Well, this sure looks like news:
Interested in a food services job? @OvationsFS is hiring for @OdotCoCOLISEUM ! Open Interviews are from 2-7PM today & 10AM-3PM tomorrow!
— O.co Coliseum (@OdotCoCOLISEUM) January 9, 2014
It isn’t news that the Coliseum is getting ready to do its seasonal hiring. The news is that the vendor isn’t Aramark. Instead it’s Ovations Food Services, an arm of venue management firm Comcast Spectacor. Ovations’ client list doesn’t have any current MLB regular season ballparks, making the Coliseum the first. However, they have plenty of local and Northern California experience, working at Raley Field, Banner Island Ballpark, and Chukchansi Park. They also handle food service at three Bay Area fairgrounds: Sonoma County, Santa Clara County, and Alameda County. In fact, Ovations’ California office is located at the Alameda County Fairgrounds, so if you have any complaints you can easily head to Pleasanton to speak your mind.
Part of the offseason is used to reevaluate any current vendor’s offerings in terms of successes and failures. With this offseason, Aramark’s contract was expiring so rival companies were bidding for the contract. It’s not as lucrative as it would be for a new ballpark, especially given the short lease extensions by both the A’s and Raiders. Nevertheless, the Coliseum remains a high profile venue, at least higher than what Ovations had in the baseball world. Chances are slim that any new offerings could be ready in time for FanFest – even though the Coliseum will be open this time around – because the turnaround is short. But it’d be nice if they had a booth to display a preview of their offerings.
newballpark.org 
Now this is progress!
@RS That was a good one.
Hope the service will improve…they’d better be keeping Saag’s.
I really want Kinders to come back!
Good. FUCK ARAMARK.
My work dropped Aramark for another company and the food stayed exactly the same so I wouldn’t necessarily count on any great changes. I will riot if they drop Saags though.
OT – I found this interesting article from Daily Finance titled “How the Golden Age of Television and Baseball Ends.” I didn’t see it in Marine Layer’s Twitter so I thought I’d just post it. It’s a fascinating (and very alarmist)look at baseball’s cable TV and regional sports network bubbles.
http://www.dailyfinance.com/2014/01/12/how-the-golden-age-of-television-and-baseball-ends/
@Chris – That’s a great primer on how the cable subscription & RSN models work, and the challenges in changing the system. Recommended.
Very, very quiet around here since the new year began..
@Chris and RM, as part of an indemnification package for the Giants giving up SCCo (again, I don’t think they should get squat), I’ve often wondered why the creation of a new RSN jointly owned by the A’s and Giants hasn’t been considered; similar to Balt/Wash and Chi with the Cubs/WS. Or perhaps the A’s going back under the CSNBA umbrella (albeit with a small equity stake). Lots of money to be made via the RSN’s. instead of “fighting” each other, make gobs of money via TV instead! Imagine that…
So everyone logged this morning and snagged their $2 Wednesday tickets, right? We grabbed around 80 ourselves. Too bad the middle deck of Mt Davis is a complete joke.
I believe Ovations does or used to do the San Mateo County Fairgrounds as well. I remember the food there being pretty terrible, so I don’t have high hopes.
I am loving the Costco deal a whole lot and would rather do that than the $2 Wednesday, which seems to have outlived its usefulness. Two first deck tickets for $33.95 I think, with very few blackout games, your usual Yanks/Sox/AssGiants. And while Aramark is going bye-bye, can we get rid of the Oracle Arena concessions? Horrible, $5.50 for a 20 ounce bottle of soda, without being able to take anything in just sucks. Contraband baby!
The change to Ovation has not given the fans at the O.Co Coliseum has not
proven to be good. The buns on hot dogs are so old & dry, they fall apart as soon as you pick them up with relish, onions, etc. falling in your lap. Hot dogs used to be wrapped, but now aren’t, with the result that they are cold by the time you reach your seat. Everything is done more cheaply than with
Aramark.