I do think food is one of the many thousand cuts that have pissed off the average sports punter over time at Westpac.
Shit food. Overpriced beer. No drink selection. Nazi security. Substandard ticketing system. Expensive parking. Piney's dictatorial recording blaring the rules in your face as you walk up. No cover over the Fran Wilde walk.
And so on. Just lots and lots of little things that over time have eroded the fun of going to the place. When it was new, everyone would overlook these little things. Now, it's only for must-see events that people can be bothered with all the rubbish.
This...oh so this!!!
Harmon does himself no favours by saying "the food changes are nothing to do with the feedback....it was part of our long term strategy"
What a dickhead.....that sort of attitude is consistent with the way they have treated people since day one. Everyone knows they are feeling the heat and need to up their game. Saying the changes are nothing to do with the feedback just confirms how out of touch they are with their customers.......because thats what we are....we pay for the privilege to sit in his stadium. If we stop turning up then his business is in the shit. About time he directly addressed the wants and needs of his customers rather than acting like a patronising dick.
Ease up.
Shane Harmon is exactly the opposite of the previous management. He has only been in the job a few months, but he has been open about what is happening with the stadium in both the newspapers and on radio. He has also been open to feedback, and answers a number of questions and complaints from people via Twitter.
Check out: @shaneharmon @westpacstadium
In regards to other issues mentioned...
Everyone should go into the Pavilion Bar on the concourse at the next game. You can find pies, cider, and a number of other drinks that aren't Tui. It's open to everyone.
Shane Harmon has also stated beer selection is set by the hirer of the venue. That would be WelNix in our case, so you should complain to them about your beer options.
Hotdogs are crap. Everywhere you buy them from they are crap. People seem to forget they are crap and complain when they buy another one. Like Hurricanes tickets.
New menu items are the best thing in food the stadium has offered since about 2003. I am looking forward to trying a number of them. The $10 price point for the new menu items is decent. That's your average lunch combo price, or equivalent to buying more than one of the current food items.
The new mezzanine bar area is also very nice, and if they stay open to play other games on a big screen, I expect it will be very busy. The bar has about 12 or so taps to pour from, so plenty of possibilities. And a dedicated kitchen for food.
Wet pour beer is a nice return to what the stadium opened with, except done properly this time around. No more pallets of kegs around the concourse. Should make the beer tastes a lot better.
I for one welcome our new friendly stadium overlord.