Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Party City expanding sports ties BY DON MURET A major focus of Sodexo's business will beon1llll,OOO-seat MichiganStadium. Michigan expected to name Sodexo as concessions vendor B YDON MURET ST 'MUTE AFF R Mich igan a nd Ohio Stat e hav e something else in common beyond one of college football's most storied rivalries - they will soon share a sports food vendor. Michigan athleti c officials have selected Sodexo to oper ate general concessions an d premium dining at Michigan Stad ium, Cri sler Aren a, Yost Ice Aren a and sever al other sports venues on campus, according to industry sources. Sodexo,the biggest player in college sports foodservice,is also the concessionaire at Ohio Stadium an d Schottenstein center 's Value City Arena in Columbus.In Ann Arbor,Sodexoheld Michigan's contract from 1989to '99 and replaces VI Gladieux Enterprises after that firm 's It-year run. J ason Winters, Michi gan athletics' chief finan cial officer, said last week th at the school is negotiatin g a five- to seven-year deal with one firm from amongthose it short-listed - Sodexo,Ararnark and Centerplate - but would not confir m that it had chosen Sodexo. Amajor piece of Sodexo's business will focus on Michigan Stadium , a 108,OOO-seat building whose $226 million renovat ion with 82 new suites and 3,000club seats opens this fall . Suite cate r ing and club food selections, a notch above hot dogs and nachos, will be a new experience for Michigan fans. Last year, Michigan athleticsgenerated$3.2million in gross foodrevenue at all sports facili ties, $2.5 million alone for Mich igan Stadium. The previous year,the numbe rs were $3.7 million and $2.9 million,respectively, reflectingan additional hornefootball game, Winters said. Those figures are expected to increase substantiallyafter the stadium opens with new and up grad ed food spaces. Revenue projections are still being worked out, Wmters said. Chris Bigelow,theschool'sfoodconsultant, said,"It's certainly one of the most prestigious accounts [Sodexo] can havebetween thesizeof thefacilities and the number of events." "The significance is th ey have a goodclient lookingto make improvements," he said. • I MA RCH 2 9 -A PRIL 4 , 2 010 STAFF WRITEA Costu me and party goods supplier Party City has signed a deal to be pre sentingsponsor of the Florida Panthers' 2010-11 season and another with th e New YorkYankees for naming ri ghts to seven group suites at Yankee Stadium. Michael Yormark, president and chief operating officer of Sunrise Sports & Entertainment, the Panthers' owner and the operator of BankAtlantic center,refused to disclose the value of the deal in South Florida, where Party City operates 30of its 600stores. Rockaway, N.J.-basedParty City is making a bigger splash into sports marketing after completing a test program with the Denver Broncos in October 2008 in which it sponsored a tailgate zone for 2,000 fans outside InvescoField,as well as the club's juniorcheerleadingsquad and a haunted house to support the Boys & Girls Clubs of America. Moving forward, Party City, an MLB licensee that does significant business with sports-themed kids' birthday parties, sees an opportunity to reach women and mothers ages 25-54 by exposing its brand at arenas and stadiums, said Bill Furtkevic, the company's vice president of marketing. "We still consider what we're doing now pilot projects, but obviously on a much bigger scale," Furtkevic said. "Sports is a huge category for us and a great way to build our brand." In Sunrise, Fla ., th e working tag line, "It's a Party Every Night at the Panthers' The Yankees use PartyCity favorsfor birthday parties at Yankee Stadium. Game Presented by Party City," ties into a full-blown campaign surrounding the traditional holidays. It kicks off with a celebration of Halloween inside the arena after the NHL season starts in early October. Party City plans to open a temporary store and sell Halloween costumes at the arena's team shop and activate similar themed promotions for Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's Eve and spring graduation to drive fans to the company's retail sites, Yormark said Custom ized messages on television, radio and the team 's Website, and naming rights for party rooms at th e team's practice facility, are also part of the