How Michigan Stadium Feeds Fans On A Gameday

Michigan Stadium which is also known as the Big House is the largest stadium in the United States and the 3rd largest in the entire world. On a game day, the place is packed to the brim with fans wearing their maize and blue as they cheer on the Wolverines. As a renowned university and blue-blood football program each home game brings in over 100,000 fans to help push the University of Michigan to a victory. 100,000 people is a lot of people but nobody feels that pressure more than the staff at the Big House.

Staff is a broad term to use but when you think of the ticketing staff, security, and campus police that's a lot of people for them to manage and keep safe, but there's another group of people who are bogged down every home game. The concessions staff have bombarded all game while fans are trying to get food and get back to their seats as fast as possible. They are under immense pressure but have a system that works and helps them feed all those hungry fans efficiently.

Trying to feed over 100,000 people is already difficult enough but then you add in the factors of over half of them being under the influence, everyone being in a rush, and the lack of concourses the difficulty level is instantly raised at least 10 fold. There are only a few standard concession stands inside of the Big House and they have to find a way to service all of those fans in the best way possible, the following TikTok videos will show exactly how they do that.

@user9681110785631 How Chefs Feed 100000 Michigan Fans At Americas Biggest Football Stadium Big Business part 1#hobby #lifestyle #news ♬ original sound - Business Insider

@user9681110785631How Chefs Feed 100000 Michigan Fans At Americas Biggest Football Stadium Big Business part 2♬ original sound - Business Insider

@user9681110785631
How Chefs Feed 100000 Michigan Fans At Americas Biggest Football Stadium Big Business part 3
♬ original sound - Business Insider

They explain in the videos above how the concession staff are working against the clock and have to make all of their money in only 7 days (Saturdays only during the fall, football season) unlike restaurants that are open most days of the year. The Big House aims to make $1,000,000 each game day from food and beverages alone. They start all of their work 24 hours before kickoff, which makes for a grab-and-go work environment come game day.

They try to get everyone their food within a one-minute timer to push the speed element they are working to perfect. This element of speed allows them to hit their $1,000,000 goal for each home game. They get large rushes 15 minutes before kickoff and at halftime, but they often are pulling 12-hour shifts on gameday.

Could you handle a gameday shift in the Big House concession stand?