SPORTS
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GEORGIASTATESIGNAL.COM
It’s halftime. Let’s get a beer?
Looking at the various ways colleges sell concessions JULIAN HARDEN Staff Reporter
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esides watching the game itself and cheering for your favorite team, buying food at the concessions is one of the most traditional rituals done while at a sporting event. Prices vary from college-to-college which begs the question — where does the money go? First, it’s important to understand how concessions are licensed to the university and how the money is distributed. Many large athletic programs such as Georgia and bowl games like the Rose Bowl use contractors for concessions. Georgia State is not one of those programs, but it uses a contractor, Premier Events. Premier began to sell concessions for the Panthers in August 2018. During Georgia State’s season-opening football game, revenue from concessions was $81,120, and Premier kept the larger share of the revenue. Georgia State Athletics’ took home $24,406.33 from the commission it agreed to with Premier, a shade above 30% of the revenue. Only data from the Kennesaw State game shows the exact figure for what Georgia State’s commision was during the football season.
The most popular item sold at football games was beer. The beer at Georgia State Stadium cost an average of $6 a can. In the 2018 home game against Georgia Southern, beer sales were at its highest. Michelob Ultra and Bud Light combined for nearly $15,000 in sales. During the Coastal Carolina game, Georgia State’s fourth home match, Premier’s total revenue from concessions was $15,558. 30% of that figure is $4,667, which can be assumed what Georgia State Athletics brought in. The take-home for this game highlighted a season-low for both Premier and Georgia State. Premier Events also manages concessions for programs such as Kennesaw State and Atlanta United’s developmental team. Georgia’s contractor is Aramark, and Aramark has no other relationships with college athletic programs. Using a contractor at Georgia State is a stark contrast to Georgia Southern, a program similar in size, which enables its university’s auxiliary services department to manage concessions. Georgia Southern’s concessions sales in 2018 were very consistent with little change. Total revenue from Aug. 1, 2017July 31, 2018 at Georgia Southern athletic events was $394,882. “We, [Georgia Southern], self operate the concessions at all sporting events through campus dining,” Larry Manys, senior associate athletic director for external affairs at Georgia Southern, said. The athletic department itself does not collect any revenue
from the concessions managed by the auxiliary services. “I would say [concession sales] have been stable for the past few years,” Mays said. The University of Georgia’s athletic department uses contractor Aramark to serve concessions for all of their games during the year to create a profit for the school. Programs such as Mississippi State, Texas and UCLA have cut prices at concessions, drawing both reactions of excitement and curiosity. The Atlanta Falcons and Atlanta United have low prices, in attempt to get fans to spend more money on tickets and team gear inside the stadium. If smaller schools were to try to reduce concession prices the way schools like UCLA do, then it could be financially harmful to the school because the interest and revenue aren’t as high as bigger teams. The downside to allowing the university to handle concessions for Georgia Southern is that its athletic program misses out, unlike Georgia State with Premier as a contractor. Since Georgia Southern lets its university take home concession revenue they’ll likely bring in more than what Georgia State Athletics will receive from Premier once the 2018-19 athletic season is over. Concessions is a huge business for universities, but this does beg the question of whether using contractors for concessions is really worth it, especially for up and coming programs such as Georgia State.
GEORGIA STATE ATHLETICS’ COMMISSION FROM PREMIER EVENTS’ CONCESSION SALES AT 2018 HOME FOOTBALL GAME V. KENNESAW STATE | KENNESAW STATE (8/30, HOME OPENER) FOOD: $13,536.55
ALCOHOL: $10,869.79
TOTAL
$24,406.33
PREMIER EVENTS’ CONCESSION SALES AT GEORGIA STATE ATHLETICS’ 2018 HOME FOOTBALL GAME V. KENNESAW STATE | KENNESAW STATE (8/30, HOME OPENER) FOOD: $26,451
ALCOHOL: $30,526
TOTAL
$81,120
AUXILIARY SERVICES AT GEORGIA SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY REVENUE FROM AUG. 1 2017-JULY 31, 2018 = $394,882 ILLUSTRATIONS BY DEVIN PHILLIPS | THE SIGNAL
* Each item represents $1000 earned