Today, the Los Angeles Dodgers officially named Postmates its exclusive “on-demand delivery and pickup partner.” According to a press release, the deal is a multi-year partnership that will incorporate Postmates Live into concession stands at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.
Postmates Live, also called Postmates Pickup, debuted earlier this year. The feature lets users at festivals and sporting events order and pay for food, drinks, and in some cases merchandise ahead of time, so they can skip long lines and simply pick their items up when ready. The service kicked off at 2019’s Coachella festival in April.
For the Dodger Stadium deal, fans in the Top Deck section of the park will be able to order concessions ahead of time for the rest of the 2019 season. As noted in the press release, the service will roll out to the entire stadium starting in 2020. The press release didn’t specify which concessions will be available and if the Postmates service applies to things like alcoholic beverages.
When stadium-goers place an order via the Postmates app, they’ll be given a pickup time and a text notification when their order is ready. Orders will be available for pickup at branded Postmates Pickup points. For the rest of the 2019 season, those will be located only the top deck; the entire stadium will include Pickup Points once the service rolls out in full next season.
Postmates filed for an IPO in February but hasn’t made any movement on that of late, instead focusing on expanding to new cities and striking more deals with restaurant chains.
The partnership with Dodger Stadium is interesting because it gives Postmates access to an audience it wouldn’t otherwise be able to realistically serve. Baseball games, music festivals, and other arena-like settings typically don’t allow outside food and beverage through their gates, making it impossible for third-party delivery companies to have a presence in those places. A partnership that essentially makes Postmates an official part of the stadium, at least while the deal lasts, is a way to get that presence.
For Dodger Stadium, leveraging a third-party service’s technology and logistics capabilities is a way to offer the kind of convenience and instant gratification more and more consumers expect these days in a setting historically known for its painfully long lines at concession stands.
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