deal. In turn, Party City store employees will wear Panthers garb at their stores to raise awareness of the team 's brand, Furtkevic said, The deal starts at tonight's Panthers game with Party City arena signs and media advertising for the team's five remaining horne games. Officials will then make plans for next season. "We talked about their products and there are certain sales periods they really promote, " Yormark said. "The plan is to activate four to five marketing platforms around a cluster of horne games." Someexamples are Thanksgiving Feast Week, a three-game set, and Countdown to New Year's, the last week in December, two stretches when the Panthers traditionally draw their biggest crowds for games against teams such as New York, Montreal, Toronto and Pittsburgh. The deal came together after Yormark met Party City CEO Jerry Rittenberg through Zirmnerman and Partners, Party City's agency of record. The Panthers invited Rittenbergto a Feb.5game,and they flashed Party City'Slogo on th eir centerhung scoreboard and LEDstrips, in addition to decorating a suite with Party City materials. Rittenberg expressed interest in doing a deal with the Panthers that evolved into buying the exclusive rights to next season, Yormark said. At Yankee Stadium, the seven Party City Suites are along the first -base line on the H&RBlock Suite Level. The company has a separate agreement with the Yankees to use those premium spaces to entertain clients, Furtkevic said. He would not disclose the value of that deal, and the Yan kees declined to comment. The Yankeeswillbook birthday parties during games and also on days when the team isn't playing, using Party City favors inside the suites, Furtkevic said. Half-pricB sBason-tickBt offBr prOdUCBS rBsults for WOIVBS B H YJO NLOMBARDO STAF WRITER F The Mirmesota Timberwolves' eye-opening strategy to slas h next year 's seasonti cke t prices by 50 percent du r ing the month of March has j ump-st arted sa les for th e hapless franch ise. The team has surpassed last year's paltry 825 total for new full-season-ticket sales and expects to sell more th an 1,000 new full -season packa ges when the dis coun t promotion ends on Wednesday. The team this year has a seas on-ticket base of 6,000, a num ber that also includes full-season equivalent packages. The team also has increased its expected seaso n-ticket ren ewal rate to more th an 80 percent. up from a 65percen t projected renewal rate before the team implemented its drastic season-ticket discount. "The body play has worked," sa id Timberwolves Presid ent Ch r is Wright. "We realize that we have to bu ild back [fan s in] our lower level and move th e market." The Timberw olves' decisi on to halve the pr ice of seaso n tickets comes aga ins t da un tin g compe ti tion. As of March 24, the tea m had a woeful 14-47 record and must market itself agai nst the Minnesota Twins as they open their new downtown ballpark th is spr ing,the NFL's Vikin gs,and th e Univer sity of Minn esota, which last Minnesota expects to sell more than1,000 new full-seasontickets with its half-price promotion. fall opened a new football stadium . "With all the competition, we had to find a value propositi on," Wri ght said. The discount strategy als o comes as the NBA looks to boost the league's paid gate next yea r afte r most teams cut or held prices this season. "It is a real bold move, but it mak es sense becau se the Timberwo lves are trying to become relevant to a new group of buyers ," sa id Bill Sutton , presid ent of Bill Sutton & Associates, a spor ts cons ulta ncy that coun ts NBAtearns as clients. "The team is trying to find fans who have never gone to a game before. But they are going to have to work ha rd to make fans out of them." Wr ight wou ld not disclose how much th e team will ra ise season-ticket prices on April l . "The increase will be substanti al eno ugh that people who committed to us in March will be pleased that th ey have whe n they see the pr ice increase," Wr ight sa id. The Tim ber wolves, th rough March 23, had an aver age atte ndance of 14,785, up 3.7 per cen t compa re d wit h last season . The team ranked 25th out of the NBA:s 30 tea ms in average attendance. www.s ports businessj our nal. com l S t r eet & Smith's SpartsBuslness,JOURNAL

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