Continuing their efforts to reconnect with a disenchanted fan base, the Ravens will lower concession prices at M&T Bank Stadium ahead of the 2018 season.
Team president Dick Cass will discuss the details of the changes during a Thursday press conference at the stadium. The move follows owner Steve Bisciotti’s suggestion that the Ravens could follow in the footsteps of the Atlanta Falcons, who lowered food and drink prices by 50 percent and still saw fans spend more money on concessions in the new Mercedes-Benz Stadium last year.
One of the obstacles to such a move was the organization’s contract with Aramark, the concessions vendor at M&T Bank Stadium.
“It’s something I would really like to take a hard look at, and at least, come up with select items that we can do,” said Bisciotti in early February. “I can’t make Aramark do that with me, but I can make them go along as long as it’s my share of the profits that I’m waving. I’d like to take a look at that. I think we could probably do that.”
The Ravens have been aggressive responding to the increasing number of empty seats at home games last season, putting individual game tickets on sale earlier than ever this year and continuing their $120 million stadium renovations project that will include escalators and more elevators being installed. Select fans and sponsors have also been invited to take part in question-and-answer sessions with the team’s brass this offseason.
Much frustration stems from Baltimore missing the playoffs four times in the last five seasons, but a vocal portion of the fan base also took issue with the dozen or so Ravens players who knelt during the national anthem when the team played in London last Sept. 24. The declining attendance last season prompted Cass to write a letter to personal seat license holders in which he acknowledged the protest being a factor in fans staying away from games.
