Sports events enter their luxury era

Beer in hand. Hot dog in the other. Plastic fold down seats in a stadium of fans and foes.

Bright lights. Kiss cams. Loud cheering and Mexican waves.

This is the typical live sport experience we all know and love.

Without fail, rain or shine, spectators turn up to watch their favourite teams play in these settings.

Until now.

The live sports experience is drastically changing to one of luxury and exclusivity.

If you can afford it, that is.

Swap the beer for champagne and the hot dog for oysters and shrimp cocktail.

Instead of bleachers, watch the game in an intimate suite, where jerseys hang on the wall and the breakfast sandwiches are available by 8am.

All you need is a lazy $17,000.

If this doesn't sound familiar to you, I'm talking about the Map & Flag Club, a luxurious hospitality venue introduced by the Augusta National Golf Club. It's the 'first and only official hospitality experience' hosted outside the gates of the Masters Golfing Tournament.

The pricey entrance fee gets you a week’s access to the club and valet parking. It also gets you 'chef-inspired' food and drink, plus a 'premium patron experience with a level of service only found at the Masters.'

The club is one of many examples of how teams, leagues and event organizers are changing sports viewership as we know it.

As pompous as it may seem, the hope is that exclusivity and luxury like this will appeal to fans with deep pockets and over-the-top spending habits. And venues hope this will lead to loyalty, and of course, huge profits.

Luxury sports experiences are popping up everywhere.

The New England Patriots ripped out seats of the Gillette Stadium to build a field-level patio and Celebration Beer Hall. The San Francisco 49ers are renovating over 100 luxury suites in their 10-year-old stadium to make them even more, well, luxury.

Barclays Center in Brooklyn is getting two new extravagant, social club settings--The Row and The Key.

Why are we seeing this trend in sports?

Because fan preferences are changing. During the pandemic, we figured out how to have high-quality home viewing experiences. So now, it takes more than a game ticket and a cold, plastic chair to fork out our money.

Don’t get me wrong, I still love a good stadium event.

But it’s weather dependent, mood dependent, and 'whether or not I can be bothered dealing with other humans that aren’t my friends' dependent.

That’s why venues are transforming to offer more social and immersive environments. It's a way to keep fans engaged while helping them justify money spent on the event.

This also taps into a key insight that younger audiences like to move around and experience different aspects of a venue, instead of being restricted to one seat the whole game.

The idea is to elevate the spectator experience, and in doing so, drive revenue through the roof.

'Sports teams are always looking for new ways to drive incremental revenue, and the prices they can charge for elevated experiences far outweigh the cost of building them,' said Todd Lindenbaum, the founder of SuiteHop, a secondary marketplace for luxury suites.

'They will pay it off in a year or two if they do it right.'

And it seems Map & Flag are doing it more than right.

'It’s everything you would expect,' said one source from under the massive oak tree adjacent to Augusta National’s first tee. 'Five-star dining, it’s really perfect.'

Despite having only debuted this April, Augusta National Chairman, Fred Ridley, confirmed they will build a 'Phase-2' of the venue.

Here's why these luxury experiences work so well:

• They’re exclusive. Premium hospitality is on the rise. So by offering unique, high-end experiences, brands can capture audiences willing to pay extra. Want to tap into this trend? Think about offering exclusive access areas, V.I.P. clubs, and all-inclusive packages that give your customers a sense of luxury.

• They create a highly engaging environment. Transforming traditional seating arrangements into dynamic social spaces helps capture a younger audience. It also encourages movement and interaction, keeping customers engaged and willing to spend.

• They offer high-end amenities. Valet parking, gourmet dining, and personalised services attract and maintain affluent customers. If your brand can provide a superior experience, you’ll likely see a quick ROI for these enhanced offerings.

Now, I don’t know about you, but I’ve never been enough of a fan to fork out $17,000. You can offer me all the oysters in the world, but if Brad Pitt isn’t personally feeding them to me, forget about it.

-Sophie, Writer