Pay To Play: Food/Beverage Concessionaire Aramark Cuts 20-Year, $175 Million Deal At A’s Vegas Stadium, With $100 Million Equity Investment In Team, Published Report Says
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Shop at Jay’s Market at 190 East Flamingo Road at the Koval Lane intersection east of the Strip.
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By Alan Snel, LVSportsBiz.com Publisher-Writer
LAS VEGAS, Nevada — The rules have changed in the lucrative world of stadium food/beverage concession contracts at stadiums.
In Las Vegas it’s all about a concessionaire investing in the team to grease the wheels to garner a stadium food/beverage concessions deal.
Three months ago, the Raiders stunned the food/beverage world when the NFL team picked Oak View Group to replace concessionaire Levy Restaurants after Raiders owner Mark Davis sold a 7.5 percent minority share to Egon Durban, whose Silver Lake equity firm is an investor in the Oak View Group. (By the way, Oak View Group says it’s still trying to build an NBA arena in Las Vegas.)
Now, concessionaire Aramark has reportedly cut a 20-year, $175 million deal with the MLB Athletics to be the baseball team’s F&B vendor at the planned $1.75 billion domed stadium that’s is scheduled to open on the Strip in 2028.
That’s according to the Sports Business Journal, which reported this week: “The win didn’t come cheaply for the Philadelphia-based, publicly traded concessionaire. As part of a 20-year deal, Aramark’s total outlay is at least $175M, sources said, with others indicating it could be more. The $175M includes an equity investment into the team of at least $100M and a capex investment commitment of at least $75M.”
The A’s have no comment on the Aramark deal at this time.
A’s owner John Fisher has said publicly that his family, which owns the Gap retail empire, has more than $1 billion for the construction of the 33,000-fan stadium at the old Tropicana hotel-casino site at Tropicana Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard. But Fisher is also looking for new team investors to help fund stadium construction and companies willing to put down an equity stake in the stadium financing.
Enter Aramark.
Under a 2023 Nevada state law, the public is contributing up to $380 million in assistance to help the A’s build their ballpark on the Strip. The A’s said they will be using $350 million of the $380 million in public assistance to help build the stadium.
Here’s a look at the site from Reno Avenue:
The A’s are trying to coordinate people’s schedules to arrange a ceremonial groundbreaking at the site in late June. A construction trailer village is being set up and the first pilings tests began May 12.
PSA
