Mike Freeman’s 10-Point Stance: Will Falcons Start a Concessionary Trend?

1. Food fight

There are three well-known facts about stadium food.

First, stadium food is awful.

Second, stadium food is overpriced.

Third, stadium food is awful.

This has been the case at almost every NFL stadium for a long time. Hot dogs that taste like dog food cost $8. Second mortgages are required for drinks that taste like they’re watered down.

The Atlanta Falcons are going to try to change all of that. It’s an ambitious plan. It may never work. The fact they are trying it, though, is fairly remarkable. If it succeeds, it could change the way stadiums and teams treat fans when it comes to food. Stadiums might finally have decent food that isn’t overpriced.

The Falcons’ new home, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, opens in 2017, and when it does, the team announced that it will offer:

$2 – Non-alcoholic beverage products with unlimited free refills (at freestanding refill stations)

$2 – Dasani bottled water; hot dogs; pretzels; popcorn

$3 – Peanuts; pizza; nachos; waffle fries

$5 – 12 oz. domestic beer

That’s actually, well, kind of reasonable. More than reasonable. Damn reasonable, considering that in 2015, the average price of a small beer at stadiums was $7.42, according to Statista.

Why is this important? Why did I suddenly become a food critic?

Because of the reason they did it. They listened to the fans.

Rich McKay, the Falcons’ president and CEO, explained to me in a telephone interview that when the team polled its fans, it found that voters consistently gave their worst rankings to the food experience.

It’s likely that would be the case across the NFL and maybe much of sports. So the Falcons decided to do something about it.

The NFL has long been worried the technology on televisions and smart devices is so Star Trek-y, fans won’t bother with the hassle and expense of attending a game live. The expense and quality of food at NFL stadiums is part of that concern. Fans can make a sandwich from the comfort of their kitchens instead of selling a kidney to afford a burger while at a stadium.

This is why—while I don’t want to make too big a deal out of what the Falcons are doing—it is significant, in that if it succeeds, other teams could follow suit.

This is also, to me, a sign the NFL finally realizes it can no longer take packed stadiums for granted. Before, it did.

The interesting part is Falcons owner Arthur Blank will definitely lose money doing this. McKay acknowledged that fact, and since I don’t know many billionaires who purposely lose cash, I do wonder if the Falcons will make up for the lost revenue in other ways. Will they charge more for game tickets or parking? It doesn’t sound like they will.

“We look at it as an investment in our fans,” McKay said.

When’s the last time a franchise genuinely cared about its fans? The fifth of never.

The Falcons are able to cut the prices “by 40 to 50 percent compared to some revenues,” McKay said, because they will be the ones setting price points, not the concessionaires. In some ways, the Falcons will be doing what the Masters does, where the most expensive sandwich is $3. I’ve eaten the food there. It’s actually pretty good.

The stadium will have the same food policies for the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, the SEC Championship Game, the College Football Playoff National Championship in 2018 and and the NCAA men’s Final Four in 2020. The same applies basically to other events at the stadium like concerts.

It’s novel, almost revolutionary. Can it work? We’ll see.

 

2. NFL kickoffs to be eliminated?

I think it’s only a matter of time. McKay said nothing is on the …

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