P26 MCG starting food fight

THE Melbourne Cricket Ground’s decision to slash the price of popular food and drink items by up to 40 per cent could pressure Gold Coast stadiums to review their prices.

The MCG took the event industry by surprise yesterday when it announced prices for items such as hot dogs, hot chips, and Four’N Twenty meat pies would fall to levels not seen since 2005 in time for Richmond and Carlton’s AFL opening round match at the stadium on April 2.

The Suns yesterday welcomed news of the MCG deal.

“We congratulate the MCG and its caterer on their recent decisions surrounding catering,” a Suns spokesman said.

“We look forward to seeing how this could evolve in the Queensland market.”

The MCG’s seven-year, $14-million deal with hospitality partner EPICURE (Spotless Group) is expected to spark a ripple effect at venues around the country as venues review affordability for fans.

Under its MCG deal, the price of a hot dog will fall $2.50 from $6.50 to $4, hot chips will fall $1.60 from $5.60 to $4, a meat pie will drop 80c from $4.80 to $4 and the cost of salads and sushi will also drop.

Stadiums Queensland, which manages the state’s major sports facilities including Cbus Super Stadium and Metricon Stadium, said it would study the MCG model to see what could be learned.

“We’ll certainly be looking at this model to see what impacts it would have on hirers and how it could apply in a Queensland setting,” a spokesman said.

“We are conscious of affordability for fans across all facets of events and we work closely with our hirers and service providers to keep fans coming through the gates.”

While Stadiums Queens- land signs off on food and drink prices, the spokesman said prices and caterers varied from stadium to stadium.

Melbourne-based venue management, catering and leisure company O’Brien Group, is the contracted caterer for both Metricon Stadium and Robina’s Cbus Super Stadium.

The company is yet to finalise its pricing for Metricon Stadium but has locked in its 2015 prices for events at Robina.

Popular items are similar in price to those charged at the MCG before the new deal. DO YOU THINK FOOTY FOOD PRICES ON THE GOLD COAST ARE TOO HIGH? TELL US IN OUR ONLINE POLL AT GOLDCOASTBULLETIN.COM.AU