Ford Idaho Center, Nampa, one of three new Spectra contracts announced this week.
Spectra released three big, back-to-back announcements about new accounts it recently landed at three new venues, and it also signed an extended contract with a facility it currently serves.
The company specializes in venue management, food services and hospitality and ticketing and fan engagement under the business name Spectra by Comcast Spectacor.
Since the beginning of the year, the Orange County Soccer Club, Irvine, Calif., has been working with Spectra on goals for its food and beverage offerings.
The soccer team recently was rebranded, so bringing on a concessions partner with deep knowledge about venue operations was important, said Kelly Salmieri, vice president of marketing and community relations for the soccer club.
“We were looking for a national partner that understands what it takes to run a venue and what it means to elevate the fan experience,” she said. “Bringing local vendors in is important to us.”
Spectra is charged with hiring local food and beverage concessionaires, and it fit the bill for the soccer team’s first game May 6, Salmieri said.
“We just opened our first home opener at the Orange County Great Park in downtown Irvine,” Salmieri said. “From this first game, fans really enjoyed burgers and turkey legs. They also had a corn-on-the-cob stand.”
The soccer club has seen a lot of changes recently after it was sold to James Keston last September. The club was rebranded from the Los Angeles Blues into the Orange County Soccer Team under the United Soccer League.
“We make it a priority to create new and exciting food concepts that infuse local signature flavors, and attempt to source locally when it is possible,” Spectra SVP of Business Development and Client Relations Todd Glickman said.
The company also recently signed to provide food and beverage service to the Charleston (S.C.) Gaillard Center.
Spectra will provide preshow dining at the 1,800-seat Maratha and John M.Rivers Performance Hall along with specialty bars throughout the lobbies and catering and bar offerings to the patron boxes.
It also will provide cuisine various events at the center’s 16,000 sq. ft. of ballroom, exhibition and banquet space.
“Charleston’s rich culinary traditions and the low country’s bounty of locally-sourced ingredients provide our team with inspiration and enthusiasm as we design our plans for the Gaillard Center,” Spectra’s Regional Vice President John LaChance said in a statement.
Additionally, Spectra will now manage and provide ticketing and fan engagement at Nampa, Idaho’s City Civic Center, where they had already been servicing Ford Idaho Center, which includes Ford Amphitheater, Ford Arena and Ford Idaho Horse Park.
“After a successful first year of providing the same services to the Ford Idaho Center, Nampa City Council was compelled to hire Spectra to manage its 640-seat civic center,” said Ember Gutierrez, marketing director, Ford Idaho Center. “It’s a really, really nice building and seemed like the perfect tie-in for us.”
The deal also included an extended contract for the company to manage Ford Idaho Center, which means Spectra will now manage and provide ticketing and fan engagement to both venues until Sept. 30, 2027.
“They are a terrific community partner and, with their integrated services of managing the venue and providing ticket sales, they continue to seek new opportunities for generating excitement around our facility,” said Nampa Mayor Bob Henry in a statement.
The Ford Idaho Center arena can seat up to 9,500 people, and the Ford Amphitheater can hold up to 10,600. Both are less than five miles away from the civic center.
“With it being less than five miles away, it’s a great little venue that offers all the things we don’t offer,” Gutierrez said.
The center also has a horse park and sports center.
“By adding the civic center to our roster of facilities, we can create new solutions that will unlock incremental value for our clients and their customers at both properties. We look forward to new opportunities that will generate excitement to the region,” Tim Sovona, general manager of the Ford Idaho Center, said in a statement.