ST. PETERSBURG FLA. —Tampa Bay Devil Rays fan Kathy Butler strolled into Tropicana Field here about half an hour before a recent Rays game and was happy to show off the three sealed plastic bags of peanuts in her canvas shoulder bag.
If she had purchased the peanuts inside the domed baseball stadium, the 58-year-old Pinellas Park woman would have shelled out $12. Instead, she paid a few dollars at her local supermarket and brought her own peanuts. Butler, attending the game with her husband and daughter, also brought in her own licorice and spiced drops candy. —Tampa Bay Devil Rays fan Kathy Butler strolled into Tropicana Field here about half an hour before a recent Rays game and was happy to show off the three sealed plastic bags of peanuts in her canvas shoulder bag.
What may seem surprising is that the ballpark’s concessionaire, Centerplate Inc., didn’t mind. —Tampa Bay Devil Rays fan Kathy Butler strolled into Tropicana Field here about half an hour before a recent Rays game and was happy to show off the three sealed plastic bags of peanuts in her canvas shoulder bag.
The Devil Rays, following a policy instituted by owner Stu Sternberg, last year began allowing fans to bring in sandwiches, snacks, and food and drinks as part of its deal with Centerplate, a Stamford, Conn.-based on-site company with contracts in about 125 venues and facilities around the country. The policy remained in place for the season. —Tampa Bay Devil Rays fan Kathy Butler strolled into Tropicana Field here about half an hour before a recent Rays game and was happy to show off the three sealed plastic bags of peanuts in her canvas shoulder bag.
Centerplate might have lost $12 in peanuts sales to Butler that night, but the Devil Rays are betting that it generated revenue from the sale of sodas or beer to that same fan, who might not otherwise have purchased the drinks, said Matt Silverman, Devil Rays president. —Tampa Bay Devil Rays fan Kathy Butler strolled into Tropicana Field here about half an hour before a recent Rays game and was happy to show off the three sealed plastic bags of peanuts in her canvas shoulder bag.
“[Centerplate] hasn’t seen any evidence of reduced revenue,” he said. “They understand by doing this, we make it easier for more fans to come to the game, and it might attract more fans who might buy a concession item if they’re allowed to bring in snacks.” —Tampa Bay Devil Rays fan Kathy Butler strolled into Tropicana Field here about half an hour before a recent Rays game and was happy to show off the three sealed plastic bags of peanuts in her canvas shoulder bag.
Silverman noted that he recalled bringing fried chicken to the Texas Rangers baseball games he attended as a kid in Arlington, Texas. —Tampa Bay Devil Rays fan Kathy Butler strolled into Tropicana Field here about half an hour before a recent Rays game and was happy to show off the three sealed plastic bags of peanuts in her canvas shoulder bag.
“Parents who bring in crackers for their kids will feel better about splurging for an ice cream in the seventh inning,” Silverman said. —Tampa Bay Devil Rays fan Kathy Butler strolled into Tropicana Field here about half an hour before a recent Rays game and was happy to show off the three sealed plastic bags of peanuts in her canvas shoulder bag.
It’s highly unusual for a major-league sports team to allow fans to bring their own food and drinks into stadiums and arenas, said Chris Bigelow, president of The Bigelow Cos. Inc., a Kansas City, Mo.-based consulting firm that advises on foodservice issues for sports, entertainment and convention venues. —Tampa Bay Devil Rays fan Kathy Butler strolled into Tropicana Field here about half an hour before a recent Rays game and was happy to show off the three sealed plastic bags of peanuts in her canvas shoulder bag.
Bigelow said he was unaware of a single team or sports venue in the National Football League, the National Basketball Association or the National Hockey League that invites fans to bring in sandwiches, snacks or drinks. —Tampa Bay Devil Rays fan Kathy Butler strolled into Tropicana Field here about half an hour before a recent Rays game and was happy to show off the three sealed plastic bags of peanuts in her canvas shoulder bag.
In addition to Tropicana Field, three Major League Baseball ballparks allow fans to bring in their own food, said Dave Urso, a regional vice president for Centerplate who has handled the food and beverage deal at Tropicana Field since 1998 when the Rays began playing there. Those venues, all of which have foodservice facilities managed by Centerplate, are the home stadiums of the Seattle Mariners, the San Francisco Giants and the Kansas City Royals. —Tampa Bay Devil Rays fan Kathy Butler strolled into Tropicana Field here about half an hour before a recent Rays game and was happy to show off the three sealed plastic bags of peanuts in her canvas shoulder bag.
Bigelow noted that in his hometown of Kansas City the Royals won’t ban a fan bringing in a sandwich, but they won’t advertise the policy either. —Tampa Bay Devil Rays fan Kathy Butler strolled into Tropicana Field here about half an hour before a recent Rays game and was happy to show off the three sealed plastic bags of peanuts in her canvas shoulder bag.
Sean Henry, chief operating officer of the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning, said NFL, NBA and NHL teams generally ban fans from bringing outside food into their sports buildings. —Tampa Bay Devil Rays fan Kathy Butler strolled into Tropicana Field here about half an hour before a recent Rays game and was happy to show off the three sealed plastic bags of peanuts in her canvas shoulder bag.
