The hotel group is pairing free Rita’s Italian ices with selected match-day activations, linking seasonal refreshment to travel, fandom and local engagement.
Sonesta International Hotels Corporation (Sonesta) is partnering with Rita’s Italian Ice & Frozen Custard on a series of summer activations for soccer fans, with Rita’s Treat Trucks scheduled at selected Sonesta properties in Philadelphia, Miami and Jersey City. Each event is scheduled to give away 200 free Italian ices to hotel guests and local residents during specified match times. The arrangement places a simple food giveaway inside the hotel group’s broader effort to create match-day experiences for travelling supporters and nearby communities.
The partnership is built around the practical challenge of watching football during the summer heat. According to the release, fans travelling from across the United States and overseas to support their teams will be able to encounter the trucks at hotels in key host cities. Rita’s and Sonesta have also created a custom menu whose flavours correspond to the colours of the competing nations’ official team kits, making the frozen treats part of the match-day setting rather than a standalone concession.
The first listed activation is scheduled for June 22, 2026, at Sonesta Philadelphia Rittenhouse Square, at 1800 Market Street, from 4pm to 7pm, during France versus Iraq. Blue Raspberry and Green Apple are the featured flavours. On June 24, 2026, Signature Inn by Sonesta Miami is scheduled to host the truck from 5pm to 8pm for Scotland versus Brazil, with Blue Raspberry and Lemon. Sonesta Simply Suites Jersey City is scheduled to host the final listed event on June 25, 2026, from 3pm to 6pm, during Ecuador versus Germany, offering Lemon and Wild Black Cherry.
For Sonesta, the announcement shows how hotel properties can serve as event-adjacent gathering points without relying solely on room stays or traditional amenities. The release connects the activations with local communities as well as hotel guests, while the menu gives the collaboration a visible national-team theme. That combination makes the programme both a hospitality touchpoint and a small-scale branded food experience, with the locations and operating hours defining its limited, place-specific scope.
The arrangement also gives Rita’s a presence in three urban markets through a hospitality partner, while Sonesta gains a seasonal activation tied to a widely followed sporting occasion. The release describes Rita’s as the world’s largest Italian Ice concept, with more than 600 shops, and says the company first opened in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, in 1984. With the events reported as scheduled for June 22, June 24 and June 25, 2026, the partnership remains a focused summer promotion built around refreshment, team colours and the social rhythm of match days.
