A Royal Flush’s Super Bowl Win

Super Bowl XLVII will be held February 2, 2014 at MetLife Stadium by the New York/New Jersey host committee. A great deal of work goes on behind the scenes to host an event of that scale. Event planners have to prepare for a crowd that size, security, road closures, parades, tons of special side events, environmental initiatives, catering and more. They also have to plan for the crowd’s needs during tailgates in the parking lot and the game.

That is where A Royal Flush comes in. With offices in Connecticut, New York and Philadelphia, the company was in scoring position to take on such a huge job. The bidding process started last summer and was finally awarded in November. “We were just so excited,” says Russo. “This is our first Super Bowl and is a source of pride for our employees. We will provide lots of trailers and about 400 portables as well as an attendant to keep them clean and to help the crowds move along. We are also providing sinks for the catering companies. Since our business is primarily a summer business, getting such a big event in January and February is huge.”

“We will also provide toilets for the Super Bowl Broadway in New York City. They will shut down 10 blocks on Broadway for the four-day event. They have quite a T-shirt collection from all of our special events. ”

“For such a large job, you need your typical insurance like worker’s compensation and liability, but we also had to have environmental insurance,” says Debbie Russo who is one of five partners at A Royal Flush. “We met with them a lot this summer. Because so many events are on the Hudson, they are concerned with pollution control. It’s the cost of doing large events with large customers. The Port Authority and others require the extra credentials and it gives us a competitive edge. I think a small company would have a hard time bidding on these projects because of the costs, but once you have them, you have to get out there and bid.

“We’ve done a lot of things to make sure our company is environmentally conscious. We are in the process of switching our fleet to natural gas trucks. The toilets are 35-40 percent recycled consumer plastic and we use recycled toilet paper. We also use wash water in our toilets instead of potable water in Conn. For our offices, we have solar panels to help offset our electric usage and costs, and special devices to control the lights in the offices. It’s great because what is good for the environment, is also good for our bottom line.

A Royal Flush is also a minority company, which was a requirement for the Super Bowl bids. “Our Philadelphia company is a different partnership with minority certificates in place,” says Russo. “It is also licensed to operate in New York and New Jersey, which worked out great for us when we went to bid the project.”

A Royal Flush has been the provider at MetLife Stadium providing facilities for various events including New York Jets and New York Giants games as well as Philadelphia Eagles games at Lincoln Financial Field. “Our success at each of these venues helps to build our reputation,” says Russo. “I’m sure that MetLife gave us a good reference, but I don’t think it in itself helped us win. We have a good reputation for being self-sufficient. Because this is the last thing an event planner wants to have to deal with. I know I’m not their favorite subject so I do everything I can to make their jobs easier. They want to order the facilities, but they don’t want to have to manage it. Our customers want us to be well-priced and they like that we already know the sites. With the Super Bowl, we already know the MetLife people.”

The company buys their trailers through a variety of manufacturers including Black Tie, Ameri-Can, ACSI and JAG. “We love the Presidential line through Black Tie,” says Russo. “They are very nice and have held up very well. We have approximately 30 trailers in all.”

With such a high stakes event, A Royal Flush is preparing for their own Super Bowl victory.

Story by Jennifer Taylor

RESOURCES
For More Information, visit:
■ A Royal Flush, www.aroyalflush.com
■ ACSI, www.acsi-us.com
■ Ameri-Can, www.ameri-can.com
■ Black Tie Products, www.restroomtrailersonline.com
■ JAG, www.jagmobilesolutions.com

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