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Baseball's Best Skyboxes Suites
Alexander Zaitchik March 6, 2008
How to take yourself out to the ball game—in style
It’s appropriate that the modern skybox traces its origins to the Houston Astro Dome. Like the Dome’s other controversial innovation—AstroTurf—the growth of premium seating remains a subject of endless debate among fans. For some baseball purists, luxury suites detract from the number of quality seats available in a ballpark. They’re nothing less than an affront to the very idea of baseball as America’s quintessentially democratic game.
But as even the most fervently anti-skybox curmudgeon must admit, damned if they aren’t a pleasant way to watch nine innings. Privately catered and climate controlled, luxury suites combine the comforts of a good hotel and the immediacy of being at the ballpark, including the chance of a foul ball crashing onto your private terrace.
See our slideshow of Baseball's Best Skyboxes.
“Luxury suites are particularly desirable because of their unique ability to deliver a memorable sporting experience in a private, exclusive atmosphere that is conducive to building relationships with customers, employees, or family,” says John Arledge, CEO of Owner’s Pass, a skybox ticketing agency in Los Altos, Calif.
The price range for seasonal leases is as wide as that of MLB payrolls. Smaller market stadiums like Tampa Bay's Tropicana Field offer season-long skybox leases for as little as $50,000. Eighty-one games in a Fenway skybox, meanwhile, will cost you upwards of $300,000. (And you’ll have to sign onto the waiting list.)
In recent years, the skybox market has undergone a sea change. It wasn’t long ago that luxury suites were available only on a seasonal basis, and thus mainly of interest to (and within price range of) corporations seeking to woo and entertain clients. But corruption scandals and recent changes in tax law have caused many firms to let their skybox contracts lapse. Lobbyist Jack Abramoff’s former suite at Baltimore’s Camden Yards, where he entertained members of Congress with illicit casino money, is one such vacancy created in recent years.
To keep those skyboxes occupied, teams are now actively courting groups of friends and families with 10-, five- and, increasingly, individual-game packages. Availability is up; prices, in many cases, have come down. The average suite today rents for around $4,000 per game.
“There is a trend toward individuals renting rather than long-term corporate leasing,” says John Arledge of Owner's Pass. “Just as it has for corporate jets and vacation homes, there is a fractional-ownership market developing made up of high net-worth individuals who want to make the most of their entertainment budgets and only buy the events they will actually use.”
To win over new, non-corporate customers, many stadiums are offering perks and special deals. Turner Field, home of the Atlanta Braves, offers interior decoration to suit individual tastes. The Mets offer free personalized birthday messages on the scoreboard at Shea between innings.
Among the most in-demand skyboxes in the league today are the newly renovated suites at Fenway and the skyboxes under construction at the new Yankee Stadium. Marking a first in the history of baseball premium seating, the Yankees last year opened a showroom in Rockefeller Plaza displaying models of the 57 skyboxes that will debut in the new stadium on Opening Day, 2009.
But not all teams are building up their luxury skyboxes. Many teams are scaling back their luxury suites in the face of declining corporate interest and replacing them with other forms of premium seating, such as private lounges, bars and party spaces.
See our slideshow of Baseball's Best Skyboxes.
The Seattle Mariners knocked down eight suites to create the “All-Star Club,” a lounge where food, drinks and other amenities are included in the price of a ticket. These premium-seats aren’t as intimate as private suites—they have a capacity of 140 people—but at $125 per game versus $17,000 for a 10-game suite package, they have wider appeal and generate similar revenue for the team.
The Milwaukee Brewers tore down five suites to build a lower-priced, 9,000-square-foot luxury party area. The Chicago White Sox has followed suit with a new premium-seating’ area which can accommodate more people seeking a more comfortable experience without shelling out thousands of dollars per game.
The Los Angeles Dodgers, meanwhile, are replacing some of their suites with VIP rooms and shared lounges with full bar below the stadium. These subterranean clubs come with field-level box seats, allowing them to move back between the grass and the lounge.
The new Yankee Stadium is also getting in on the multi-tiered premium seating game. Along with the 57 skyboxes, the stadium design features several thousand seats that offer more comfort and better view of the game.
The economics of the game being what they are, these seats may be more necessary than their critics would like to admit. As a Red Sox executive told the Boston Globe after that team’s decision to add luxury suites at Fenway Park, ‘‘If there’s a market for high-end premium seating and accommodating it allows you to keep the $12 seats, you do that.’’
See our slideshow of Baseball's Best Skyboxes.
