Goldman Infiltrates Yankee Stadium Food Concessionaire
The new Yankee Stadium is ready for Primetime, and a revamped menu will greet fans small and LARGE.
Last we knew Centerplate struck out - not getting the renewal for the newly built Stadium, which crushed the stock of (at the time CVP-AMEX traded) Centerplate:
April 3, 2008
Centerplate, Inc. was informed today by the New York Yankees that it will not be the concessionaire for the new Yankee Stadium set to open in 2009. This does not affect Centerplate’s current contract covering the existing Yankee Stadium, which runs through December 31, 2008. Thus, this decision by the Yankees is not expected to affect the Company’s 2008 financial results. However, if Centerplate does not obtain new business to offset the impact of not having a contract to service the new Yankee Stadium in 2009, this loss will have a material adverse effect on the Company’s Adjusted EBITDA beginning in 2009.
But little did we know the new vendor would have ties to the shadowy organization known as Goldman Sachs (GS-NYSE):
Besides traditional ballpark fare, yes, Cracker Jacks included, concession stands will serve sushi, hot-pressed Cuban sandwiches and garlic fries among other treats.
Legends Hospitality, the company founded by CIC Partners, Goldman Sachs, the Yanks and the Dallas Cowboys, led a tour and sampling of the ballpark concessions Wednesday, April 15, 2009.
For Legends it’s all about serving a wide range of ball park fare fresh and hot. The company has spent four months training its staff of about 3,000 in cooking and customer service, according to Senior Vice President Mike Phillips.
Legends should have an opportunity to feast on fans’ appetite for its food. Centerplate, the Yankees’ former concessionaire, took home $70 million in 2007 from its deal with the Bombers. The new stadium features 444 point-of-sale stands, compared with 298 in the old ball park. Phillips declined to comment on projected financial performance but said that, per year, the company expects to sell enough hot dogs that if they were placed end-to-end, they’d stretch 300 miles. Stephen’s Posterus
Looking for a reason to go on a hunger strike? At the minimum you now have a reason to fast....eating a hot dog or cracker jack at the new Yankee Stadium means supporting Goldman.
Perhaps your time is better spent hitting on Jeter’s imports....that ought to throw him off his game
Looks like an opening to switch allegiances is at hand. Let’s Go Mets!!
And for those of you who hold essentially worthless shares of Centerplate....well, you know the drill. Pitchforks to assemble at 85 Broad.
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Private Equity Serves Sushi at New Yankee Stadium
Stephen’s Posterus
Previously
Yankees Curve Ball Strikes Out Centerplate
1440 Wall Street
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The content contained in this blog represents the opinions of underthecounter. This commentary in no way constitutes a solicitation of business or investment advice. It is intended solely for the entertainment of the reader, and the author.
Showtime: One Shining Moment for the Motor City
This weekend’s Final Four tournament will be a welcome respite from unending gloom and doom. Or maybe not - it is in Detroit, afterall, which is like a pimple that cannot be concealed under a ton of makeup. Yes, things are bad in Detroit, but the Home of Tommy “the Hitman” Hearns ain’t going down without a fight:
“America thinks that we are dying,” says Larry Alexander, president and chief executive of the Detroit Metro Convention and Visitors Bureau. “Unfortunately, when you say ‘Motor City,’ they think that’s all we have to offer. People assume that if the auto industry is dying, Detroit is dying. But give us a break. If Wall Street is dying, you don’t say, ‘New York is dying.’ “ Washington Post
New York and Detroit are on the opposite sides of the spectrum, but they do have one thing in common...no green shoots are visible. And maybe even a second - both towns got behind the President but neither have been particularly well treated since Obama cut down the net and took over the Oval Office.
But life ain’t fair, something UConn will find out when sports fans assemble Saturday night to give Michigan State University the home court advantage against the scandal ridden Huskies. And if you think the scene at the G20 was wild, wait until 72,000 Spartan fans blow the roof off of Ford Field.
The tourney’s shot in the arm is welcome, however brief. Next Tuesday reality will rudely return.
Desperate for a Rebound, Detroit Turns to Basketball
Washington Post
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The content contained represent the opinions of 1440 Wall Street. This commentary in no way constitutes a solicitation of business or investment advice. It is intended solely for the entertainment of the reader, and the author.
Obama’s Dance Card
President Obama is known as a pretty good hoop player, but can he pick’em in the big dance?
