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Padres sign sponsor for new group hospitality area in left field

Don Muret
The San Diego Padres have branded some retrofits at Petco Park tied to $15 million worth of upgrades in left field.

The team had signed a deal with a sponsor for the largest space, a new group hospitality area beneath the ballpark’s new video board in the upper deck, but was not revealing the sponsor’s name early last week. The area spans the width of the 124-foot-wide Daktronics screen, MLB’s third-largest video board.

Populous, the original architect for the 11-year-old ballpark, redesigned the area beneath the board as an open-air platform with high-top tables and standing room for 300 patrons. It can be split into three spaces for 100 people, Padres President Mike Dee said.

The area is part of $15 million in upgrades for Petco Park’s left field.
Photo by: COURTESY OF SAN DIEGO PADRES
To create the platform, the Padres removed the last seven rows of fixed seats in that portion of the upper deck. The team is marketing the renovated space as an affordable group buy, with tickets variably priced from $30 to $40 a person per game, Dee said.

Food and drink is a separate fee. The platform’s menu features items from The Patio Restaurant Group, a popular San Diego eatery, served in tandem with Delaware North Sportservice, Petco Park’s concessionaire.
 
The Patio, which signed a three-year deal with the Padres, is known for its fish tacos and other fresh SoCal cuisine. The design of the space, adorned with large green planters, is similar to The Patio’s layout, and the sandstone wall in front connects to the ballpark’s exterior finishes, Dee said.

Two weeks before the Padres’ April 9 regular-season home opener, the platform was sold out for half the season, he said.

Separately, the Padres reduced the height of the field wall to 5 feet in front of the Western Metal Building, the historic structure anchoring the park’s left-field corner. It’s now a premium space with 12 bar stools and six standing-room spaces, officially called the Sea Level Suite presented by American Medical Response.

Tickets start at $175 a person for those seats, which come with a snack and beverage package and wait service. The quirky, smaller redesigned space is “as close as you can be to playing left field” without stepping on the outfield grass, Dee said.

On the terrace level, next to the Western Metal Building, the Padres have transformed an indoor/outdoor lounge into the Deep Eddy Vodka Hideaway after signing a three-year deal with the Austin, Texas, distillery.

The public space held a sushi bar when the ballpark opened in 2004, but over the years, the destination “lost its way” and “became a bunch of different things” without much use, Dee said. For 2015, the sushi bar is back and outdoor bar stools provide some of the best field views, he said.

It’s the first foray into sports sponsorship for Deep Eddy, a 5-year-old brand, according to Dee. San Diego has a reputation as a craft beer hotbed, and as that trend continues, craft spirits such as Deep Eddy Vodka are catching on among younger fans, Dee said.

> STEEL WHEELS: The Rolling Stones’ 2015 Zip Code tour stop at Indianapolis Motor Speedway calls to mind the time the group played a concert at another motorsports facility, the old Altamont (Calif.) Speedway.

The infamous Altamont Free Show, held in December 1969, was captured in the film “Gimme Shelter.” It was marred by the death of a concertgoer, stabbed by a member of the Hell’s Angels, the notorious biker gang that the Stones hired to provide concert security.

More than 45 years later, the Stones’ July 4 show at the Brickyard marks the first stand-alone concert at the 240,000-seat facility. Without knowing with certainty the track’s security plans, it’s safe to say the Angels won’t be providing crowd management services.

For the Indy 500 alone, the track uses several local law enforcement agencies and subcontractors specializing in event security. Doug Boles, president of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, could not be reached for comment on the track’s plans for the show.

Don Muret can be reached at dmuret@sportsbusinessjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @breakground.

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