Flickerd The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), Australian Football’s oldest stadium, has awarded a new contract to Delaware North to provide retail merchandising and fulfill licensed product requirements.
The new contract is in addition to the hospitality services contract awarded to the group by MCG in November 2022, and will result in the launch of a dedicated retail merchandising division by Delaware North to service existing and new customers in the Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) region.
Stewardship of merchandising at the MCG is an opportunity and honor that we are extremely grateful for.
“After nearly four decades of growth and providing hospitality and concession services to customers throughout Australia and New Zealand, now is the right time for Delaware North to bring its decades of global merchandising experience to existing and potential customers across Australia,” says Gary Brown, Delaware North’s managing director for Australia and New Zealand. “Stewardship of merchandising at the MCG is an opportunity and honor that we are extremely grateful for. Delaware North’s culture and approach align with the MCC’s mission to foster the love of sport by creating experiences that inspire and cultivate connection and belonging. Our connection to Australia and Melbourne goes back more than 35 years, and we cannot imagine a more iconic institution than the MCC, or place than the MCG, as our foundation client.”
Creating a world-class merchandising experience at the MCG was a key undertaking in Delaware North’s MCC pitch, with establishment of the new division independent of its hospitality division a critical part of the successful proposal. In March 2022, Delaware North began operating hospitality services at the MCG, which seats more than 100,000 people as the largest stadium in the Southern Hemisphere, hosting Australian rules football (Australian Football League), cricket, rugby and concerts.
Stuart Fox MCC CEO, adds: “We are confident that Delaware North is the right company to take this part of our business into the future by enabling more members and fans the opportunity to take home their own part of the people’s ground.”
Under the contract, Delaware North will redesign the MCG Shop and match-day stands to provide immersive customer experiences that better showcase product lines for the leagues and clubs that play at the MCG. Technology upgrades will substantially improve speed of service and increase transactions through self-service point-of-sale kiosks, mobile order and pay, and a new customised website featuring MCC/MCG-focussed content and products. These improvements will extend to innovative, outdoor match-day stands that will allow fans to interact with merchandise rather than ordering from behind a counter. The new, strategically configured outdoor store locations will better serve fans immediately before and after events, when they are most inclined to make a purchase. To help future proof the MCG, Delaware North’s winning proposal included master planning consultation and resources.
“We are confident our demonstrated merchandising expertise and capabilities will satisfy what is a very mature and sophisticated consumer market in Australia and New Zealand, where guests have high expectations for quality and value,” says Scott Socha, Delaware North group president for Parks and Resorts plus Australia and New Zealand operations.
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