So far, so good middle of the pack:
But by Sunday, after the buzzer sounded in the final game of Round 2, President Obama’s picks looked much better—he’d correctly chosen 14 of the final sweet 16.
He’s in the 53rd percentile now—slightly better than in the middle.
Most of the teams the president had bet against in Round One were defeated in Round Two.
His early bets against Xavier and Arizona are the only picks still haunting him. As of now.
And isn’t that what the president is always saying, it’s important to get the long-term bigger picture right and not get caught up in the day-to-day games?
Anyway, on to the Sweet 16.
Jake Tapper has emerged as my favorite White House correspondent - his sparing with Robert Gibbs has been much appreciated, along with his balanced reporting.
How’s President Obama Doing With His NCAA Picks?
ABC
NFL Week 16
Need to escape the relatives? Go to the bar and watch these game. Kevin from Eatdrinkandsleepfootball.com is back with his week 16 picks.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers -3.5 (over San Diego Chargers): The Bucs have stumbled the past 2 weeks on the road against the Panthers and Falcons. In fact, their strength (rushing defense, which allowed only 1 rushing TD in the first 12 games of the season) has become their biggest liability. The Bucs allowed 3 100-yard rushers in those 2 games and 5 rushing TDs. The Panthers rushed for 299 yards and the Falcons for 175 yards against the Bucs. So, why am I picking them? They (as well as the rest of the NFC South) are a different team at home than they are on the road. The Bucs are 6-0 (NFC South teams are 26-2) at home on the season. Home-field advantage will help the Bucs get back into a groove as the hugely disappointing San Diego Chargers lose another one.
New York Jets -4 (over Seattle Seahawks): Despite Brett Favre’s (questioning his) arm strength, the Jets need to get back to basics. In the past 6 weeks, the Jets have won all 4 games where Thomas Jones had 20+ carries and lost both games where he didn’t. Favre helps keep opposing defenses honest and the Seahawks have the league’s worst pass defense allowing 260.9 ypg. They have also allowed 21 passing TDs while picking off only 6 passes. The Jets have plenty of motivation to win this game as they are the division winner if they win out.
New York Giants -3 (over Carolina Panthers): See Bucs/Chargers game. The NFC South teams are 26-2 at home. The Panthers are 8-0 at home. But this game will be played on the road, where they are 3-3. They are playing the defending Super Bowl Champs, who also happen to be the current Vegas favorite to win it again. The Giants will get Brandon Jacobs, who has 12 rushing TDs in 12 games, back. There is no way that I can envision the Giants losing 3 straight, especially playing at home in such a meaningful game with their best player (Jacobs) back.
Miami Dolphins -4 (over Kansas City Chiefs): If the Miami Dolphins win out, they win the AFC East. (Their week 17 matchup is against the Jets.) The Dolphins are winning with solid defense (8th in the league) and a solid running game (12th in the league). Chad Pennington may not have the arm strength of Brett Favre, but he is a heady player that limits mistakes. In the Dolphins 14 games, Pennington has thrown 6 INTs and no more than 1 in any game. In fact, they are 2-4 in the 6 games where Pennington has thrown a pick. They are 7-1 in the games where he has played mistake-free. The Chiefs have the 3rd-worst passing defense (242 ypg), the 3rd-worst rushing defense (155.1 ypg) and the league’s worst overall defense (397.1 ypg).
Buffalo Bills +6.5 (over Denver Broncos): The Bills got off to a great start (5-1) and have looked horrible since (1-7). But the Bills can rush the ball well and a questionable play call led them to a 31-27 loss vs the Jets last week. I would expect the Bills to not make the same mistake twice. Marshawn Lynch will get a boatload of carries as the Bills face the 6th-worst rushing defense in the league. As horribly as the Bills have played, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Bills don’t cover. But this is my hunch play of the week and I expect the Bills to keep this game close and at a minimum cover.
Wilpon’s Deny New York Mets Are For Sale
The shockwaves from the Madoff scandal will reveberate for quite a while, but the hardest hit families include most of the movers and shakers in New York’s commercial real estate market.
The Wilpon family, whose grip on the Mets strengthened years ago after buying out the Doubleday’s interests, had a close relationship with Bernard Madoff’s family. Indeed, the children attended Roslyn High School, on the North Shore of Long Island, together, and Madoff worked out of an iconic Midtown property that the Wilpon’s once had a major stake in before selling the property.
And while Jeff Wilpon is not attempting to put lipstick on a pig, he is denying rumors that the family is busted, or the Mets are for sale:
“The team is not for sale, not a piece of it, not a part of it,” Wilpon said. “We are not for sale. We have no reason to sell.”
