and the promise of faster service and locally-sourced beers is going to be a welcome one. The fact Aramark provide for major tournaments, several La Liga and Bundesliga clubs and stadiums all over America is a positive too, and while the club has not announced details of the deal it seems the recruitment of a new founding partner is a useful addition to the club’s dwindling finances.
However, there is a note of caution to the deal. Described as ‘the Fanatics of catering’ by one fan used to their concessions in the US, it has regularly been accused of overpricing poor quality food in US stadiums. There are also a string of issues surrounding the company, which provides food in bulk for prisons, airlines, stadiums and colleges in the US.
The company was accused this week of poor upkeep of properties in Yosemite National Park in the US, where several injuries have been reported. According to Bloomberg: “At least three incidents at Yosemite in which a lack of facility upkeep by the concessions giant Aramark is believed to have led to injuries. The maintenance problems, along with issues of staffing and customer service, are documented by park officials in two recent performance reviews of the Philadelphia-based company. “
It follows strikes by Aramark workers across the US earlier this year. According to CBS: “On Thursday, April 25, workers represented by Unite Here Local 274 plan to walk off the job during the Philadelphia 76ers game against the New York Knicks, the first home game for the Sixers in Round 1 of the NBA playoffs.
“The union, which represents cooks, servers, bartenders, concessions workers, dishwashers and warehouse employees, is currently in negotiations with Aramark, demanding better wages and health care benefits.”
Further back the company has been criticised for its provision of prison food. The Detroit Free Press says: “Aramark has been criticized for skimping portion sizes, food safety issues, and overcharging state governments (Michigan, Kentucky, and Florida) that have used their food in prisons; a Kentucky prison riot is reputed to have been caused by the low quality of food Aramark provided to inmates.”
While Everton is the first of Aramark’s move into Premier League football, it does also manage the food concessions at Alton Towers as well as the Spanish F1 GP and the US Open Golf Championship.
Intriguingly, the company has also invested in sports teams in the past. Last year it sold its stake in basketball team San Antonio Spurs for $100m and this week it announced it had invested in Barca Vision, a tech company set up by Barcelona to sell NFTs and other digital assets to fans.