The Wild are investing about $1M "to build loge boxes at Xcel Energy Center, the arena's first major structural upgrade" since it opened in '00, according to Don Muret in next week's SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL. The team is replacing the three middle sections in the end where the Wild shoot twice "with 24 four-person loge boxes tied to a Scandanavian theme." The boxes, which will replace 100 current seats, are an "all-inclusive package" priced at $48,000-53,000 annually. The cost includes game tickets and "most other events, plus a buffet meal, soft drinks, and beer and wine served in a lounge behind the seats." Wild VP/Corporate Sponsorships & Retail Management Carin Anderson said that Bud Light "has naming rights to the revamped space as part of a three-year renewal" with the club. Anderson said, "We have not kept up with the trends of premium-seat options. The loge concept is different than anything else now that you can buy, and we felt this market doesn't have much of it." She added that the Wild have "just started marketing the loge boxes and had already sold five units to existing season-ticket holders" (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 7/23 issue). In St. Paul, Charley Walters notes the renovation "will cause season-ticket holders in that club-level section to relocate" (ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS, 7/20).
