Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Charlotte Knights plan to add roughly 240 seats to BB&T BallPark

Charlotte Knights’ Chief Operating Officer Dan Rajkowski confirmed Wednesday that the team will be adding roughly 240 seats to BB&T BallPark this winter.

The Knights plan to add 150 seats to the berm in right-center field and as many as 90 seats along the first row of the Home Run Porch on the second level down the right-field line.

“There were a couple of areas of the ballpark that we wanted to look a bit more finished,” Rajkowski said, noting that there has also been some landscaping done along the batter’s eye in centerfield.

“In some ways it looked like we’d just moved in last season – and we had,” Rajkowski continued. “We’re looking to address that this winter.”

After factoring in the displaced standing-room areas, the Knights expect a net gain of nearly 130 fans per sold-out game, boosting the ballpark’s capacity to 10,640 (with 8,740 permanent seats and the rest filled by standing room) in 2015.

Tickets for the new seats are expected to cost $14 each (if purchased in advance, $16 the day of a game) and pay for their installation by the end of 2015.

After the Knights led minor-league baseball in attendance last season (687,715 fans over 71 home dates), the need to add more seats became apparent to Rajkowski. He said that the team rarely failed to sell out their 8,500 permanent seats last season.

Upkeep of the berm in right-centerfield was also a concern. The berm will no longer exist come April 3, when the Knights host parent club the Chicago White Sox in the first baseball game to be played at BB&T in 2015.

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2014/12/17/5391344/charlotte-knights-to-add-240-seats.html#.VJIdWDjF-5I#storylink=cpy