Milwaukee’s World Series run at American Family Field did more than create a stage for baseball. It also turned into a major food-and-beverage event, with fans buying more than 300,000 items across the first two games and more than 30,000 Racing Sausages.
That total, from Games 1 and 2 of the Fall Classic, underlines just how much postseason demand can swell when a global event lands in a ballpark built around local identity. It also shows why Delaware North says the preparation begins about three months out.
Kevin Jezewski, the general manager for Delaware North Sportservice at Am Fam Field, said the scale of the operation is hard to miss.
“It takes a Delaware North army,” he said.
The numbers are striking. Fans bought nearly four items per person, with sales including 11,000 brats, 10,000 hot dogs, more than 7,000 orders of peanuts, 3,500 pretzels, 3,000 cheese curds and approximately 3,000 specialty items.
Why the World Series creates such a demand
Jezewski said the postseason is not treated like an ordinary home date. It is a worldwide event, and the ballpark’s food program has to reflect that.
“It’s not just a local event. It’s a worldwide event,” he said. “We have people coming from all over the world to try our food, and for us it’s important that Milwaukee’s food scene is shown well throughout this ballpark.”
That is the key point in this story. The World Series is not only about the baseball on the field. It also becomes a showcase for the entire ballpark experience, from classic stadium staples to the Racing Sausages that have become part of Milwaukee’s identity.
The scale of the staffing operation matches the scale of the demand. Delaware North begins planning recipe development, staffing and scheduling about three months before the postseason. A few days before the games, a few hundred staffers begin prep work, and the operation eventually requires 800 to 1,000 staffers at full scale.
The wider Delaware North picture
The company’s postseason experience runs deep, too. Its MLB client list stretches back decades, with the Tigers in 1930, the Reds in 1939, the White Sox in 1940, the Cardinals in 1953, the Brewers in 1970, the Guardians and Rangers in 1994, the Padres in 2004, the Twins in 2010 and the Braves in 2016.
Tom Barney, another Delaware North figure quoted in the reporting, made clear that the company is not looking too far ahead while the championship is still being decided.
“That’s for tomorrow,” he said. “We can only jump the hurdles in order.”
For now, the focus remains on what has already happened in Milwaukee: a huge appetite for food, a booming demand for Racing Sausages, and a World Series crowd that treated American Family Field like a must-visit destination. As Barney put it, the priority is simple. “Today, we’re celebrating with the Brewers and the Rays,” he said, adding that after a championship is crowned, the next order of business can wait.
But the first two games already told their own story. More than 300,000 food and beverage items, more than 30,000 Racing Sausages and a packed ballpark atmosphere made clear that the World Series in Milwaukee was about far more than the box score.
