The fans will be a little closer to the action after the Texas Rangers add two rows of premium club seats to the mix.
The Texas Rangers are addiing 88 new premium club seats to the mix at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington for the 2009 season, giving those fans an even more intimate view of the action.
The 88 seats will sit in front of the existing first row, between the dugout photo wells and Tom Hicks’ private box. They’ll go for $175 per game, and for that the ticketholders will receive a pregame buffet in The Diamond Club, cushioned seats, complimentary water and waiter/waitress service, and more legroom.
The current front-row ticketholders will be offered first crack at the new seats, but judging by Jim Reeves’ column, they’re not too pleased with a huge hike in ticket prices — they’re paying $45 per game for the front row now. If they keep their third-row seats, they’ll receive a refund on personal-seat licenses.
The larger issue is why the Rangers built the seats. Adding big-bucks premium seats is something every team is doing, and there’s no reason the Rangers need to miss out on the move. But, according to Rangers President Nolan Ryan, the move was made not to add more revenue, but to meet the requirements from the commissioner’s office about postseason seat availability.
Huh?
"The purpose of adding the seats is that we’re not in compliance with MLB on commissioner’s seats," Ryan said. "We felt like it made more sense to build these seats and be in compliance with MLB for postseason play, and we feel that in the very near future we’ll be having the opportunity to host the commissioner for that."
OK. Glad he cleared that up.
BALLPARK VISIT: Rangers Ballpark in Arlington