Nearly 1,100 people soon will receive notices telling them that they will not have jobs providing concessions and other services at Turner Field next year.
However, many or most will have a chance to work for the company that will take over the contract with the Atlanta Braves for the team’s final season at Turner Field and beyond.
The Braves announced in May that Buffalo-based Delaware North Sportservice will take over the concessions and catering work, replacing longtime contractor Aramark.
Philadelphia-based Aramark just filed formal notice with the state that it will not provide jobs to 1,078 people next year. The filing is known as WARN – for Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification.
“As required by law, we provided WARN notices to our personnel to inform them that we will cease providing services at this location,” Aramark spokesman David Freireich said in a written statement.
Jeffrey Hess, vice president of operations at Delaware North Sportservice said his company plans to hire “as many of those people as possible.” The company has already held four job fairs and will encourage former Aramark employees to apply, he said.
Up to 1,200 people will be hired, Hess said, “But the bulk of our hiring probably won’t get started until January.”
With 81 regularly scheduled games, plus the hopes of a playoff, the hours worked by many employees will be erratic and unpredictable, he said. “You could have a 14-inning game, you don’t know. You could have a 13-game home stand and then have it be dark eight days.”
Pay for workers will be roughly what it was under Aramark, he said.
According to Smith & Street’s SportsBusinessDaily, Delaware North Sportservice signed a seven-year agreement that will start in 2016 at Turner Field and carry into the Braves new stadium, SunTrust Park, in Cobb County.
The new stadium is scheduled to open in the spring of 2017. Plans calls for Sportservice to run concessions and “premium dining” for suites, clubs and restaurants, the publication reported.
Aramark and the Braves had done business for more than 50 years, according to SportsBusinessDaily.
The website reported that the deal changes compensation arrangements between the team and its concessions contractor: Delaware North Sportservice will collect a small fee from sales and then split profits after expenses with the Braves.
Counting the Braves, Delaware North Sportservice provides concession services to 11 Major League Baseball teams and eight National Football League teams. The company also provides services at Hartsfield-Jackson Airport.
A Braves spokeswoman could not be reached Friday.
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