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Club Seats


Jimmy Leeds

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I'm not happy about it, but I understand. They valued the amount of food on the tickets as $40 per ticket per game. So they gave the option at the end of last season for this year:

 

1) Pay the same amount and get $40/ticket, loaded on your ticket, that can be used for anything in the arena (any food anywhere or merchandise).

2) Take $40/ticket off the price of your ticket.

 

I took option 2.

 

Now here's a bit of the rub. They did NOT say they would be changing the food in the ice lounge, and jacking prices up to go with it. I assumed that it was going to be the same burger, hotdog, chicken fingers/fries and pizza, along with sushi and maybe some other "special". That's what it was during the pre-season. Average food product was $7.00 or so. Instead, they eliminated all of that (so really - no kid friendly food in the ice lounge) and replaced it with a more gourmet selection where the average food item is $14.00.

 

The motivation for the team was two fold.

 

1) They needed to make the lounge seats less expensive face value tickets. In years past, they had all you can eat food caked in and needed to charge $240/ticket. You just will not get that for Ottawa in the middle of January on a Wednesday night. That's why, short of the corporate (or wealthy) season ticket holders, you saw the lounge seats about 1/2 full. So by removing the food option from the face, they can now sell at $160 face ticket for a weak game and that's a bit more palatable.

 

2) They had so much waste with the food in the lounge that they were giving away money. By improving the food (it's better but lets not go crazy - it's not Dinosaur BBQ, let alone BLT Prime), they were able to charge significantly more and bring in extra revenue.

 

We have very savvy businessmen as owners of this team now - they improved a 7 year old arena with millions of dollars of investment. There are certainly kinks they have to work out. Lines got long all over and the concessions weren't quite ready. But they'll get there. The food in the arena has already gotten very good reviews. The game experience is better with the 3D intro and around the building.

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I'm not happy about it, but I understand. They valued the amount of food on the tickets as $40 per ticket per game. So they gave the option at the end of last season for this year:

 

1) Pay the same amount and get $40/ticket, loaded on your ticket, that can be used for anything in the arena (any food anywhere or merchandise).

2) Take $40/ticket off the price of your ticket.

 

I took option 2.

 

Now here's a bit of the rub. They did NOT say they would be changing the food in the ice lounge, and jacking prices up to go with it. I assumed that it was going to be the same burger, hotdog, chicken fingers/fries and pizza, along with sushi and maybe some other "special". That's what it was during the pre-season. Average food product was $7.00 or so. Instead, they eliminated all of that (so really - no kid friendly food in the ice lounge) and replaced it with a more gourmet selection where the average food item is $14.00.

 

The motivation for the team was two fold.

 

1) They needed to make the lounge seats less expensive face value tickets. In years past, they had all you can eat food caked in and needed to charge $240/ticket. You just will not get that for Ottawa in the middle of January on a Wednesday night. That's why, short of the corporate (or wealthy) season ticket holders, you saw the lounge seats about 1/2 full. So by removing the food option from the face, they can now sell at $160 face ticket for a weak game and that's a bit more palatable.

 

2) They had so much waste with the food in the lounge that they were giving away money. By improving the food (it's better but lets not go crazy - it's not Dinosaur BBQ, let alone BLT Prime), they were able to charge significantly more and bring in extra revenue.

 

We have very savvy businessmen as owners of this team now - they improved a 7 year old arena with millions of dollars of investment. There are certainly kinks they have to work out. Lines got long all over and the concessions weren't quite ready. But they'll get there. The food in the arena has already gotten very good reviews. The game experience is better with the 3D intro and around the building.

 

So if I go on Ticketmaster and buy club seats, those tickets will not include the $40 of food credit, right?

But if I go on Stubhub and buy club seats, there's a chance that the tickets will include the credit and a chance that they won't, depending on where the tickets originated? 

 

In seasons past, club seats would plummet to as low as $100 or even $75 a ticket on Stubhub for certain less-desirable games (weeknights, bad opponents). If they got that low back in the days of all-you-can-eat food, I'd imagine there might be points this season where prices fall even lower for some games. 

