City of Cedar Rapids signs off on deal for ball team to run Ice Arena concessions

The city has designed a concession deal it hopes will better guarantee the success of two principal city entertainment venues, Veterans Memorial Stadium and the Ice Arena, and the sports teams that make the two spots home.

In the concession agreement, the city will have the Cedar Rapids Ball Club Inc., owner of the minor-league baseball operation in Cedar Rapids, run the concession operation at the Ice Arena, home to the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders hockey team.

Another private vendor had run the Ice Arena concession operation in the past.

The new Ice Arena agreement, which runs through June 30, 2014, will pay the city of Cedar Rapids 30 percent of the net sales of the Ice Arena concession operation and 22.5 percent of the revenue from the arena suites, plus revenue for times when the arena is used for something other than hockey games. At minimum, the city will receive $1.625 from concessions for each person attending a hockey game.