With 10 years' experience working in brand and content for some of the UK's biggest hospitality brands under her belt, Bella leads marketing for Togather's Live events. Owning the go-to-market strategy for festivals, stadia and event partnerships. Recent work includes the Palate Shift trend report and the concepts behind a number of Togather's biggest tender pitches.
Festivals have known for several years now what sport is only just catching up to: people come for the headline act, but they stay, spend, and come back for the food.
Even the most musically focused of festivals now look to their food lineup as a vital revenue stream, ranking second only to tickets themselves, and major festivals like Lost Village and Latitude have made food part of their core programming. They’re not throwing in a few burger vans so that attendees can stave off hunger during the day or weekend. They’re building dedicated street food zones, boutique bars, exclusive dishes and even banqueting options that mean that attendees are building F&B stops into their itineraries.
It’s a strategy we’re seeing really flourish at sports grounds in the US. At Citypark in St. Louis, home of soccer team St. Louis City, the team launched a 100% local food program called CITY Flavor. Think barbecue, hand pies, Bosnian kebabs. According to Chief Experience Officer Matt Sebek:
“We wanted it to feel like a St. Louis food festival every match. Our fans have among the earliest arrival times in all of MLS because they want to try different options and enjoy food in-stadium.”
Like at festivals, building street food zones filled with bright, eyecatching and appealing traders is half the job of selling. According to Oracle’s Fan Experience report, 65% of fans report that food purchases are made on impulse - so if your burger van doesn’t look great or your street food area isn’t clearly signposted, chances are you’re losing out on a whole lot of business.
Newcastle United’s STACK, a fanzone built right outside St James’ Park, is another perfect example. Open year-round and built in partnership with Sela, it offers live music, street food, and a space that feels like its own destination. It’s social. It’s flexible. And it’s making the stadium sticky — not just for 90 minutes, but for the whole day.
When you build dwell zones, you increase SPH (spend per head) without touching ticket prices. You’re building real habits and real excitement, with an unmissable offering that becomes just as much a part of your fan experience as the action itself.
This is an excerpt from our full length piece, Fanzones are the future: how you can use F&B to drive revenue and build a better fan experience at sporting events. Get in touch for the full report.
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