ST. LOUIS — Most soccer stadiums see between 60% to 70% of their food sales occur during halftime, St. Louis CITY SC’s Chief Experience Officer Matt Sebek said.
But that’s not the case at CityPark.
Fans are arriving to the Downtown West stadium, where the soccer club has placed an almost singular emphasis on local restaurateurs as vendors, hours early for meals ahead of kickoff, something which has been key to bolstering stadium sales, Sebek said.
“By the end of the season we’ll have more than $3.5 million injected into small businesses, just in restaurants alone,” he said.
The actual economic boost local restaurateurs are seeing is higher, as gameday exposure at CityPark has provided an opportunity for the masses to further familiarize themselves with local restaurants.
In polling done by the soccer club, more than half of CITY SC’s fans said they plan to visit local vendors’ brick-and-mortar restaurants after having their in-stadium food, CITY SC CEO Carolyn Kindle said.
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