But baseball does have a tradition of having a limited number of stadiums through the years that do allow fans to bring sandwiches or peanuts, said Henry, who has worked for the NFL’s St. Louis Rams and the NBA’s Detroit Pistons in front-office jobs. —Tampa Bay Devil Rays fan Kathy Butler strolled into Tropicana Field here about half an hour before a recent Rays game and was happy to show off the three sealed plastic bags of peanuts in her canvas shoulder bag.
The welcoming policy at Tropicana Field was forged last year as a marketing ploy to induce fans to attend games at one of the most sparsely attended MLB stadiums in the country. In the Devil Rays’ case, the policy was enacted to help bolster attendance that was the lowest in the American League. The Rays’ attendance hit nearly 17,000 a game in 2006 after resting at about 14,000 in 2005. —Tampa Bay Devil Rays fan Kathy Butler strolled into Tropicana Field here about half an hour before a recent Rays game and was happy to show off the three sealed plastic bags of peanuts in her canvas shoulder bag.
Bigelow said that sports teams and stadiums generally don’t allow fans to bring in their own food and drinks because it could mean a loss in revenues and pose security problems. —Tampa Bay Devil Rays fan Kathy Butler strolled into Tropicana Field here about half an hour before a recent Rays game and was happy to show off the three sealed plastic bags of peanuts in her canvas shoulder bag.
“Obviously, if you own a restaurant, you’re not going to allow people to bring in food,” Bigelow said. “No difference here.” —Tampa Bay Devil Rays fan Kathy Butler strolled into Tropicana Field here about half an hour before a recent Rays game and was happy to show off the three sealed plastic bags of peanuts in her canvas shoulder bag.
Silverman said he has not quantified the financial implications of allowing fans to bring their own food and drinks. Urso did confirm Silverman’s statement that Centerplate generated more annual revenue at Tropicana Field last year when fans were allowed to bring in their own food. Silverman and Urso, however, did not provide actual numbers. —Tampa Bay Devil Rays fan Kathy Butler strolled into Tropicana Field here about half an hour before a recent Rays game and was happy to show off the three sealed plastic bags of peanuts in her canvas shoulder bag.
“We don’t feel we lost out on anything,” Urso said before a Devil Rays-Minnesota Twins game in early May. —Tampa Bay Devil Rays fan Kathy Butler strolled into Tropicana Field here about half an hour before a recent Rays game and was happy to show off the three sealed plastic bags of peanuts in her canvas shoulder bag.
“Eating food from the concessions stands at the ballpark is part of the experience,” Urso said. “It’s not like people are walking in with six-packs of water.” —Tampa Bay Devil Rays fan Kathy Butler strolled into Tropicana Field here about half an hour before a recent Rays game and was happy to show off the three sealed plastic bags of peanuts in her canvas shoulder bag.
The Devil Rays experienced a public-relations black eye in 2005 when a diabetic fan and her husband were not allowed to attend a game at Tropicana Field because they were trying to bring in special dietary cashews. Police ejected the couple and the team refunded their tickets. —Tampa Bay Devil Rays fan Kathy Butler strolled into Tropicana Field here about half an hour before a recent Rays game and was happy to show off the three sealed plastic bags of peanuts in her canvas shoulder bag.
Both Silverman and Urso said that Centerplate has not taken a big financial hit from the policy because fewer than 10 percent of fans bring their own food and drinks. The fans who bring the most supplies are families that attend weekend games with sandwiches, snacks and juice drinks for the kids, Urso said. —Tampa Bay Devil Rays fan Kathy Butler strolled into Tropicana Field here about half an hour before a recent Rays game and was happy to show off the three sealed plastic bags of peanuts in her canvas shoulder bag.
Because the average fan typically spends $12 to $15 on concessions at sporting events, if more started to bring their own provisions it could take a healthy bite out of Centerplate’s revenues, said William Fisher, Darden Eminent Scholar in Restaurant Management for the Rosen School of Hospitality Management at the University of Central Florida. Fisher added that for this reason he doesn’t see the Devil Rays’ policy becoming widely embraced. —Tampa Bay Devil Rays fan Kathy Butler strolled into Tropicana Field here about half an hour before a recent Rays game and was happy to show off the three sealed plastic bags of peanuts in her canvas shoulder bag.
But Silverman of the Devil Rays noted that last year’s boost in attendance helped Centerplate make up any revenue that may have been lost to fans bringing their own food into the venue. The concessions purchases of the extra fans who came to Tropicana Field in 2006 compared with 2005 made up for the fans who brought their own supplies, he said. —Tampa Bay Devil Rays fan Kathy Butler strolled into Tropicana Field here about half an hour before a recent Rays game and was happy to show off the three sealed plastic bags of peanuts in her canvas shoulder bag.
“We want to reduce the barriers to entry, and if a family might not come to a game because they can’t bring in snacks for the kids, then we want to remove that barrier,” Silverman said. —Tampa Bay Devil Rays fan Kathy Butler strolled into Tropicana Field here about half an hour before a recent Rays game and was happy to show off the three sealed plastic bags of peanuts in her canvas shoulder bag.