The Golden State Warriors have reached a partnership agreement with Levy Restaurant and Bon Appétit Management Co. to operate food services at the new "Chase Center" arena starting in the 2019-20 NBA season. The sides did not disclose the details of the agreement, but CEO of the Warriors Stephen Collin saw the deal similar to a management fee deal rather than a commission deal.
"We want a holistic, integrated program that spoke to the Bay Area," Collins said, according to Venues Today. "We told everyone this is not a typical model; we're not looking to take money off the table or commission a deal, but rather proposing a business where all interests are aligned and the Warriors have ultimate control."
The deal enables the Warriors to extend a business relationship with Levy Restaurant, the Chicago-based company that runs food services at the Oracle Arena since 2004.
Additionally, the agreement enables Bon Appétit, the Palo Alto-based on-site restaurant management company, to team up with local food properties to upgrade and deliver dining experience to local customers in San Francisco.
Five food Bay Area providers at Chase Center in 2019-20
As a part of the partnership deal, Bon Appétit has teamed up with five local, family-owned Bay Area food enterprises to serve foods inside the Warriors venue, containing Bakesale Betty, Big Nate's BBQ, Hot Dog Bill's, Sam's Chowder House and Tacolicious. Their following products will also be provided through the Tastemakers program at Chase Center.
"Levy is very talented in terms of analytics and technology in arenas, and we thought it would be terrific to collaborate together with our food experience, sourcing and iconic concepts that we've done in venues," CEO of Bon Appetit Fedele Bauccio said.
"We will execute for them in a way that that is ever-changing and creates experience that haven't been done before, primarily utilizing the best concepts in the Bay Area."
Companies oversee cafes around the country
Bon Appétit, which was founded in 1987, oversees more than 600 cafes across 30 states. The company establishes dining services at numerous valuable tech companies in Silicon Valley, including Adobe, Brocade, Google, LinkedIn, Oracle, SAP, Uber, Twitter, Yahoo and Sony.
Bon Appétit has collaborated with clients, including corporations, universities, museums and specialty venues.
According to the Princeton Review, Bon Appétit has reportedly been ranked among the nation's top college food services for several years.
Bon Appétit has performed dining services for the San Francisco Giants at AT&T Park since 2000.
Rick Welts, the Warriors president who worked with Levy Restaurant during his tenure with the Phoenix Suns for nine years, said the organization is seeking to deliver better food experience at Chase Center than ever before. Chase Center now owns the naming rights to the Warriors arena.
Levy Restaurant, which manages more than 100 food service locations in 41 markets around the U.S., currently offers food services to its stadiums, including Barclays Center, United Center, Moda Center and the new Mercedes-Benz Stadium, which is set to open in July 31, 2017.
