The White Sox officially announced plans Thursday for a new premium seating and dining area behind home plate and a left-field youth baseball field at U.S. Cellular Field, both to be completed in time for next season.
To create the exclusive 314-seat premium section — with seats that will cost up to $200 per game and feature access to a separate restaurant — the White Sox will eliminate some of the existing seats as well as the tunnel that leads from the bowels of the park onto the field.
Current season ticket-holders, who will have first choice for the seats, have been contacted about whether they would be interested and have been given a Nov. 12 deadline. Many of them will have to be moved, because the new area eliminates 391 existing seats.
“We will relocate [present ticket-holders] to another area, hopefully to their liking,” Sox marketing director Brooks Boyer said. “These are our best customers. We will do everything in our power to keep them happy.”
But not all of them are pleased about being displaced.
“We have people who have sat there for some time and it’s natural [they would be unhappy],” Boyer said. “We have communicated with them–to the point of almost over-communicating–that our main objective is to keep them happy.”
Season tickets for seats in that area now cost $29 to $33, depending on the day of the week and excluding the Cubs series.
Many of the newer ballparks (U.S. Cellular Field was completed in 1991 as Comiskey Park) were constructed with premium seats behind home plate. While critics charge that ownership is catering to rich customers, most of the existing areas pay for themselves.
The one created by the White Sox, including access to a 5,000 square foot private restaurant and lounge inside the ballpark, and the kids’ area will be built from income obtained by the sale of naming rights last year.
“These will literally be the best seats in the house,” Boyer said. “We are offering fans a unique ballpark experience that will come as close as possible to actually being a member of the team.”
Tickets in the front row will sell for $200. The others cost $170 and include meal service, catering during the game and parking just outside the restaurant.
Boyer said he thinks the new seating is “a very well-priced option when compared against other professional sports facilities in Chicago and across the country.”
U.S. Cellular Field already contains a glass-enclosed right-field restaurant that will not be affected.
The Cubs added about 200 premium seats for individual games behind home plate this year with prices of up to $250 per game. They were sold out before the season began.
U.S. Cellular Field’s new multi-level kids area will become an extension of the left-field upper deck and concourse, although no seats are expected to be lost. It will house a baseball and softball skills section and replace the youth batting/speed pitch areas behind first base.
The entire undertaking — called FUNdamentals — will cover 15,000 square feet and feature a youth-sized baseball diamond, and batting and pitching cages. Instructors will be on hand for clinics.
“What FUNdamentals does for us is give our ballpark a unique signature,” Boyer said. “No one in baseball has anything like this. We can even hold corporate Wiffle ball tournaments before the gates open.”
This latest project is known as Phase V of the remodeling of Comiskey/U.S. Cellular Field. Other projects have included a right-field bar and, most recently, a canopy roof covering portions of the upper deck that adds a feeling of Old Comiskey.
The restaurant and kids’ areas will conclude the most ambitious of the remodeling. Future plans are expected to include changing the color of the seats from blue to green.
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The new best seats in the house
The White Sox’s plan for a new premium seating and dining area behind home plate will replace 391 existing seats, forcing those ticket-holders to relocate. Here are the details of the plan:
Total new seats: 314.
Ticket prices: $200 for front row; $170 for remaining rows.
What comes with the ticket: The seat, access to a private 5,000-square-foot restaurant and lounge, a personal wait staff, behind-the-scenes views of the ballpark’s inner workings and parking just outside the restaurant.
Previous pricing: For season ticket-holders, $29-$33, depending on day of the week and not including Cubs series. Parking and meal not included; $10 more for other patrons.
Who has a chance at these seats?: Current season ticket-holders have first choice with a Nov. 12 deadline.
Source: Chicago White Sox
