Fans of the Atlanta Falcons and Atlanta United have given a huge thumbs-up to the new Mercedes-Benz Stadium (MBS) for its food and beverage service, with fan surveys from both clubs ranking that service No. 1.
Despite a 50-percent drop in food pricing, average spending per fan at Falcons games increased in 2017 by approximately 16 percent over the 2016 season due to volume increase of 53 percent at MBS.
Research also indicated more than 6,000 Falcons fans per game entered the stadium earlier to take advantage of F&B options and pricing in the stadium.
The Falcons matched 2016 full-game consumption levels by the end of the first quarter of Falcons games during 2017 regular season games. In all, more than 200,000 items were sold per Falcons regular season game in 2017.
Fans were surveyed weekly by the league on various elements of the gameday experience, including quality, price and value, speed of service and variety.
The Falcons also finished at the top of the league surveys for security screening, due in part to earlier fan arrivals.
Merchandise sales for the Falcons increased 88 percent over 2016 and according to NFL surveys 92 percent of fans attending Falcons games made a food and beverage purchase in 2017, up from 2016.
The first-season food and beverage satisfaction ratings contributed to overall gameday satisfaction ratings of first in MLS and third in the NFL, up from 17th in the 2016 season.
