After years of working on the nonfood side of the sports and entertainment industry, William H. Peterson found himself with a birds-eye view of what customers wanted from arena and stadium foodservice and what clients—team and stadium owners—expected as well. In late 2006, he took that knowledge to Stamford, Conn.-based sports concessions specialist Centerplate Inc. and now is helping the company redefine the way it does business.
How is Centerplate approaching business differently?
A lot of emphasis had been put on what was the most efficient way to serve food and beverages inside the facilities. Much of the concentration was spent on food cost and balancing that out with pricing—trying to take concepts and extend them throughout so more resources wouldn’t have to be spent on developing new ones. But now we spend a lot of time with clients talking about what they want to communicate at their facilities, what food they want to offer and whether they’re looking at something that represents a specific fan demographic or regional geographic area. It takes a lot more time and creativity. That’s a big change from what happened in the past.
Name: William H. PetersonTitle: executive vice president of operations, Centerplate Inc.Hometown: Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.Education: bachelor’s degree, Lock Haven University, Lock Haven, Pa.Career highlights: president of National Football League Europe; managed a variety of sports properties and facilities for Anschutz Entertainment Group, or AEG, in Los Angeles
How has foodservice at sports venues changed in the last 10 years?
There’s been the growth of premium areas with club-seating programs and offerings in the suites, but that seems to have lost some of its creativity. I don’t know that you see a lot of companies really sitting down with [team] owners and saying, “Let’s rethink this space and how best to use it not only on game day, but on nongame days, too.”
What are some of the challenges contract foodservice operators currently face?
I think there’s a big unknown in terms of what type of recession we’re in and whether it will track similarly or differently to past recessions. Then there’s the rise of commodities, which is putting a strain on our costs and pricing; everyone is paying close attention to how it will all shake out.