Oct. 20 (Bloomberg) -- The New York Yankees and Dallas Cowboys, two of the strongest brands in sports, have joined Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and CIC Partners to form a food and retail company.

Legends Hospitality Management LLC will operate catering, concessions, merchandising and other management services at the new Yankees and Cowboys stadiums that open next year. The Yankees are finishing a $1.3 billion ballpark, while the Cowboys are building a $1.1 billion stadium in Arlington, Texas.

``I know firsthand that when the Yankees put their name on something, they feel just like the Dallas Cowboys do,'' Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said at a news conference in New York. ``There is no swinging and striking out here. It's got to work, and consequently you are going to put every ounce of every resource you can into making it very, very successful.''

The Yankees and Cowboys, already the most valuable franchises in professional baseball and football, are looking to expand their businesses by using Legends to provide ``high- quality'' concessions for their fans and those of other professional and college sports teams.

Both are selling millions of dollars worth of luxury suites and club seats for their stadiums, which include more retail and concession space. The Cowboys are charging as much as $150,000 for seat licenses, a one-time fee for the right to buy season tickets. The Yankees are asking as much as $2,500 for a front- row seat behind home plate and up to $850,000 for a luxury suite.

Luxury Level

The Yankees in April told Centerplate Inc., the club's concession company for the past 40 years, that it wouldn't have a role at the new stadium. Centerplate generated about $70 million in revenue each year from its contract with the team, the Stamford, Connecticut-based company said in a May conference call.

The Cowboys have operated concessions at Texas Stadium for the past 20 years.

Legends will pay the Yankees and Cowboys a rights fee to operate at the facilities, and that money will be subject to revenue-sharing in both leagues, Jones and Yankees President Randy Levine said. Money generated from contracts with other teams would not be shared.

The teams' new stadiums, and their increased ticket prices, require a level of luxury that ``doesn't presently exist in the industry'' said Robert Boland, who teaches sports management at New York University's Preston Robert Tisch Center.

``Every seat in these new stadiums has a luxury-level price tag and must provide luxury-level amenities,'' he said.

YES Network

Goldman Sachs, the largest independent Wall Street firm, already has a partnership with the baseball team in the Yankees Entertainment & Sports Network, a television network valued at more than $2 billion that broadcasts Yankees games and other professional and college sports teams.

Goldman Sachs executives also acted as middlemen after contract talks between Alex Rodriguez and the team broke down last year. Rodriguez asked Gerry Cardinale and John Mallory to tell the Yankees he wanted to restart talks without his agent, and a month later the three-time Most Valuable Player signed a record $275 million deal.

Cardinale came up with the idea of the new venture about a year ago, beginning months of talks, said Levine. Each team owns 34 percent of Legends, while Goldman Sachs and Dallas-based CIC will own the rest.

Most Successful

The Yankees are the most successful franchise in Major League Baseball history, having won a record 26 World Series titles. The franchise also spends the most money on players, with a $209 million opening-day payroll this season, its 10th straight year leading the league. The Yankees did not make the playoffs this year. Forbes magazine values the Yankees at $1.3 billion, the most of baseball's 30 teams.

The club was the most-popular U.S. sports franchise with fans outside its home market in a study by the marketing company Turnkey Sports & Entertainment. The Cowboys ranked second.

Dallas earned the name ``America's Team'' while winning five Super Bowl championships with Hall of Fame players such as Troy Aikman, Roger Staubach and Tony Dorsett. Forbes magazine valued the team at a league-best $1.6 billion in 2008.

Legends will be based in Newark, New Jersey. Chairman Mike Rawlings, former managing partner at CIC, said Legends has identified 12 professional sports stadiums with food service contracts that expire in 2009. Jones said he has already spoken to three National Football League owners who would be interested in working with the company.

Fresher Food

Legends will improve stadium dining by serving fresher food, faster, with celebrity chefs and locally themed menus, Rawlings said.

``We're going to have the best margaritas when you go to the Cowboys game,'' Rawlings said. ``At Yankees Stadium, it's going to be a street fair of food.''

The Yankees have previously partnered with teams in other sports to build their brand. In February 1999, the Yankees merged business operations with the National Basketball Association's New Jersey Nets, creating the closely-held YankeeNets LLC.

The company in 2001 signed a marketing partnership with Manchester United Plc, the world's richest soccer club, and the YES Network began showing taped Manchester United games in 2003.

To contact the reporters on this story: Aaron Kuriloff in New York at akuriloff@bloomberg.net; Danielle Sessa in New York at dsessa@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: October 20, 2008 14:35 EDT