Hungry and thirsty, but reluctant to miss a second of action on the field?
Real Salt Lake will unveil a concession-delivery system today designed for such focused fans. Those in the soccer team's more-exclusive club seating area will be able to submit a food-and-beverage order with a text message and, 10 to 15 minutes later, a runner will deliver the order to their seats for an additional fee.
If the operation works well there, Real Salt Lake and the service providers, Mangia and concessionaire Levy Restaurants, will expand it to all of Rio Tinto Stadium later this season.
The technology, said stadium and team president Bill Manning, will "enhance the game-day experience ... for our club seat season ticket holders. This state-of-the-art initiative by Mangia really helps to distinguish Rio Tinto Stadium from other venues across the region and across Major League Soccer."
The system is the brainchild of Blake Ferguson and Nate Checketts, whose father is Real Salt Lake owner Dave Checketts.
A couple of years back, when they were Brigham Young University students with little time between classes, they started texting orders to a few favored eateries so their food would be ready when they got there. They saw the business possibilities in their experience, tried it out with several Provo restaurants, and then approached Real Salt Lake with the idea of setting it up.
Real bought in, and RSLexpress will debut at the team's 7 p.m. game against New England.
Fans in the club seat sections can subscribe to the service at the game or at rslexpress.com (if they didn't already when the idea was first advertised at the April 11 game against D. C. United).
Once that's done, subscribers can punch the numeric equivalent of Mangia's name -- 626442 -- into their cell phones. They can either get a menu or type out their order, mention their row and seat number, hit send, then sit back and watch the game until their food is delivered.
The service charge will vary, depending on the amount of the order, said Ferguson. For orders exceeding $10, Mangia will charge $1 plus 12 percent of the order's cost; under $10, the fee goes down to just $1.
Hal Widlansky, Mangia's CEO, said his company will start with seven or eight runners delivering orders. "We may be overstaffed a bit, but we want to make sure fans have a great experience," he said, noting that the goal is to make deliveries within 15 minutes.
Levy Restaurants has dedicated specific behind-the-counter workers to handling RSLexpress orders so that phoned-in orders don't compete with people standing in line at the booths.
"Our service doesn't take away from the staff at the concession counters," Widlansky said. "The last thing we want to do is have any negative impact on the fan experience."
RSLexpress probably will be available this summer throughout the 20,000-seat stadium after the service is up and running and a few adjustments are made.
"By rolling it out in phases," Widlansky said, "we can optimize our operations so there won't be any hiccups."
1. » Sign up for a free Mangia account at the stadium or online at RSLexpress.com.
2. » Send a text message on your cell phone -- for example, 2 hot dogs, 2 Cokes -- to 626442. Also mention your row and seat number.
3. » Receive a text confirming contents of your order, watch the game and wait for your order to arrive.
For an order under $10, it's a $1 fee. For orders of more than $10, it's $1 plus 12 percent of the total order.
