There Goes the Suite Life

By Perry Bacon Jr. Sunday, Oct. 20, 2002
    • Is no corporate perk sacred? In the struggling economy, sports teams are being blitzed by bean counters taking aim at luxury boxes and club seats. These premium-priced perches are a standard feature in every new stadium and cash machines for teams — they don't have to share the revenues with the rest of the league.

    In boom times, corporations gobbled up suites, which go for as much as $400,000 a season. "You could take orders for suites on napkins at a cocktail reception," says Bill Dorsey, executive director of the Association of Luxury Suite Directors, based in Cincinnati, Ohio. "Now you have to show value."

    Some companies are getting permission from arenas to sublease their suites. Stadiums are also permitting joint ownership. At one of the newest, Miller Park in Milwaukee, Wis., 75% of the suites are co-owned, some by as many as four firms.

    The real problem has been selling club seats, those special sections that have roomier chairs, waiter service and personal video screens. The NFL's New England Patriots have a posh new stadium, but $3,750 club seats are still available. Boston's FleetCenter, where the NBA's Celtics and the NHL's Bruins play, is converting about 600 of its 2,400 club seats to regular ones because they aren't selling. Given that club seats are priced at about $11,000 each, that's a huge loss.

    To keep high-price spectators happy, the FleetCenter is offering such special benefits as help in obtaining tee times at golf clubs and theater tickets for popular shows. Miami's Pro Player Stadium has created a section of club seats where companies can have business meetings before a game. "There's extra hospitality, but there's got to be more in these economic times," says Jim Delaney, director of marketing and public relations for the FleetCenter. "Now in business entertainment you have to overdeliver."