Where To Sit At Guaranteed Rate Field

Guaranteed Rate Field, home of the Chicago White Sox, is a baseball stadium that doesn’t get much press. In fact, it has changed names several times since opening in the early 1990s which has only confused and annoyed baseball fans. Guaranteed Rate Field is also no where near as historic as the old Comiskey Park which sat on the same property. It’s common knowledge that Guaranteed Rate Field isn’t even the best Major League ballpark in the city of Chicago. Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs, is one of the most beloved stadiums in Major League Baseball history.

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The Washington Capitals won their inaugural Stanley Cup Championship last week after defeating the Vegas Golden Knights in 5 games. That wasn’t the only “first” that took place that night. As the Washington Capitals players were skating a victory lap around the ice at T-Mobile Arena, the players were flashed by an attractive young female in a white dress.

Where To Sit At Great American Ballpark

Great American Ball Park (GABP) is one of the most underrated ballparks in Major League Baseball and is home to the league’s very first professional baseball team. Since 2003, the Cincinnati Reds have spent millions of dollars gradually updating the ballpark with the latest fan amenities to effectively compete with other Major League Baseball stadiums. Great American Ball Park took the national stage when it hosted the 2015 Major League Baseball All-Star Game and offered one of the most exciting Home Run Derbys in MLB history. 

Earlier this week, the Cleveland Indians asked the Cuyahoga County Council for $8M in taxpayer revenue to help pay for renovations to Progressive Field’s ticket booth, administrative offices and club seating area. Gateway Development Corp. serves as the middleman between the Cleveland Indians and Cuyahoga County when it comes to each party’s lease obligations.

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Safeco Field will have a new name in 2019, however, the Seattle Mariners have signed a new 25-year lease extension that will keep them in SODO through the 2043 MLB season. Afterward, two three-year lease extensions will also be on the table which would extend through the 2049 MLB season. Safeco Field is owned and operated by the Washington State Major League Baseball Stadium Public Facilities District. The inaugural lease and naming rights agreement for Safeco Field were signed back in the late 90s when the stadium first opened.

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Last month, outfielder Mac Williamson of the San Francisco Giants tripped over a bullpen mound at AT&T Park and was diagnosed with a concussion. The Giants’ front office immediately tried to fight off the flood of requests to move the ballpark’s bullpens to the outfield. However, the team doesn’t have the space to accommodate a relocation of their two bullpens. The site AT&T Park is located on is only 12 ½ acres so the ball club is hard pressed for room as it is.

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The Scottrade Center, home of the NHL’s St. Louis Blues, is once again changing it’s name and will be known as the Enterprise Center effective July 1, 2018. Scottrade, a discount brokerage firm, was acquired by TD Ameritrade in 2016 and will not be renewing the naming rights for the hockey arena. As a result, car rental giant Enterprise Holdings swooped in and purchased the naming rights for the next 15 years although the financial terms of the deal were not disclosed to the public.

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Former Tampa Bay Rays catcher and designated hitter John Jaso is barely recognizable these days. The retired MLB player was hounded by an usher at Tropicana Field on Thursday night when he tried to get close enough to converse with his former teammates in their dugout. The Tampa Bay Rays were hosting the Boston Red Sox. After multiple attempts, Jaso was eventually able to catch the attention Rays third base coach Matt Quatraro from the stands.

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Baltimore Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti has announced that the organization will be lowering the prices of select food items at M&T Bank Stadium. The move comes after the Atlanta Falcons lowered their concession prices by 50% last season after debuting at the brand new Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The change resulted in Atlanta Falcons fans spending 16% more on food items than the year before. In order to do so, the Baltimore Ravens must amend their contract with Aramark, the food and beverage provider for M&T Bank Stadium.

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The Carolina Panthers announced earlier this week that Appaloosa Management founder and hedge fund billionaire David Tepper has purchased the team at cost of $2.27B. The transaction surpasses billionaire Terry Pegula’s $1.4B acquisition of the Buffalo Bills in 2014. At the time, Pegula's purchase of the Buffalo Bills was a record sale price for the National Football League. Strangely, Sherman Financial founder and South Carolina native Ben Navarro's $2.6B bid for the Carolina Panthers was rejected. Perhaps because of David Tepper’s experience as a minority owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers since 2009?

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The Arizona Coyotes will officially launch their “weekender ticket plan” next weekend during the club’s open house and skating party for fans. The event will take place from 1 to 4 PM on Saturday May 19^th at Gila River Arena. Fans will be able to mingle with the team’s cheer squad, meet Arizona Coyotes analyst and former player Paul Bissonnette, skate on the ice and tour the locker rooms of both teams. Like the paint the ice event several weeks ago, the skating party is an effort to help the Coyotes organization increase their season ticket base.