Wilpon said his family, which owns a huge portion of the Mets, would not need to recruit minority investors to bolster the team’s revenue. He would not say how much money his family or its investment firm, Sterling Equities, might have lost through its association with Madoff. Wilpon did say that none of the money invested with Madoff came from a third party, which could have subjected the Wilpons to lawsuits. NYT
The family is no doubt shaken by the recent events - the families apparently were quite close, with the younger Wilpon’s and Madoff’s friends since childhood. But their assets were apparently diversified, which is fortunate given the recovery of assets will be slim to none.
“So the individual partners lost some money at Madoff,” Wilpon said. “It doesn’t affect the Mets, it doesn’t affect the Citi Field project, and it doesn’t affect SNY or any of our other operating businesses.”
When Wilpon was asked how that was possible, he responded somewhat sharply.
“We have other money,” Wilpon said. “Just because you guys don’t know how much money we have, we have other money outside of this, from diversity.”
Diversity? OK, in this case deworsification was a good thing. Don’t put all your assets in one place, one broker, etc...ever.
I will take Jeff at face value, and hope the losses are manageable. It would he a unfortunate time to lose control of the team; the new stadium and a solid team should have Queens rocking in 2009
But distressed investors are likely to have more property to pick from in the big Apple, given Madoff’s ties to developers all over the City:
“Many of these developers, their resources are all with Madoff,” Mr. Reisman said.
There are widespread concerns that some developers will have trouble completing projects currently under construction. Edward Blumenfeld, who runs Blumenfeld Development Group, had invested heavily with Mr. Madoff and considered him a friend. Gary Lewi, a spokesman for Mr. Blumenfeld, said he still planned to complete a shopping complex in East Harlem that is to include a Target and a Costco, as well as several other projects where construction is “in the ground.”
Stay tuned, I am sure not everyone has fessed up to their Madoff exposure just yet. But the long awaited correction of Manhattan real estate, both commerical and residential, is upon us.
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Mets Are ‘Not for Sale, Not a Piece of It’
NY TImes
Madoff Scandal Shaking Real Estate Industry
NY Times
Madoff took office space in the Lipstick in 1989 - when the Wilpon’s had an interest in the building, if I am not mistaken.
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The content contained in this blog represents the opinions of 1440 Wall Street. This commentary in no way constitutes a solicitation of business or investment advice. It is intended solely for the entertainment of the reader, and the author. No Position
NFL Week 15
Are the Colts 17 points better than the Lions?
Yeah, they are probably 30 points better. Here are Kevin’s week 15 thoughts, from Eatdrinkandsleepfootball.com
San Diego Chargers -6 (over Chiefs): Despite their horrible start to the season, the Chargers are 1 of only 2 teams to not lose a game by double-digits this season. Although they are a huge disappointment, they have much more talent than the Chiefs. They beat up on the Raiders last week. The Chargers may not win out, but back-to-back wins against the Raiders and Chiefs? Absolutely. Take the Chargers in what I expect to be a similar performance to last week.
Detroit Lions +17 (over Colts): The Colts are definitely 17 points better than the Lions. Heck - they are probably 28 points better too. But this is the NFL. Any given Sunday, right? The Lions are 1-20 in their last 21 games. Their win was against the Chiefs in week 16 last year. But the Lions have started games o.k. The problem is there are 4 quarters. Talk of Peyton Manning for MVP (Peter King of SI and Chris Mortenson of ESPN) is increasing according to Mike & Mike on ESPN Radio. The Colts have won 6 straight and face division opponents in weeks 16/17. This is the classic definition of a trap game. I expect the Colts to win, but won’t blow out the Lions.
Carolina Panthers -7.5 (over Broncos): DeAngelo Williams leads the Panthers’ rushing attack’s 1-2 punch and has been doing so in record-breaking fashion lately. Two weeks ago, he had 4 TDs against the Falcons and he extended his consecutive games with a TD streak to 7 games to take sole possesion of the franchise record. Williams has 9 rushing TDs in the past 4 weeks. (Insert your favorite DeAngelo stat here to further my argument.) You get the point. Williams and rookie Jonathan Stewart, who has 8 rushing TDs this season, are going to run all over (literally) the Denver Broncos. Plus, the NFC South teams and Carolina Panthers are too strong at home: 24-2 and 7-0, respectively.
