Stadium Central

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal indicates that teams are having a difficult time selling all the luxury suites in stadiums and arenas because of their high cost, changing tax laws, and their lack of novelty. A number of arenas and stadiums are actually ripping out luxury suites to create a club section where fans sit in conventional seats but have access to amenities that are typical of luxury suites. The Seattle Mariners and Chicago White Sox are among the teams to move in this direction. Other options that are being pursued by teams are luxury lounges that are tucked within a stadium that are available to customers whose seats are closer to the action in the general seating bowl. Driving these changes are the fact that luxury suites can cost several hundred thousand dollars to lease per season, and companies are starting to question their effectiveness in wooing clients. Additionally, recent tax laws are creating the possibility that executives who use the suites may have to pay taxes on those benefits. The novelty has also worn off, so clients are not as impressed when getting the chance to sit in luxury suites because of the prevalence of them throughout the country. While there will likely be a place for luxury suites, these profit centers that have justified construction of new stadiums across the country may no longer be seen as the best options for customers seeking a high-class trip to an event.