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The Arizona Diamondbacks and their home stadium, Chase Field (owned by Maricopa County), rarely dominate the headlines of professional sports. However, the relationship between the two is in the national spotlight following a lawsuit over much needed repairs for Chase Field. The dispute began last season when Chase Field began having issues with flooding and it’s air conditioning system. The Arizona Diamondbacks suggest Maricopa County is responsible for repairs to Chase Field. Maricopa County says the opposite. Earlier this week, the Maricopa County Stadium District Board of Directors voted in favor of a memorandum that would allow the Arizona Diamondbacks to pursue a new stadium in the Phoenix area.

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The construction costs for Paul Brown Stadium, home of the Cincinnati Bengals, has been a thorn in the side of Hamilton County taxpayers for nearly two decades now. Under the current lease agreement which was signed back in 1997, Hamilton County taxpayers will begin contributing nearly $3M annually to the Cincinnati Bengals to pay for operational costs on game days. Hamilton County has requested to delay 2018’s payment until 2019 because it is currently facing a budget deficit of more than $28M. Go figure.

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The Buffalo Sabres have become one of the most under-performing teams in the National Hockey League over the last few seasons. So bad that the Buffalo Sabres organization are introducing an exchange program that will allow season ticket holders to return their season tickets in exchange for points. These points can be redeemed at one of the Sabres’ merchandise stores at the KeyBank Center. However, owner Terry Pegular announced that despite the team’s poor performance, ticket prices would remain the same for the upcoming 2018-2019 NHL season. 

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Former Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chad Johnson was no stranger to eccentric actions both on and off the field. Whether it was changing his name to Chad Ocho Cinco, growing a blonde mohawk, creating quirky touchdown dances or asking to become the team’s kicker, Chad Johnson was 100% authentic. Earlier this week on Twitter, Chad admitted that he lived at Paul Brown Stadium during his rookie and second seasons in the National Football League. The reason? Because he was too cheap to buy his own home.

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The old Tiger Stadium site in Detroit’s Corktown neighborhood has sat vacant for nearly two decades now. A local group has spent time preserving the original field, however, the large lot is expensive real estate and it was only a matter of time before it was redeveloped. Earlier this week, Larson Realty Group broke ground on a $30M mixed-use development that will be known as “The Corner”. The nickname “The Corner” references Michigan and Turnbull Avenues which is where the historic stadium was originally located.

For the first time in franchise history, the Buffalo Bills have sold more than 50K season tickets for four straight seasons. The milestone surpasses the season ticket numbers of the early 1990’s when the Buffalo Bills appeared in numerous Super Bowls. This news also comes after the Buffalo Bills raised their season ticket prices for 2018 by an average of 3%. Payment plans for season tickets, however, are still free of interest for fans.

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For a few years now, there have been whispers that Amazon will be making the jump into the ticketing and events industry to challenge Ticketmaster. They’ve technically already tested the waters but have since taken a few steps back. It looks as if Ticketmaster could have yet another challenger except this time, from a familiar face. Entrepreneur Nathan C. Hubbard once served as Ticketmaster’s CEO and recently left Twitter as head of it’s commerce initiative. He has now secured more than $30 million from various investors to launch ‘Rival’, a ticketing company that will aim to manage tickets sales and customer relationships in a more efficient manner.

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FirstEnergy Stadium has been home to the Cleveland Browns since 1999. The team’s lease with the stadium will expire in 2028 and by that time, it will be one of the oldest stadiums in the National Football League. Earlier this week, Cleveland Browns owner Dee Haslam went on record to say that the organization is looking at either renovating FirstEnergy Stadium or building another stadium in downtown Cleveland. The organization is studying both options and are hoping to incorporate the stadium into some type of development that would help revitalize downtown Cleveland, Ohio.

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Shad Khan, owner of the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars, has put down a $1.2B bid to purchase London’s Wembley Stadium, home of the Premier League’s Tottenham Hotspur F.C. The news sent shockwaves around North Florida and caused Jacksonville Jaguar fans to speculate that Khan will eventually move the team to London, England. Hey! Roger Goodell and the National Football League have went on record to say that they would like to see the NFL establish a presence in London. However, Khan insists that he wants redevelop Wembley Stadium into one of the premier stadiums in the world in order to host major events like the Super Bowl and World Cup Final.