Significant changes in the rules for Major League Baseball this season might’ve driven some traditionalist fans to drink. Now they’re realizing they need to suck down those stadium beers quickly, given how the new regulations are narrowing the sales window for ballpark concessionaires.
With MLB games now shortened by an average of 31 minutes, stadium feeders are tweaking their operations in hopes of selling at least as many peanuts and Cracker Jacks in 2.5 hours as they did last season in three-plus. Two of the biggest concessionaires, Delaware North and Aramark, say they’re already increasing the number of sales outlets that are open during games, while embracing technology and operational enhancements to bolster throughput.
For Delaware North Sportservice, whose baseball accounts include the Minnesota Twins’ Target Field and Detroit’s Tiger Stadium, those enhancements include self-checkout capabilities and scattered-station concession areas.
“This is increasingly more important in the backdrop of shorter games,” Jamie Obletz, president of Delaware North Sportservice, said in an email to Restaurant Business. “We’ll work with our clients and continue to be flexible as the season goes on and we collect more data on how, or if, the accelerated play affects other areas of the ballpark experience.”
He noted, “Early data from the first two weeks suggests we won’t see a significant revenue impact but it’s obviously a small sample size.”
Similarly, “Our data science team is closely monitoring a robust number of data factors collected in the first weeks of the MLB season and assembling an analysis,” Aramark said in a statement provided to Restaurant Business. “In the meantime, we’ve taken steps to mitigate the impact, which include additional points of sale and availability of menu items, and some changes to service times.”
Among the weightier decisions facing concessionaires is what to do about beer sales, which had been suspended across MLB in the seventh inning to cut down on fan hooliganism and lessen the chances imbibers would still be under the influence when they drive home. Four teams—the Twins, the Texas Rangers, the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Milwaukee Brewers—have already announced that their home stadiums will push the sales cutoff point to the end of the eighth inning.
A fifth, the Houston Astros, has indicated that it will allow beer to be sold through the end of games.
The attempts to capture more business in less game time follow efforts at a number of sports facilities to speed up concession service and feed more spectators. Some baseball stadiums have installed temperature-controlled lockers where food and beverage ordered remotely via a smartphone app can be retrieved by fans between innings or during a pitching change.
Many now allow game attendees to order from their seats and have their refreshments delivered to them.
The rules implemented for pro baseball this season are intended to speed up games and inject more excitement into the contests. Interest in pro baseball has been sapped by the lengthening of games to an average of more than three hours in 2022.
Critics also bemoan MLB teams’ reliance last year on home runs, a game-winning strategy that boosted strikeouts while diminishing opportunities for clutch fielding and other entertaining on-field action.
The most dramatic change for 2023 may be the adoption of a pitch clock, a timer that gives pitchers just 15 seconds to hurl their next pitch when bases are empty or 20 seconds with a man on.
Other moves intended to shave time off a game include limiting the number of times a pitcher can throw over to a base occupied by a runner, and an obligation for batters to be ready to receive a pitch with no fewer than eight seconds left on the countdown clock.
The updates are the most significant rule changes Major League Baseball has made since the American League adopted the designated-hitter position in 1973. In keeping with baseball’s reverence for tradition, the National League did not adopt the batting-only position until 2022.
The new rules are intended to liven up what had become for many a too-leisurely sport. The hope is to preserve pro baseball’s viability by appealing to younger generations of potential fans.
For that reason, stadium concessionaires say they support the changes, even if there’s an impact on per-game sales.
“Much like our partners at Major League Baseball, we have an appreciation for the intent of these rule changes, with a long-term perspective in mind,” Obletz said. “The focus on enhancing fan engagement, enticing a new generation of fans, and guaranteeing the ballpark experience remains appealing for years to come aligns well with our long-term focus for the business.”
The changes were tested at the big-league level through the two months of spring training after being in place in the minor leagues through their 2022 season.
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