Corrugated Drink Carrier
A drink carrier is a mechanical problem before it is a packaging one.
View tray & get pricing →Catering Trays
Stadium Carrier Trays
- Cups plus food
- One-handed carry
- Large print panel
A stadium carrier has to be usable by somebody walking up concrete steps in a crowd, holding a phone, wearing a coat, in the dark. That is a much harder brief than it sounds, and it is why the format is so specific: cup holes deep enough that drinks cannot tip, a food bay in the middle, a handle that takes the whole load, and a footprint narrow enough to pass between seated people.
Get it right and it increases average transaction value, because a customer who can carry four drinks and two portions of food buys four drinks and two portions of food.
- Cup holes cut to your actual cups, at the right point on the taper
- Central food bay sized to your concession portions
- Reinforced handle rated for the full loaded weight
- Side panels are a large, high-visibility branding surface
Pricing starts from $0.30 per tray
The unit price depends on the size, board, printing, finishing, quantity and delivery country, so every quote is worked out for your specification rather than taken from a list.
Get pricing for stadium carrier trays
Send the size and the run length. We reply with pricing, material options and a production date — usually within one working day.
01 — Specification
Specification at a glance
Every element below is set when we quote. Nothing here is a fixed catalogue entry — if a line does not match what you need, say so and we will change it.
- Capacity
- Typically 2 or 4 drinks plus 1–2 food portions
- Cup holes
- Cut to your cup diameter at the gripping point
- Handle
- Reinforced die-cut handle across the centre
- Board
- B-flute standard; heavier for four large drinks
- 1–4 colours across both long panels and the handle
- Supplied
- Flat-packed, folds up by hand
02 — Build the spec
Design this tray in five steps
The same five questions we would ask on a phone call, with the stadium carrier tray already selected. You get a properly detailed brief at the end, which is what makes a first quote accurate rather than approximate.
Prefer the full builder with a live sketch? Open the tray designer.
03 — In detail
The load is heavier than anyone estimates
Four large soft drinks with ice is close to three kilos before you add food. That entire weight hangs from a single handle cut into the middle of a folded board carrier, and it is carried up steps by somebody who is not paying attention.
This is the one format where we will push back on a specification that looks too light. If the numbers do not work, we will say so rather than make it and let it fail in a concourse. Tell us the largest cup you serve and how many, and we will specify the board and the handle reinforcement against that rather than against an average.
Configurations that work
| Configuration | Suits | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 2 cups + 1 food bay | Cinema, small concourse kiosks | Compact, easy to carry through seating |
| 4 cups + centre food bay | Stadium and arena concessions | The standard format; needs a strong handle |
| 4 cups + 2 shallow bays | Festival and event bars | Separates snacks from condiments |
| 2 cups + deep food bay | Street food and market pitches | More food volume, fewer drinks |
Details that decide whether it works in practice
- Hole diameter measured at the point on the cup taper where it should sit, not at the rim.
- Enough gap between cups that fingers fit in to lift one out without knocking the others.
- Handle height that clears the top of the tallest cup, so it can be gripped when fully loaded.
- A base wide enough that the loaded carrier does not tip when set down on an uneven surface.
- A narrow overall width, so a customer can pass along a row of seats without lifting it overhead.
A moving billboard in a full stadium
A carrier tray is held at chest height and walked through a crowd of tens of thousands of people, several times per event. In terms of impressions per dollar it is one of the most efficient printed surfaces a concession operator can buy — and unlike static signage, it moves through the areas where people are queuing.
That argues for bold, simple artwork over detail. A name and a colour block that reads across a concourse will do more than a carefully detailed design that nobody can see from more than three feet away.
04 — Nearby
Trays that work alongside this one
Chosen because operators who buy the stadium carrier tray usually need one of these in the same order, not because they happen to sit in the same category.
Popcorn Scoop Tray
Popcorn is sold by volume and eaten by the handful, which makes the pack unusually important: the customer’s sense of value comes almost entirely…
View tray & get pricing →
Custom Printed Hot Dog Tray
A hot dog tray is a small piece of packaging with an unusually large branding opportunity.
View tray & get pricing →05 — Questions
Stadium Carrier Tray questions
Will the carrier fit my cups?
Only if we cut it to them. Send one of each size you serve. Hole diameter is set at the point on the taper where the cup should rest, not at the rim, and hot and cold cups taper differently.
How much weight will the handle take?
That is a specification, and we set it against the worst case rather than the average. Four large iced drinks plus food is close to three and a half kilos. Tell us your largest cup and we will build the handle and the board for that.
Can it hold food and drinks together?
That is the whole point of the format. The food bay sits between or beside the cup holes. Tell us what goes in the food bay — a hot dog tray, a popcorn box, loose nachos — and we will size it to fit.
Do carriers ship flat?
Yes, and they must — an assembled carrier is almost entirely air. They fold up by hand in a few seconds, which is important at concession pace.
How fast can staff assemble them?
A few seconds each with practice. For very high volume, assemble a batch during a quiet period rather than one at a time at the till. If your peaks are extreme, ask about part-glued formats.
Will it fit through a row of seats?
If we keep the overall width down. Tell us the seat pitch at your venue and we will design within it — this is one of the specifications most often forgotten until customers complain.
Can I print an event-specific design?
Yes. The cutting die is shared across designs, so an event or season-specific print only carries plate cost. Many venues run a standard carrier plus one or two event editions per year.
Is it strong enough if it gets wet?
Spilled drinks and rain are real conditions at an outdoor venue. Ask for a moisture-resistant board — untreated fluted board loses strength quickly when wet, and that failure happens with a full load in someone’s hand.
Do you supply these outside the United States?
Yes — stadium and arena concessions in the UK, Canada and Australia use the same format. Cup sizes differ by market, so send the cups you actually use in that country rather than assuming a US equivalent.
Before you order, read
- Food Tray Printing Guide — Colours, costs, substrates and proofs — what buyers need to know.
- How to Measure a Food Tray — The measurements to send a supplier, and how to take them correctly.
Who buys this tray
Ready to price the stadium carrier tray?
Send the dimensions, the quantity and the country you want it delivered to. We come back with a full quote — material, print, finishing, freight and a production date.