Flying First Class at Memorial Stadium

Ever since I heard that UC Berkeley was going to finance stadium renovations entirely with private money, partly by selling luxury seats, I've wondered what buyers would get for the money and how MUCH money.  And also what the hell is inside that huge new structure perched on the western rim of the stadium:



On Sunday afternoon, I got a chance to check it out at a stadium open house.  Jerry and I hiked up the hill and wandered around that massive structure, which turns out to be full of lounges and seating and bars for people who buy premium seats through the Endowment Seating Program.

Field Level Club seat

Which is not cheap.  The lowest level of the program is the Field Level Club.  For a $40,000-$60,000  one-time upfront fee, or $2,700-$4,100 annually for 30 years,  you get an uncushioned seat close to the field, between the 30-yard lines.  This includes the cost of a season ticket each year, plus parking and a guarantee that the seat will be yours for 40-50 years.

If you buy a Field Level Club seat, you get to buy food drinks at Field Club restaurant  on that level:



Owners of Field Level Club seats use this restaurant.  TV screens everywhere.

If you want to sit on a padded seat,  you can opt for the Stadium Club,  also located between the 30-yard lines but higher in the stadium.  These seats cost from $75,000-$125,000 upfront, or $5,100-$8,500 annually for 30 years.  The seats look just like the Field Level Club seats, with the addition of 3-4 inches of padding on the seat.   Among free perks:  free food and drinks at the Stadium Club restaurant/bar, as well as parking and a guaranteed seat for decades.

Bar in the Stadium Club



Looking west from the  Stadium Club

 

 

 

Stadium Club, with steps to the mezzanine

 

 

And for higher-rollers, there's the University Club a few floors above Stadium and Field levels  (in between  are broadcast and press levels that weren't open for inspection).   For these you pay $175,000-$225,000 in a one-time fee, or $11,900-$15,400 annually for 30 years. The seats and backs are lushly padded and have cup holders. You're sitting at the very top of that new structure, looking way down at the field.  

 

 

View from University Club seats

 

 

 

The University Club has a deck with spectacular views across San Francisco Bay to the Golden Gate.  And inside are lounges and bars, where the food and alcohol are complimentary.  The general public can rent the facilities on a non-game day for $9,750.

 

 

View looking west from the terrace of the University Club

 

 

A wall of windows in the University Club

 

 

 University Club lounge looking toward the football field

 

 

A bar in the University Club

 

 

 

Access to the Stadium and University club seats and restaurants/lounges appears to be strictly controlled:

 

 

University and Stadium Club seat-holders are issued ID bands



 

Yikes.  Are people actually paying this kind of money to go to a football game? I wondered.  I came home and read up.

 

People are buying these seats, but not as many as expected. The launch of Endowment Seating Program coincided with the recession. As of June 30, 2012, only 65% of the Endowment Seating was sold.  Not surprisingly, more Field Level Club seats had been sold (72%) than Stadium Club (60%) and University Club (25%).  And 82% of the buyers elected to  make payments rather than pony up the entire fee. Only $40 million had been paid on pledges of $140 million, and buyers can back out at any time.

 

If the program fails to reach the goal of $270 million from seat sales, there's speculation, per the Wall Street Journal in April, that funds might have to come from the campus to cover the bond payments.  This at a time when state funding has be drastically cut and tuition raised annually. 

 

I left feeling mildly depressed. I love UC Berkeley, and I loved being a student there, but I think fellow alums of my era will probably agree that so much showy money, such stratification of privilege, doesn't seem like the Berkeley we knew. Are we out of step? Or were the Intercollegiate Athletics powers-that-be who thought this up? The stadium needed work to be earthquake-safe, many of its facilities needed updating, and building an endowment to support intercolleagiate athletics is a nice idea. But this?

"Grandiose," is how Jerry describes it. You have to wonder if the lavish restaurants and lounges were necessary to sell the expensive seats.   Who knows.

After viewing all the fancy amenities, it was comforting to see a few of the old bleacher seats refinished and used to panel the Hall of Fame Room near the Field Level Club:

A plank from an old bleacher, refinished and incorporated into a paneled wall in the Hall of Fame

 

On another note: I was curious about the grove of native oak trees that was removed to make way for the Simpson Student-Athlete High Performance Center.  The oaks have been replaced by 134 new trees, according to a hand-out we got at the stadium.  That area has a winding path and has been newly designed and landscaped:

 

Where oaks once stood: newly landscaped path near the Student-Athlete High Performance Center (low building)

And if anyone's tempted:

Awaiting a buyer