Proof of the Pudding’s Michael Pappas explains the logistics behind catering major outdoor sporting events, a growing segment for the Atlanta-based company
By Sara Perez Webber
From major golf tournaments to air shows to motorsports races, Proof of the Pudding knows how to keep sports fans well fed.
The Atlanta-based catering company is expanding its reach into major outdoor sporting events. A longtime partner of the PGA Tour, Proof recently added NASCAR races at Rockingham Speedway in North Carolina and the Quad City Air Show in Davenport, Iowa, to its roster. That’s in addition to Proof’s many other large foodservice clients, including convention centers, sports and entertainment arenas, yachting shows and college stadiums.
“We’re bringing a whole new level of culinary excitement to these remarkable events,” says Michael Pappas, executive vice president of operations for Proof of the Pudding. “We’re not just serving food; we’re crafting experiences. Expect exceptional quality, innovative presentation, efficient service and a seamless, cashless experience, ensuring fans never miss a moment of the action.”
Pappas—whose 30 years of hospitality experience includes leading all F&B operations for 12 NASCAR racetracks—joined Proof in September 2024. CFE recently chatted with Pappas to learn how Proof handles the logistics at these major events, a growing segment for the company.
CFE: What’s the most logistically complicated sporting event that you plan the hospitality and concessions for?
Pappas: Every golf tournament is pretty complicated. But I think the single-most complicated is the Formula 1 race at Circuit of the Americas [COTA] in Austin, Texas. It’s 450,000 people over that weekend, so it’s one of the biggest events on the planet every year—roughly 1,200 points of sale in concessions. It’s railcars of product. Just staffing that event is absolutely crazy.
CFE: Since these are huge outdoor events, what are some of the factors that you need to take into consideration, and how long is the planning process?
Pappas: A lot of these events happen annually, like the F1 race at COTA. So we start planning that event again pretty much the day after it happens. The number-one issue, before you even sell a hot dog or a beer, is getting good quality staff for these events. And you have to have contingency plans for weather. Like in the racing world, they may not run in the rain, so you may have to do that event the next day, and so you need to get all that staff back.
After that, it’s figuring out whatever outside vendors you’re going to bring in and coming up with a whole matrix of where you’re going to put everything. And as you get closer to the event, you start thinking about transportation around the facility, which can be huge. At a golf tournament, for instance, you can’t use any gasoline-powered equipment because you can’t make any noise. So you have to use electric golf carts. Ice is always a challenge, too. So it’s coordinating all those things.
You know, another thing that people forget about is feeding the staff. At a function where you have 1,200 points of sale, coming up with a plan to just feed your staff can be an operation in itself, because you really can’t have them leaving their locations.
CFE: What about at the point of sale—what are the challenges there?
Pappas: Luckily, at most events, you don’t deal with cash anymore. But being cashless brings its own set of challenges, because internet service can be a huge issue. So then you’re relying on cell service, and when you have several thousand people in one place, the cell towers can’t handle that. So that’s another logistical problem you need to plan for.
CFE: What events are you planning right now?
Pappas: One is our first air show, the Quad City Air Show in Davenport, Iowa. It’s about 60,000 people a day, and all the structures are temporary. So we’re designing what we call “walk-through markets,” where you walk in and you grab whatever you want, then you go pay. And we’ll probably have some self-checkout. So it will be a little bit different from regular belly-up concessions, but it’s to provide some good speed of service.
Even though the event might be eight or 10 hours, you’ve only got brief periods when you’re super-busy. Like at a race, the hour or so before the race, you’re going to get crushed. If there’s a red flag and there’s a wreck, everybody’s going to take a break from the race and get something to eat.
CFE: I would assume you need to carefully consider the type of sporting event to plan well for it.
Pappas: Yes, different sports have different ebbs and flows. Air shows are notorious for having really long lines. There was an air show that we were looking at in Miramar [California], and that event has [attendance of about] 750,000 people. So if we ever get that one, that will be our biggest event. And you may wait two hours in a line to get a bottle of water, and they don’t let you bring anything in.
We want to fix that. We want event attendees to spend a few minutes in line and have a super-quick transaction, so they can go back to the show and spend time with their family.
CFE: What are some examples of how you incorporate regional flavors into these events?
Pappas: For the air show, we’ll have all the normal high-volume concessions items—hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken tenders, French fries, soda, water, beer, popcorn, pretzels, all that kind of stuff. And then we add variety. As a great example, I want to get Iowa Chuckies there, which is a pork tenderloin sandwich that’s a local favorite. We’ll probably contract 25 to 30 local vendors that will help bring local flavor in.
CFE: What about drinks—do you put a local spin on those as well?
Pappas: We certainly do. At the Rockingham Speedway NASCAR event in April, we partnered with a third party that had Airstream campers and turned them into bars. And then we served cocktails made with spirits from a great local distillery, BHAWK, which has a fantastic story. The guy who started it with his wife [Brad and Jessica Halling] was on one of the helicopters in the Black Hawk Down incident. He’s a hero.
CFE: What are some factors you need to consider regarding sanitation and safety?
Pappas: We’re very, very serious about that. We use temperature logs and thermometers, and we abide by all the rules for cooking and holding times. Hot dogs need to be cooked at 165°F and then you can hold them for four hours. But we don’t want to hold them that long. We like to cook them and not hold them for longer than 30 minutes. That’s the goal, so they’re nice and fresh.
When you’re working out of tents and temporary structures, it does make sanitation and safety more difficult. Every location will be licensed by the local health department—usually a day or two before, once we have everything set up. Sometimes we might have outside consultants who help facilitate this. But going back to the logistical point, power, potable water and gray water are always an issue. All of these things work in unison and need to be considered when we’re planning an event.
CFE: Is catering these large sporting events something that Proof of the Pudding is looking to expand further?
Pappas: Yes. This company has been around 46 years. This is the best catering company in Atlanta and one of the best in the country. We’ve got a phenomenal reputation—especially on the premium catering side. If you go to the TPC [The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass], or some of these other golf tournaments we do, you’ll see the highest level of products at these events. Just because we’re working in a really high-end tent doesn’t mean that we diminish quality or presentation in any way. We are experts at that.
Coming out of NASCAR, my expertise is large events, so I’ve been bringing us new business in different categories. One is air shows, which we only wanted to try to do one this year. And I think it’s going to be a lot more next year. A lot of people don’t realize that air shows are the second-most-attended public events in the United States, behind Major League Baseball. These are massive events, and most are run by mom-and-pop companies. There’s never been a big company like us that takes it to another professional level. So we’re going to transform that business.
We’re also getting further into racing. We were able to get the NASCAR race at Rockingham, so now we’re at three different racetracks, which is phenomenal, and we intend to grow that.
Another area that we’re growing in is emergency services. Last year, we supported the relief efforts from Hurricane Helene in North Carolina. We served about 190,000 meals altogether. And this is something that we’re really proud of, because we were feeding the people who were digging the area out. Now we’re partners with seven organizations that do these types of large-scale emergency service feedings.
Another area we’re growing is golf, and we’ve got some announcements coming up soon about that. So it’s a very exciting time for Proof of the Pudding, and we’re ready jump right in and expand in many different directions.
For more information, visit proofpudding.com.
