Football concessions at the Vaught-Hemingway Stadium are rising in popularity with food sale records and expansions to concession options.
“In 2022, my first season here, we set a record that year. … We did more than that against Charlotte this year,” Paul Schertz, general manager for concessions, said.
This year, Ole Miss Athletics implemented a number of changes to general stadium concessions. Concessions has added more grab-and-go locations across the stadium, partnered with Nothing Bundt Cakes and added menu items to existing locations.
“In the student section, we added chicken tenders this year, and we added in one other stand, so we doubled the number of chicken tender locations, because chicken tenders were a top ten food item out of two locations, and so we knew it was something that people wanted and we needed to to get more of that out there,” Schertz said.
In recent years, concessions has also brought in food trucks as vendors in the stadium. This year, Oxford-based food truck 31s is the newest addition, selling wings, chicken tenders and fries. Before that, food trucks for Hotbox Hibachi and G&G’s Fry Co. were added as game day concessions options in 2024.
G&G Fry Co. at Vaught. Photo courtesy Ole Miss Athletics.
Pizza is now an option at one student section stand between the N1 and N2 sections. It is the only location in the entire stadium that sells pizza.
Students now have the ability to use Flex Dollars as payment at concession stands in the student section for food and non-alcoholic beverages. As of now, only one register at each stand accepts Flex as payment, but the concessions team is hoping to implement Flex payment into the rest of its point of sale (POS) systems by next school year.
“Next football season, all POS systems will be integrated with the flex option,” concessions manager Shirley Montes said.
With all of the additions, one might expect concessions to be struggling to keep up, particularly with staffing. However, nonprofit groups are lining up for the chance to volunteer as concessions staff.
“I have about five groups that are on a waitlist for me,” Montes said.
Each nonprofit group receives a share of the profits when it staffs a game, making the chance to work a concession booth an exciting opportunity. According to Schertz, with all sports combined, concessions gave back over $1.3 million to the community via profit sharing last year.
The concessions team prioritizes creating the best possible experience for the fans. A particular area of importance is the length of time that fans must spend waiting in line.
“When it takes 15 minutes to grab a pretzel or any other food or beverage item, regardless of the time in the game, it’s not the most ideal,” Jack Kent, a junior political science major from Helsinki, Finland, said.
To prevent this, the concessions team simplified menus all over the stadium to eliminate choices that take longer to prepare. With shorter menus, fans can make decisions quicker and concessions workers can deliver products faster.
“The best customer service we can offer is getting people back to their seats, so they can watch the game,” Schertz said.
Concessions also tries to branch out with venues at other sporting events to create a unique experience for fans. For example, concessions has a smoker at soccer games that offers pulled pork nachos and smoked sausage.
