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The Design
As beautiful as the exterior of BB&T BallPark is, the interior is even more impressive. And make no mistake: the two biggest factors impacting the interior design are the constraints of the size of the site and the availability of the stunning view of the skyline.
And there was an overriding priority in designing the interior: socializing space.
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The first aspect of the park that catches your eye (that is, after you’re done gazing longingly on the skyline) is the incredible number of square feet devoted to "standing around" socializing areas. Nowhere is this more visible than the Home Run Porch down the first base line.
Part out of necessity (there wasn’t room to fit full seating sections in the area) and part to meet the skyrocketing demand for space to stand around and socialize, the firms designing the ballpark elected to turn this side of the ballpark over to the socializers, in a way not too dissimilar to Columbus, Ohio’s spectacular Triple-A ballpark. However, Huntington Park in Columbus fails to connect the concourse in right field with the one in center, meaning there is no 360-degree walkway there. They didn’t make that omission in Charlotte, thankfully.
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The Home Run Porch in right field has become the hottest spot at BB&T. "I think it’s the best place to watch the game in the entire ballpark," Woollen said. "Not only are you up high and have a great perspective of the field, you can turn around and see Romare Bearden Park and the skyline." And you can stand and drink and chat with your friends, every once in around turning toward the field to see what everyone is cheering about. And what makes this feasible is the seemingly miles and miles of drink counters.
These counters can be found everywhere around the ballpark. In fact, the architects actually calculated the number of people who could be standing at these rails at the same time (answer: 702). After all, the Knights can sell tickets for these "standing room" spots. Most importantly, DiNitto added, "People like to be comfortable when standing with their food and drink."
DiNitto’s favorite part of BB&T BallPark is directly behind home plate. "For the Budweiser Home Plate Club (photos below), we occupied the top six rows of the seating bowl in a glass-enclosed box. In fact, from the concourse you can see right through it." This air-conditioned area can be accessed by fans who have season tickets in the sections between the Club and the field. All of those seats sold out well in advance of the Knights’ first season in their new park. Oh, and the view of both the game and the skyline is spectacular.
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Those directly behind the backstop don’t need to avail themselves of the Home Plate Club. That’s because they have their own Dugout Suites. Behind the four rows of seats (which, by the way, puts the batter closer to them than he is to the pitcher — see below left) are their own two luxury suites (below right) that can be enclosed and air conditioned or left open on less muggy evenings.
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Speaking of luxury, the Diamonds Direct Luxury Lounge is on the upper level behind first base. This is a spacious, beautifully appointed private club with its own wrap-around bar and 200 seats outside the glassed walls. Your average banquet hall isn’t nearly as nice as this, so receptions for up to 240 people can be held here when a game isn’t going on. And according to the Knight’s front office, demand has been strong to hold events in this space. I can see why.
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There are also two party decks, one at each end of the upper level. In addition is a group picnic area just beyond the left field fence. It has room for 300 fans.
If you’re getting the impression that much more emphasis is being put on group and socializing areas in new parks, you would be exactly right.
As mentioned in our examination of the ballpark’s site, it was a tight fit from the east side of the property to the west. This not only made the distance to the right-field foul pole fairly short (315 feet), it made the outfield wall there extra tall (14 feet). The limitation on square footage also had a profound effect on the concourse behind third base.
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DiNitto pointed out that you’d normally see concession stands and restrooms built into the structure on the side of the concourse opposite the field. After all, you have to maintain the wildly popular "open concourses" (with their now-normative drink rails) on the side of the walkway at the rear of the seats. In Charlotte, there wasn’t room to do it this way. "So we came up with the idea of having very specialized food stands along there," he said. The folks working at most of these free-standing kiosks have their backs to the outer perimeter of the stadium’s footprint (above). This was done to keep the field side of the concourse as uncluttered as possible, while also attempting to guard against bottlenecks in the flow of fans walking up and down the third-base concourse.
It is a tighter fit than in the spacious first-base concourse, but it’s not insurmountable.
