Since dramatically slashing concession prices in half two years ago, the stadium says, it has improved bottom line margins by 15 percent. After seeing this success, several other pro teams around the country have followed suit, cutting concession prices in their stadiums.
As part of this change to cashless-only transactions, Mercedes-Benz Stadium will reduce concession prices 11 percent on select items, by changing from a whole-dollar pricing model, which was initially introduced to speed up transaction times.
Cannon says the AMB expects to maintain the number of transactions as fans adapt to this new experience. Over time, he expects an increase in transactions. With technology like Apple Pay, cashless transactions have been on the rise. According to Cannon, Apple Pay transactions at the stadium went up 600 percent in 2018, speeding up transactions by 20-30 seconds. There will be no credit card minimum, even if somebody is only buying a $1.50 hot dog.
Tropicana Field, home of the Tampa Bay Rays baseball team, previously announced it was also implementing a cashless stadium, but it doesn’t take effect until March 28.
Cannon expects it will take time to adapt to the new model, but he’s not anticipating too much pushback. “If our credit card transaction fees go up, that’s the cost of doing business,” said Cannon.
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