Pittsburgh Steelers +2.5 (over Ravens): If you love defense, this is your Super Bowl. These 2 teams play stingy defense, punish offensive players and have playmaking safeties (Ed Reed and Troy Polamalu) that are all over the field. While rookie QB Joe Flacco is playing well (60% completion, 13 TDs, 10 INTs), this is the most important game of his young career. He played mistake-free in their first encounter, but there was less pressure after 2 games and the weather wasn’t as cold. The Steelers offense will be the difference in this game.
Tennessee Titans -3 (over Texans): This week has a nostalgic feel for the former Oilers franchise as they play the Houston Texans. With a 2-game lead over the Steelers for #1 seed and their final 2 games against the Steelers and the Colts, who have won 6 straight, the Titans need to (and should) take care of business this week. The Titans rank 3rd in the NFL in rushing offense (146.1 ypg) and the Texans rank 24th in stopping the run (127.2 ypg). Expect a heavy dose of Thunder and Lightning or Smash and Dash (or your favorite nickname for the Titans’ RB duo) and give the 3 points.
NFL Week 14
The weather if turning cold, but Kevin’s hand remains hot. Be sure to check out Eatdrinkandsleepfootball.com
Take it away, Kevin…
Heading into to the final quarter of the football year, I am 41-24-1 (63.1%) at picking games against the spread (ATS). In comparison, the best-performing “expert” has picked 53.4% of the games correctly. I’m not saying...I’m just saying.
In my week 14 picks, you’ll notice two common themes: NFC South home teams, who are 22-2 at home this season, and teams playing the NFC West bottom-feeders.
New England Patriots -4.5 (over Seattle Seahawks): The Pats were embarrassed by the Steelers last week 33-10. Even though the Pats are a good but not great 7-5 this season, you have to go back to weeks 9 and 10 in 2006 to see the Pats lose back-to-back games. Matt Cassel, who’s about to become a very rich man in the off-season, had back-to-back 400-yard games before last week when he faced the #1-ranked Steelers’ pass defense. This week, he faces the league’s worst-ranked passing defense. He may not light them up for 400+ yards, but I would expect another huge week for Cassel.
New York Jets -4 (over San Francisco 49ers): Mike Singletary is one of the greatest MLBs in the history of the NFL. As the 49ers interim head coach, he began his tenure by mooning his players at halftime. Some argued that he did (or was going to) lose his team, but it looks like it’s working. The Niners are 2-2 since that game and playing much better. However, the J-E-T-S laid an egg last week against the Broncos and I see them running all over the 49ers (literally). Thomas Jones has 487 rushing yards and 6 rushing TDs in the past 4 games. In those games, he’s been consistent rushing for 100+ in 3 out of 4. The other was 96-yard performance. Look for the Jets to rebound this week and beat the 49ers easily.
Arizona Cardinals -14 (over St. Louis Rams): The Cards have lost back-to-back games against NFC East teams. Kurt Warner has commented about how difficult it is to be one-dimensional against good teams. Well, the good news for Kurt is they face the St. Louis Rams this week. The Rams have the 30th-ranked rush defense. The best performance by a Cardinals RB this season came against the Rams in week 9 when Tim Hightower had 109 rushing yards and a score. The Cards passing game speaks for itself. This is a big number (14 points), but this offense had 510 yards in their first matchup of the season. There’s no reason to believe they can’t do it again.
New Orleans Saints -3 (over Atlanta Falcons): Last week, using the NFC South-is-great-at-home strategy didn’t work. (The Bucs won the game by 3 points but missed covering by 1/2 of a point.) In any event, do you remember what happened the last time the Saints played at home? Without the versatile Reggie Bush, they lit up the Packers for a franchise-record 51 points on MNF. This game is going to be a shootout as neither team plays good defense. In fact, the Falcons defense (339 ypg) gives up just a little more than the Saints defense (338 ypg) does. With Reggie Bush back in the lineup, I like the Saints and Drew Brees in this shootout.
Carolina Panthers -3 (over Tampa Bay Buccaneers): The Bucs have given up the fewest rushing TDs in the NFL. Through 12 games, they have given up only 1 rushing TD. This week, they face the Carolina Panthers two-headed rushing attack in DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart. Williams is coming off a franchise-record 4-TD rushing performance and has 9 rushing TDs in the past 5 games. He has also tied a franchise record with scoring a TD in 6 consecutive games. This game will be a battle, but I expect the Panthers (who are 6-0 at home) to prevail.
