Jerry Jacobs Jr. was a few hours into a typical CEO day. His schedule included a couple of check-ins with his leadership team and a pair of meetings on new business development and 2025 financial planning. Standard C-suite stuff.
A few minutes before 10 a.m., he broke away from the office agenda, took the elevator to the ground floor of Delaware North’s downtown headquarters, and stepped into a waiting SUV.
“It’s funny,” he said. “Go around our offices, and you’ll find everybody seems really energized about working for the company because it (involves) fun places.”
That’s not surprising to hear, given that those “fun places” include a Major League Baseball park, the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex and a Formula 1 race, clients serviced by Delaware North, a $4.3 billion company that runs food service, gaming, hotel and venue operations.
“You work crazy hours, but you’re at a World Series, or at a launch,” Jacobs said as his driver left behind Delaware North’s shiny glass building and wound eastward through neighborhood streets. “It’s always something interesting.”
Today’s fun was more down-to-earth than those other things. Jacobs was heading to a baseball game at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Buffalo – a game his philanthropic choices made possible.
From funds to fun
Fun is a high-dollar business.
Delaware North is one of a handful of Buffalo companies whose work is in places where other people play. There’s also New Era Cap, the fashion brand that partners with every major sports league, and Rich Products, the frozen-food company that has an entertainment group with interests ranging from Broadway to minor-league baseball, including ownership of the Buffalo Bisons. Then of course there’s Terry and Kim Pegula’s upstate sports empire, which includes the Buffalo Bills, Sabres and lacrosse’s Bandits.
Best as we can tell from the outside, since each of these companies is private,…
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