'It was just a mess': OU football concession stands work through staffing shortages on game days

Three bottles of water.

That’s what Derek Cox needed as halftime neared Saturday at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. The sun was beating down, and the temperature was heating up after the 11 a.m. kickoff.

About three minutes before halftime of Oklahoma’s game against Nebraska, he headed for the concession stand, leaving his group of three at Section 108 and beginning a routine he’d done countless times since becoming a season ticket holder in 2000.

But this time was different.

Cox immediately noticed a few concession stands down the long hall underneath his section weren’t open, and the one he usually went to had multiple lines that curved all the way down the ramps.

Cox had never seen this before, but the overheated OU fan still took his place in line. 

“This the worst and only time I can remember it being like this,” Cox said. “And it wasn’t just that. It seemed like every single customer that they helped took at least five minutes per person.”

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Almost an hour passed before Cox gave up and returned to his seat to watch the third quarter, which had already started. His wife then embarked on a quest for some water, and nearly another hour passed without any sign of her return. 

Cox went down to the concession stand and found his wife, who was close to the register, but that’s when an employee delivered some news to the crowd that made everyone’s heart drop.

They were out of bottled water.

“It was just a little disappointing because I thought that maybe (OU) would be better than that,” Cox said. “Or maybe they’d warn the fans ahead of time and let us know that that could have been a problem… It was just a mess.”

Cox’s story is one of many from Saturday’s contest, as numerous fans reported unusually long lines at the stadium’s concession stands and a shortage of bottled water. 

The overwhelming complaints caught the attention of OU athletic director Joe Castiglione, who posted a statement Sunday on Twitter.

“Candidly, it was not up to the standards we set for fan experience,” Castiglione wrote of the concessions operations. “We apologize to our fans for falling short of your expectations.”

Castiglione continued to explain the reason for the understaffing and shortage of inventory.

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“Unfortunately, the staff shortages affecting so many businesses and stadiums around the country have had a profound impact on our operations as well,” Castiglione continued. “We are unable to open all our stands and several that are open are short-staffed. These shortages also inhibit our ability to restock our inventory during the game.

“We are working diligently with our partners to return to normal operations as soon as possible. Our vendors continue to make every effort to attract and hire a full workforce.”

That's easier said than done, though.

According to OU executive associate athletics director Kenny Mossman, the university works with partners such as Levy Restaurants and other restaurant partners on game day. Each one of these partners is responsible for developing their respective staff.

One place used to fill these staffs is school systems with groups willing to work in a stand as a fundraiser. However, as school protocols related to COVID-19 continue to change, there are instances where groups that have already signed up to work a game day are unable to fulfill their responsibility.

"Often you don't learn (about cancelations) until, in some cases, the day of the game," Mossman said. "In most cases, we're staffed at 100 percent prior to a gameday. But then on Saturday, that number can drop sometimes well below that figure just because of people who have notified us that they can't come or people that just don't show up at the stadium on the day of the game."

This dilemma hasn't reached Stillwater, however.

Despite only being about an hour and a half up I-35, Oklahoma State senior associate athletic director Kevin Klintworth says every concession stand at Boone Pickens Stadium has been open and operational through the Cowboys' first two home games.

"We've been OK the first two games, knock on wood," Klintworth said. "We haven't had anything particularly unusual the first two home games... We did not have any kind of increase in trouble spots."

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When it comes to beverages, Mossman believes there will be an improvement in inventory when OU hosts West Virginia on Saturday.

"I think as it relates to beverages, that Levy is hopeful of rolling out more beverages for Saturday's game," Mossman said. "That, of course, is dependent on staffing as well. But I think they have some confidence that they can increase the number of beverage stands, and I think that will alleviate some of that problem. That's certainly our hope."

OU has a policy that allows fans to bring their own clear, plastic water bottle less than 17 ounces into the stadium and fill them up at designated stations.

Some fans believe this isn't enough, though.

Several people responded to Castiglione's statement on Twitter by asking for a temporary policy change that would allow fans to bring closed bottles into the stadium until OU's concessions operations dilemma is resolved.

But a policy change like this isn't the first option for OU, according to Mossman.

"Our attempt right now is going to be to provide better infrastructure and service with the things that we do offer before we make any changes beyond that," Mossman said. "It's a very complicated issue, and we're working very hard to stop it. We're trying to work with our partners as well as we can to get back to normal occupancy of our stands as soon as we can."

While there's certainly frustration within OU's fan base about the situation, people such as Cox still have confidence that the problem will be resolved and are appreciative of the transparency by Castiglione and Mossman.

"I think (Castiglione's) response at least gives us hope that they'll figure it out," Cox said. "I mean come on, this is OU... It was just a mess last Saturday, but I've got faith that they'll get it right."

Justin Martinez can be reached at jmartinez@oklahoman.com or @JTheSportsDude on Twitter. Make sure to subscribe to The Oklahoman to stay up to date with all local sports.

OU vs. West Virginia

KICKOFF: 6:30 p.m. Saturday at Owen Field in Norman (ABC)