Emerald Headingley Stadium, the home of Yorkshire County Cricket Club (YCCC) and rugby league club Leeds Rhinos, has signed a 15-year, £100m (€111.4m/$126.5m) contract with Sodexo to provide catering and hospitality services at the venue.
The deal with food services and facilities management company Sodexo builds on an eight-year partnership with YCCC and Leeds Cricket, Football and Athletics (LCF&A).
A full-time team of 14 and more than 1,000 temporary staff will provide catering and hospitality services for all matches at the stadium including Super League, this summer’s Ashes series, the ICC Cricket World Cup and the new competition ‘The Hundred’ from 2020.
Sodexo will also provide non-match day sales to help drive additional revenue for the stadium.
Nick Byrom, Sodexo Sports & Leisure business development director, said: “Sodexo will significantly invest in the public and executive facilities at the ground to improve speed of service and further enhance the customer experience.
“Sodexo will also be a major sponsor of Yorkshire Cricket and Leeds Rhinos until 2034 to demonstrate our long term investment strategy in sport.”
Last month, Emerald Headingley Stadium reached the end of a £45m redevelopment project, which includes a new 450 person lounge overlong both the cricket and rugby pitches.
The new joint North/South Stand overlooking both the rugby pitch and cricket ground, which replaced a 90-year-old structure, has 4,200 seats for cricket and 3,800 for rugby. The new South Stand for the rugby ground, which had opened previously, has a capacity of 7,700 with 2,200 seats.
Andy Dawson, YCCC’s commercial director, said: “It is our ambition to provide a best in-class experience for our members, spectators and corporate guests and to achieve this we need to offer variety of food options which offer excellent value for money.
“We are proud of our long-standing relationship with Sodexo and with their skilled team on board and Emerald Headingley Stadium Event’s award-winning chefs in place; we will deliver a memorable food experience for all.”
