Venue Detail
Houston Astros
RSV Pro Facilities Report
March, 2015
Houston Astros
PO Box 288 Houston, TX 77002 Phone: 713-259-8000 Fax: 713-259-8025 URL: www.astros.com Owner: Jim Crane League: Major League Baseball, American League, Western
Venue
Minute Maid Park, 501 Crawford, Houston, TX 77002 Owner: Harris County-Houston Sports Authority Managed by: Team Built: 2000 Capacity: 42,000 Permanent concession stands: 35 Concessionaire: Aramark Suite caterer: Aramark Soft drink: Coca Cola Beer: Multiple
Naming rights
Sold to: Coca Cola/Minute Maid Price: $100,000,000 Term: 28 years Expires: 2030
Ticket prices
Season tickets range from $830 to $5,478 Single tickets range from $5.00 to $160.00
Attendance
2012 average attendance: 19,848 2013 average attendance: 20,393 2014 average attendance: 21,628
Suites
Quantity: 62 Term: 3 to 7 years Price: $95,000 to $175,000 Seats: 10 to 20
Club seats
Quantity: 5,000 Term: 3 to 7 years Price: $2,988 to $33,200 Includes: In-seat wait service.
Financing
Construction of the Astro's ballpark came in nearly $2 million under budget. The cost of $248.2 million was under the $250 million proposed to voters in 1996.
The venue is being funded by revenue bonds being repaid from the $4.6 million the team pays each year in rent plus money generated from a hotel-motel tax, car rental tax and stadium user fees.
The Astros also pay $2.5 million a year into a maintenance fund and will pay $18.9 million of the $32 million in upgrades added to the original design. Among those items are a sports art gallery, $13 million in concession area improvements and two restaurants.
Seat licenses
Charter seat license sales are on a 30-year term at prices ranging from $2,000 to $20,000. Most of the seats sold with licenses were in rows two to six and those sold for a one time payment of $5,000. The team limited the number of PSLs sold to 2,300. Diamond Club seats are $20,000 while Dugout Seats are $10,000 along the front row. The remaining Dugout Seats are $5,000. On the club level, seats are $3,000 and $2,000.
Fans who wished to pay the full license amount in one lump sum before Oct. 31, 1998, paid prices ranging from $1,850 to $18,500. Other payments were spread over 15 months.
The Astros, like many other Major League Baseball teams, got a new home in 2000. The $250 million Enron Field opened with all suites leased and fans ready to fill the new ballpark. By 2002, it was ready for a new name.
The Astros sold naming rights to Minute Maid in a 28-year deal. The price was not disclosed, but sources told the Houston Chronicle it was $170 million. The venue was renamed Minute Maid Park.
The team moved to break the deal with Enron in 2002 when the company experienced financial problems. Minute Maid is owned by Coca-Cola, but is headquartered in Houston. Another juice company, Tropicana, has its name on the Tampa Bay Rays venue. Tropicana is owned by PepsiCo. Coca-Cola will retain pouring rights at the ballpark as part of the deal. It's the first time a Coca-Cola Co. brand has been used on a sports facility. Pepsi has its product name on five North American facilities.
For the 2003 season, the team added a new restaurant called Larry's Big Bamboo. The bar is named for Larry Dierker's favorite watering hole near the Astros' spring training base in Kissimmee, Fla. The Astros also converted the center-field restaurant once occupied by Ruggles Grill into a Mexican-themed restaurant.
Under the team's lease, the team gets all revenues generated by the ballpark. The Authority will subsidize the building with $9.5 million a year. The lease requires that the team play all home games at the ballpark.
The lease gives the team naming, advertising, telecommunication and broadcast rights; another clause in the lease requires the team to pay between $75 million and $250 million to the Authority if it wants to move before 2032. The amount depends upon how much of the lease remains. The last two incentives are designed to make it too expensive for the team to file bankruptcy as a way of leaving the city.
In addition to the annual payments, the team must pay $2.5 million into a capital improvements fund; it must build concession facilities comparable to other ballparks and give the Authority the right to use the name Ballpark at Union Station plus any new name the team chooses.
The venue has a roof deck for groups that costs $2,500 for 75 fans. (Baseball, Facilities, MLB, Professional Sports, Venue)