A temporary fix.
Major League Baseball’s Toronto Blue Jays ownership has decided there will be a temporary fix to its perceived problem of its stadium being outdated. Blue Jays ownership is investing about $300 million Canadian to improve the fan experience, whatever that means, by doing some cosmetic fix ups at the park that opened in 1989. But these renovations are just designed to last for about a decade and then there will be a decision. Doing a real ballpark renovation or go after a new ballyard. Blue Jays ownership said it wants to transform the present structure from a stadium into a ballpark. The planned renovations will include a tweaked outfield wall, raised bullpens, new social spaces, and fresh seating in parts of the stadium. Tier One customers will be served. The people with disposable income who buy premium seating. The stadium’s 100 level which surrounds the infield will get upgraded seating at field level. The plan also includes renovations to the clubhouses and player facilities. But the facelift will not include changes to the exterior of the building, the turf field playing surface, or the roof.
What Blue Jays management is doing is getting rid of the nickel and dime fans and hoping to replace them with customers who may or may not be interested in the game itself. The business is getting rid of the so-called nose-bleed seats replacing it with an open area for people to hang out or go to a bar. Blue Jays CEO and president Mark Shapiro said Level 500 is the least popular place to watch a game and will be gone adding this year’s off-season renovations will see those seats removed entirely and replaced with non-ticketed spaces, split between a family-friendly side and the bar-focused side with a rooftop patio. It’s not about watching a game anymore, it’s about an expensive ballpark experience.
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