Levy Lands Nationals Concessions Deal

The Washington Nationals have named Levy Restaurants their new concessions and dining services operator, replacing Centerplate, which had held the account for the team’s first season in their new Nationals Park home field, according to a report in the Washington Business Journal. The Nationals moved to Nationals Park last April from RFK Stadium, where Aramark had been the concessionaire. Facility Merchandising, Inc., is taking over retail operations at Nationals Park.

The announcement means Centerplate has lost four major league baseball contracts within the past year. The others are the New York Yankees, which represents the largest single contract in the concessions sector and generated 10 percent of Centerplate’s annual revenues, as well as the Minnesota Twins and Kansas City Royals. Last April, the Twins announced that Sportservice will operate foodservice at its new ballpark, scheduled to open in the spring of 2010, while the Royals announced a deal with Aramark in October to provide all concession and retail merchandise services at Kauffman Stadium starting in the 2009 season.