 

Personally, I'm bummed about the change. I loved the all-you-can-eat aspect, and I used to upgrade myself to club seats at least one or two times a year. I guess the only good thing about it is that now the best seats in the stadium will be slightly more affordable, but even so, I'd rather pay a bit more for the luxury of never-ending food. 

 

Also...what's the deal with the super secret Platinum Lounge now? Does that still include food?

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since were talking about food here, i got food last night from the Bayonne diner thing upstairs while i honestly thought their menu could have been a bit better or longer with some more options than what they had i got a burger which had bacon on it and cole slaw i believe and i was actually quite impressed it was MUCH better quality than what one couldve really expected from the arena.. the gf got tenders and fries and i can say right off the bat everything about them was much better..the chicken was much better quality from the meat to the breading and the french fries were not some sh!t nathans fries they were more along the lines of fresh cut french fries..

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Yes, someone who has knowledge of the Platinum lounge please fill us in, 

I have had a change to buy a ticket that had access to that lounge but didnt bite as it was pricey. 

I heard that if you are on the lounge side with the penalty boxes and sit in the first 3 or 4 rows then you had access.....true?

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since were talking about food here, i got food last night from the Bayonne diner thing upstairs while i honestly thought their menu could have been a bit better or longer with some more options than what they had i got a burger which had bacon on it and cole slaw i believe and i was actually quite impressed it was MUCH better quality than what one couldve really expected from the arena.. the gf got tenders and fries and i can say right off the bat everything about them was much better..the chicken was much better quality from the meat to the breading and the french fries were not some sh!t nathans fries they were more along the lines of fresh cut french fries..

That's because you bought it from the Bayonne diner :thumbsup: (i'm from bayonne)

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So if I go on Ticketmaster and buy club seats, those tickets will not include the $40 of food credit, right?

But if I go on Stubhub and buy club seats, there's a chance that the tickets will include the credit and a chance that they won't, depending on where the tickets originated? 

 

In seasons past, club seats would plummet to as low as $100 or even $75 a ticket on Stubhub for certain less-desirable games (weeknights, bad opponents). If they got that low back in the days of all-you-can-eat food, I'd imagine there might be points this season where prices fall even lower for some games. 

 

Personally, I'm bummed about the change. I loved the all-you-can-eat aspect, and I used to upgrade myself to club seats at least one or two times a year. I guess the only good thing about it is that now the best seats in the stadium will be slightly more affordable, but even so, I'd rather pay a bit more for the luxury of never-ending food. 

 

Also...what's the deal with the super secret Platinum Lounge now? Does that still include food?

 

 

AMEN!  The Club Seat Buffett experience was always a fun one

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Yes, someone who has knowledge of the Platinum lounge please fill us in, 

I have had a change to buy a ticket that had access to that lounge but didnt bite as it was pricey. 

I heard that if you are on the lounge side with the penalty boxes and sit in the first 3 or 4 rows then you had access.....true?

 

 

I always thought it was rows 10-13.

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  • 3 months later...

Question about club seats.  I bid and won club seats in a charity auction.  They said food and drinks were included with the tickets.  How does that work this year?  Are the tickets themselves the food vouchers?  Thanks in advance.

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From what I have heard from club STH who getting their renewal notices now, they are bringing back the all you can eat food to the clubs next season.

this is accurate.

they are also making the club more exclusive by removing the upper 1/2 seats on the outside sections.

essentially the club seats will be the entire middle section, the lower half of both outside sections (essentially forming a 'T'.

The goal bar changing as well. 

They are removing most seats and creating 'lodge boxes'

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this is accurate.

they are also making the club more exclusive by removing the upper 1/2 seats on the outside sections.

essentially the club seats will be the entire middle section, the lower half of both outside sections (essentially forming a 'T'.

The goal bar changing as well.

They are removing most seats and creating 'lodge boxes'

The problem with half sections is that the ushers now have to be more militant on keeping the club ticket holders separate from the non club ticket holders. Might as well just make the clubs the 3 sections on the fire lounge side and make the ice lounge available to everyone and not make them clubs.

Also that sucks about the goal bar seats. I think it's a nice, more affordable way of getting nicer seats without paying a lot for the clubs. Shame.

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