While the Denver Broncos will be making their seventh Super Bowl appearance this Sunday at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., and the Seattle Seahawks their second visit, stadium concessionaire and retailer Delaware North Companies Sportservice lines up for its first showing at The World’s Most Watched Sporting Event.
But if you are expecting any kind of rookie nerves, you’ll just have to look elsewhere. Against a backdrop of uncertainty with the weather as the game is played for the first time in an outside northern climate in February in the XLVIII history of the Super Bowl, Delaware North – like the teams – has just about concluded final preparations for the big day led by its own dynamic onsite team of General Manager Bill Lohr, Operations Manager Marcus Snead and Executive Chef Eric Borgia, not to mention a working staff of 2,900 individuals wearing the company uniform.
“They and their teams have worked with the NFL, MetLife Stadium, local organizers and authorities to make it all come together,” said John Wentzell, president and leader of the hospitality management company with more than $2 billion in annual revenue. “Transportation, credentialing, extended event calls, exponential volumes of food and limitations on in-stadium movement are just some of the factors they have worked through. Our partners have been tremendous throughout and we are confident we have a great plan for Sunday.”
Wentzell said that the regular accompaniment of 2,100 staff members will be supplemented with more than 800 new hires including specialized temporary staffing agencies, retail program vendors and, most important, nearly 100 Delaware North managers and chefs from around the country.
“This is by far the largest and deepest management support group we have ever deployed,” Wentzell said. “Dan Fetcho, our Midwest regional vice president, has spearheaded the company-wide planning and the coordination of DNC resources to support our on-site MetLife team.”
Lohr is no stranger to the big stage and has worked the NCAA Final Four, NBA Finals, Stanley Cup and much more, in addition to having worked on the retail side at a previous Super Bowl. His duties this year include oversight of all financial and operational aspects and, as he puts it, “being in charge of everything Delaware North has to do at the stadium.”
“At this point we are finalizing all menus and getting sign-off from all folks involved,” he said. “The Seahawks, for example, have asked us to feed them in the locker room post-game so we’ve put out a menu for that. Now is when we have to execute the things that you wait on until the very end.”
That includes dealing with the freshness of the food. “As we get into Friday we will make sure the produce is fresh and then into Sunday morning with breads and kosher food deliveries, ice carvings and flowers and those kinds of things,” Lohr said. “All of that preparation now becomes a reality.”
With the Super Bowl being an event that holds a Homeland Security Level 1 national Special Security Event (NSSE) designation, Lohr said that condiment items such as ketchup and mustard will be available in packets rather than in pump bottle containers that could run the risk of some type of contamination.
Wentzell said that the menus prepared are “all about comfort food … foods you would serve at home for a Super Bowl party.”
“We wanted our food to be representative of New York City, the boroughs and the Jersey Shore,” he said. “And we wanted those themes to drive the variety and selection of foods throughout the stadium so fans from the general concourse to the premium areas will enjoy specially created menu additions.”
Some of those new items will include Buffalo Grilled Cheese, Corned Beef, Swiss and Slaw served on a seeded Rye Club roll, a seafood platter featuring scallops, calamari and flounder as well as two new versions of chicken wings – garlic parmesan and General Tsao’s.
Those in suites will enjoy a first-ever progressive dining menu, allowing patrons to progress like a regular multicourse meal.
Wentzell proudly notes that thanks to a partnership Tri-State Biodiesel will recycle 1,000 gallons of waste cooking oil that will be generated at the Super Bowl, resulting in 19,125 pounds of carbon emissions being reduced in the air.
While Delaware North can control its staffing, menu preparation and recycling efforts, some things such as the weather obviously cannot be controlled.
“Bottled soda and bottled water is already here and upstairs,” Lohr said. “We’re keeping an eye on the draft lines and soda lines to make sure that if it is ultra cold on Sunday and should some of those exposed lines freeze that we have bottled products to back us up.”
“It is probably not a shocker but hot chocolate is expected to be a popular item because of the weather, as well as soup and coffee,” Wentzell added. “Our team at MetLife has put together an impressive Hot Chocolate Program for Super Bowl fans to help take the chill off.”
Interviewed for this article: John Wentzell, (716) 858-5809; Bill Lohr, (201) 755-3154