DoorDash Partners With Warriors as Aggregators Compete for Stadium Concessions

Restaurant aggregator DoorDash is bringing its technology into sporting arenas in a move to reach new customers and power a greater number of transactions. The company announced Monday (Oct. 17) a multi-year partnership with San Francisco’s NBA team, the Golden State Warriors, providing in-arena food and beverage ordering via the aggregator’s app at the team’s Chase Center.

“Chase Center will be one of the first NBA venues to offer fans the ability to order food and beverage through DoorDash,” Warriors Executive Vice President Mike Kitts said in a statement. “This is the beginning of a multi-faceted partnership that will redefine the food and beverage experience both in-arena and for Dub Nation around the Bay Area.”

By calling the arena “one of the first” to partner with the aggregator, Kitts hinted at DoorDash’s intentions to grow its presence to additional venues.

The move to bring digital ordering into stadiums makes sense, given the extent to which consumers have grown accustomed to own-device self-service for food and beverage purchases. For instance, research from the July edition of PYMNTS’ ConnectedEconomy study, “The ConnectedEconomy Monthly Report: The Rise of the Smart Home,” which drew from a May survey of roughly 2,700 U.S. adults, found that 43% reported having ordered from an aggregator that month. Plus, more than half of those consumers did so once a week or more.

Read more: New Data Shows Convenience Drove Smart Home Upgrades for 83M Consumers in 2022

While DoorDash is powering mobile orders for NBA games, grocery aggregator Instacart is focusing on the checkout experience at the concession stand. Back in April, the eGrocery company announced a new point-of-sale POS system at Boston’s Fenway Park. With the system, entitled the Caper Counter, created by retail technology subsidiary Caper AI, consumers place their items on the device, which scans them with computer vision. From there, consumers select their payment option.

See more: Instacart Brings AI Self-Service Checkout to Fenway Park

Instacart Vice President of Caper Lindon Gao said in a statement that the device cuts the transaction time by 65%.

Certainly, sporting events provide a valuable opportunity for aggregators not only to touch more transactions each year but also to reach new consumers. For the Warriors, for instance, ESPN noted that total attendance was about 741,000 in the 2021-22 season, averaging about 18,000 per game. And ESPN indicated that Boston Red Sox attendance amounted to 2.6 million people this year, averaging about 32,000 per game.

Similarly, Uber unveiled its Uber Eats at Stadiums offering in May, powering digital ordering for pickup from concessions sellers at live event venues. At the time of the announcement, the offering was live at several MLB stadiums, including Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, Yankee Stadium in New York, and the Astros’ Minute Made Park in Houston.

Read more: Taking Digital Payments out to the Ballgame With Next-Gen Concessions

“When we look at a day in the life of the fan, it starts several days ahead, everything from digital engagement in the ability to buy ticketing, reserve parking, and then the journey the day of,” Scott Mackay, vice president of global digital commerce at Fiserv, told PYMNTS’ Karen Webster in an interview earlier this year.

See more: Stadiums Dazzle Sports Fans With New Connected Experiences

“Really, the fan can be connected throughout the entire day, whether that be driving directions, parking, access to the facility, the reservation or ordering of attire, a jersey or a hat before getting into the stadium or the arena itself,” he said.