If you attend sporting events with any regularity, you’ve probably caught yourself gazing longingly at the luxury suites a time or two.
They’re climate controlled (important on a scorching hot day or during a soaking rainstorm), stocked with food and filled only with people you invited — at least in your daydreams. Many are tricked out with cushioned seats and even leather couches that offer much more comfort than you’ll find in the bleachers or grandstands. There might even be a refrigerator to keep your favorite beverages ice-cold.
You probably won’t find a more hassle-free sports entertainment experience outside your own home.
That’s about as much as the average sports fan tends to know, though. Unless you’ve got a connection or two, you’ve probably not spent a whole lot of time inside one — let alone researched things like price and availability.
If you’re curious how the other half lives, though, here are the things you need to know.
Availability
Believe it or not, the limited number of luxury suites probably is your big barrier to entry. The price tags are hefty, sure, but suites have to be vacant for any amount of money to matter. And most aren’t.
Pitt basketball, for example, typically leaves only one of the 16 luxury suites at Petersen Events Center available on a game-to-game basis. The others are filled on full-season agreements, usually with corporate partners.
It’s a similar story with the Penguins and their 66 suites at PPG Paints Arena. Spokesman Tom McMillan said the “vast majority” of standard suites with capacities of 16 people are sold on a long-term basis, most in multi-year agreements with corporate partners. A limited number of those, plus larger party suites that hold up to 40 people, are marketed to the public.
The Pirates and Steelers did not provide availability numbers to the Post-Gazette, but Bill Dorsey, chairman and founder of the Association of Luxury Suite Directors based in Cincinnati, said industry average occupancy rates are above 80% in MLB and above 90% in the NFL. And, again, corporate buyers have most of the inventory — which adds up to more than 50 suites at PNC Park and more than 100 at Heinz Field — locked up in multi-year agreements.
That’s a long way of saying that you probably shouldn’t hesitate if you’d like to lock your own spot down. If you end up out of luck buying or renting directly from teams, though, there is a third-party market emerging.
Suite Experience Group is among sites that function as, more or less, a StubHub for suites. The sites work with suite holders interested in unloading a few games of their allotment.
It is a bit of a double-edged sword — prices can fluctuate based on demand. But if you know where to look, that can work in your favor.
SEG president Scott Spencer said there are often deals to be found on weekends because corporate clients tend to prefer using suites to entertain during the week. Lower-profile opponents for the home team can also lead to bargains. So keep an eye out when the Cleveland Browns come to town.
And if you’re open to watching the indignity of preseason football, you can find real bargains.
“You get the exact same suite experience at a fraction of the price,” Mr. Spencer said.
Price
Don’t get the wrong idea. A suite is still going to set you and your buddies back a considerable number of bones.
Premium seating revenue — which includes club seat sales — has an outsized impact on teams’ overall game day take. Mr. Dorsey said in new stadiums, such seats account for roughly 20% of the capacity but as much 40% of ticket sales.
It’s consistent revenue, too. Because so much of it is tied up in long-term deals, teams can count on it regardless of fluctuations in overall attendance. This gives them little incentive to lower rates to sell leftover inventory.
Mr. Dorsey pointed to that phenomenon as one of the biggest reasons that teams have pushed for new stadiums with bigger capacity for suites and club seating since the 1990s, when about 3% of inventory was considered premium.
The result is truly premium prices pretty much across the board.
At Pitt, the average going rate across Petersen Events Center’s three different tiers of luxury suites for men’s basketball games is about $2,500 to $3,000 per game.
The Penguins offer different tiers of suites that fluctuate in price-based factors like the date and quality of opponents. Standard “executive” suites have room for 16 guests and cost $6,000 for lower-tier games and $7,750 for upper-tier games. Party suites are larger, holding up to 40 guests, but the prices are steeper, too — $11,700 for lower-tier games and $14,200 for upper tier games.
The Pirates and the Steelers, who also handle sales for Pitt football games, did not provide pricing information to the Post-Gazette, though some suites are available on SEG. Panthers prices are around $3,000 while Steelers prices range from $16,000 to almost $23,000. No PNC Park suites are explicitly listed for sale, but SEG’s website says prices generally run from $3,000 to $5,000 per game.
Teams will tell you there’s not a lot of wiggle room in those prices. You should take that with a grain of salt.
“If you’re really clever, wait until the game gets very, very close and the team doesn’t want to have un-utilized inventory,” Mr. Dorsey said. “You might be able to get a price. It is negotiable. They might not say it is, but it is negotiable. Everything’s negotiable when it comes to tickets.”
Amenities
So what does all of that money buy you? Typically quite a bit.
Most teams provide some level of food and drink service. The Pirates, for example, will bring chef-made fare directly to your suite. They also typically include some parking passes, though you might have to carpool to get everyone into the lots for free.
Clients with year-long or multi-year leases get even more perks. Leased suite holders at Heinz Field can get access to their rooms whenever they want for meetings and non-game day events. They also receive discounts on team merchandise.
The added benefits will likely only compound in the years to come, too.
“This concept of ownership is shifting toward a concept of, ‘Oh, I want access,’” Mr. Spencer said.
“The cache of signing a long-term suite lease is maybe not what it once was ... So teams have had to adapt a bit in terms of what that value proposition of what they offer to these lease holders is.”
The single-game buyer won’t see most of those added benefits, but they’re probably worth asking about if you’re in the market.
Adam Bitter: abittner@post-gazette.com and Twitter @fugimaster24.
Correction, posted June 4, 2019: The number of luxury suites at the Petersen Events Center has been corrected.
First Published: June 3, 2019, 10:30 a.m.
Updated: June 4, 2019, 1:15 p.m.
