I have a friend who’s FIL has a business suite available to him at OPACY (Baltimore). Gone to see a few games with them over the years. The game itself tends to become kind of secondary to just hanging out.
I was curious, so I just went to stub hub to see what Diamond Club tickets for next week Mariner games might cost. We’re in a playoff run, so I’m sure they’re above face value. For next Friday’s game they have four tickets available. Two at $900 each, and two at $1,300 each. The Thursday night game is a little less. So, way more per ticket then a suite. I’ll check next year for a more normal game and see what it looks like. $900 per seat is more than I’m comfortable paying for a regular season game.
I’ve never been in a luxury suite but my sister was. She was a senior at the University of Kansas School of Pharmacy, and the graduating class was invited to the box of Ewing Kaufman. He OWNED the Royals so this was ultra fancy. Kaufman made his pile in pharmanceuticals and this invite was of course out of the goodness of his heart. Well, young pharmacists grow up to be folks who have control over ordering and hopefully they’d remember the treat fondly.
A month ago, I was fortunate to see a game at Petco Park from the Owner’s Suite, which was quite the step up from the corporate suites I’ve visited. They set us up with sushi, brats, steak and eggs, shrimp tacos, pizza, hot dogs, and a massive dessert selection. Seats were right behind home plate and air conditioned. There was also a full bar.
Oh, if I could only afford to see every ballgame that way. For me, however, it was a once in a lifetime experience.
Not a baseball game at a baseball stadium but a Paul McCartney concert. While waiting to cross the street to enter the stadium, a guy from a radio station asked if we were going to see McCartney. I answered yes. He said if I could answer a trivia question, he would upgrade our seats. I got the answer right (Ringo Starr’s real last name, Starkey). I was hoping for some field level up front. Ended up in an owner’s suite we shared with 6 others. We were a bit farther from the stage than our original seats. The suite had leather recliners inside and very comfortable leather seats outside. The suite had 4 huge TV’s that showed all the videos from the big screens around the stage and the music piped in. Free food and discounted adult beverages. The big plus for me was the private restroom, I hate the piss troughs in the public restrooms. The only thing we also received and did not use was priority parking in the parking garage. Took over an hour to get out of the garage, priority parking had no waiting.
My brother was dating a somewhat crazy but very wealthy woman. She won a silent auction and got a suite at Target field over the 4th of July. He invited all his siblings and nieces/nephews. Pretty much what everyone else described - decent ballpark food, beer (maybe wine?). Seats outside the suite if you wanted to have more of ballpark experience, otherwise a couple screens to watch it on while eating/socializing. It was fun, don’t know that I’d pay for it myself.