Suite shop opens for BOK Center
By BRIAN BARBER World Staff Writer
9/3/2006
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The swanky seating for the downtown arena goes up for sale Tuesday.
Suite deals for Tulsa's downtown arena will be available beginning Tuesday at a cost of up to $50,000 per year.
The BOK Center Marketing Office at 206 S. Cheyenne Ave. will open for prospective buyers and the curious to tour a life-size model of an executive suite featuring caramel-colored leather seats, granite countertops with a wet bar, beechwood cabinetry and a high-definition TV.
Twenty-two of the 37-suite inventory are for sale. All of the money raised will go toward the arena's operating costs -- potentially amounting to nearly $1 million in annual payments.
"There's a lot of interest out there about the suites, but we haven't been able to start selling them until now," said Hamp Howell, whose Cleveland, Ohio-based Sports Facilities Marketing Group heads up the sales and marketing effort.
The marketing team also will be busy selling sponsorships in more than 20 categories for the arena's "official" beer, wine and spirits, soft drinks, telecommunications, airline, restaurants, grocery, home improvements and others.
It was important to first lock in the founding sponsors -- some of which were announced last week, while several
others are in the contract and negotiating stages, Howell said.
Five of the sponsorships that were revealed include founders suites. Also, Bank of Oklahoma, which purchased the naming rights for the arena, has a double-size founders suite.
The founders suites, 11 in all, are sold out, because deals are in the works for the rest of them.
The founders have contributed additional money to the arena project in addition to paying a premium price for their suites.
Their suites cost $60,000 per year with a 3 percent annual bump beginning in the sixth year. The minimum agreement is for 10 years.
"These are considered the best in the house because they are closest to center court, center ice and the 50-yard line," said Ben Wrigley, SFMG vice president of business operations.
The executive-level suites that are going on sale are positioned on either side of the blocks of founders suites, with some extending to the curves of the seating bowl. They each have 12 to 15 seats, but the pricing depends on their positioning.
Those closest to the founders suites are $50,000 per year, while the ones farther away are $40,000. They all carry the same 3 percent annual bump beginning in the sixth year.
The 22 executive suites are being marketed for five-, seven- or 10-year commitments. There are also four suites that will be leased on an event-by-event basis.
"I think the suite prices are fair," Howell said. "Having been in this business long enough, we know how far to push it."
A lot of research went into the pricing, he said. Dozens of interviews were conducted with local companies about how much they would be willing to pay and what they wanted to get for their money.
"You really start with a zero balance," Howell said. "You have to consider what comparable arenas charge, but to an extent, that's irrelevant.
"There are so many other factors, including the positioning of the suites, quantity, the amenities offered and what events will be available."
Each suite owner will have the same number of tickets as they have seats for every event in the arena, unless it is a special event, Wrigley said.
The city has the right to designate up to three special events each year, he said. Those are usually events that wouldn't come to the arena otherwise.
For example, promoters of an NCAA basketball championship game or a Rolling Stones concert may ask that their events be given special status because they want the suite seat revenue, Wrigley said.
In that case, the suite owner would have the option of purchasing the tickets to use the suite for that event.
"If they choose not to attend the event, their suite would remain dark," he said. "We don't relicense it. It belongs to them."
Suite owners will receive tickets for one performance of an event with a long engagement, such as a circus, and have the option of purchasing additional suite tickets for extra performances.
For all events, suite owners have the option of purchasing up to four additional suite tickets. They are also given three parking passes for a VIP lot across the street from the facility.
Those who use the suites will have access to a premium level lounge, a private elevator, the concierge service in the lobby and a suite attendant.
The mock suite shows the 23-inch leather seats in three rows toward the front, looking out into the arena's bowl.
Behind them is a drink rail with four fabric-covered barstools, and even farther back is a lounge area with four plush leather seats surrounding a small table.
Along one wall is a granite-countertop buffet with lockable liquor cabinets beneath. At the back is a wet bar with cabinets above and a refrigerator below.
The floor is a mix of granite tiles and carpeting.
A high-definition TV is mounted on the wall above the lounge area. It will be able to broadcast the event taking place in the arena or regular TV channels, but it also will have a switching system so that a business can display a Power Point presentation.
"We recognize most of our clients will be companies that might want to use the suites to conduct business before or after an event," Wrigley said.
One of the walls in each suite can be customized by a company with their logo or their own artwork to make it truly feel like theirs, he said. There also can be company identification at the suite's outside entrance.
The amenities featured in the BOK Center's suites are considered top level compared to other arenas, Howell said.
"These are suites that you'd find in a major-league facility," he said. "Tulsa should be very proud of the quality."
Once the marketing team has sold most of the suites, they will begin selling the arena's loge boxes and club seats. That could be a matter of a few months.
Prices for those seating levels have not been released.
Eighteen of the 20 loge boxes will be for sale. One already has been purchased by a founding sponsor, and another is being held to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Each box has four seats with counters to the front and back and are serviced by a wait staff that will bring food.
Ticketing for the loge boxes will be the same as the suites.
Club seats will total 644, but there's the possibility that 40 more will be added to the section to keep the number of seats in a row even.
The club seat holders will receive tickets for all arena tenant events, such as Tulsa Talons and Oilers games, and will receive the right to purchase the seat for all other events.
"This is a multiphased selling process," Howell said, noting that the arena won't open until September 2008. "We fully expect there will be a strong demand for all levels of seating that we'll roll out."