The Essentials
It’s time to talk about the game-day experience in the Charlotte Knight’s new home. What does it cost to attend a game here? What about souvenirs? The scoreboard? And the all-important question: how do the concessions measure up?
When the selected site was announced, one oft-repeated criticism was "Where are the fans supposed to park?" After all, the few fans who bothered to cross the state line and attend Knights’ games in Fort Mill always found an over-abundance of parking spaces in the asphalt acres surrounding the facility. That’s not true in Charlotte’s uptown around the ballpark.
A funny thing happened, though. In between the announcement of the location and the actual completion of BB&T BallPark, Charlotte’s uptown continued to expand — and that expansion continues at a rapid pace today. Buildings with parking garages underneath seemed to pop up like mushrooms. Today, there are thousands of parking spaces within three blocks of the park. Most of the garages charge $5 for evening parking, and there are a number of surface lots (some paved, some not) that charge $3, $4 or $5. The ones directly across Graham Street and MLK Blvd. charge $5.
Ticket prices are $2 lower when bought prior to the day of the game. Field Box seats, which make up the majority of the fixed seats, cost $16 in advance. Considering that the seats all the way to the foul poles cost the same $16, this seems a little high, as most parks have lower priced seats farther down the foul line. The small number of reserved seating sections in right field cost $14 in advance. If you want to stand in the upper Home Run Porch, it’ll cost you $10. It didn’t appear there was any problem getting hordes of people to pay that price.
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When all other reserved seats are sold out for a game, the Knights sell standing room tickets for $8 ($10 on the day of the game). Note that there are 420 fixed seats beyond left-center field just for general admission ticket-holders to use (above left). The berm isn’t huge, but it has a better vantage point than at a lot of ballparks (above right).
Groups of 20 or more can buy Field Boxes for $14, $12 for RF sections and $10 in the left-center-field area.
The souvenir store near the main entryway at the corner of Mint and MLK Blvd. is extremely nice. I don’t think there’s a nicer, more attractive store in any Minor League ballpark.
The prices on the merchandise are about what you’d expect at a brand-new Triple-A park. Adult t-shirts range from $20 to $34, while polos run from $44 to $58. Fitted caps are $26, while adjustable caps run $18-$26. There’s a fair amount of kids merchandise, with t-shirts costing $15-$21 and caps $13-$16. Everything in the store is well done, but even after a rebranding effort on the part of the team, I’d be hard pressed to say that the new logo and various treatments of the team’s nickname make for the kind of whimsical t-shirts that kids seem to be attracted to.
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The prices of the concessions seem closer to the Majors than the Minors — but the quality and variety are excellent. Therefore, you get no complaint from me about the costs — especially for "the best iced tea in the world" (see below).
First, the aforementioned kiosks along the third-base concourse provide a nice assortment of local purveyors and national ones (like Chick-fil-A). Here you’ll find several craft-beer stands (most drafts were $7.50), a health-food vendor (three types of wraps, all at $11, and two salads), Mexican with burritos and nachos, funnel cakes, grilled dogs, and a North Carolina BBQ stand called Queen City Q (the BBQ nachos I got were $9 and are shown below left. The pulled-pork sandwich with a side is $11, below right). Of all of these stands on the third-base side, my vote is for the BBQ.
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Behind home plate and on the first-base side, the stands are permanent structures. Here you’ll find a variety of specialty hot dogs (a Carolina version, a mac-and-cheese version and a classic Chicago dog) at $9.00, which includes Dragon Chips. Domino’s has a pizza stand, Chicken Fry Fry has a Queen City Sampler with tenders, garlic fries and fried pickles for $8, and there’s also a Beers Of The World stand where beer and wine start at $7.
Behind first base and in the left-field corner is The Show, which has some excellent burgers, including a Carolina Burger topped with brisket, chili and slaw for $10, which includes chips.
My favorite stand in the entire ballpark, though, is Dave & Fran’s A Taste of the South in the right-field corner. It could also be called The Six Dollar Stand, because every item on the menu is $6. Here you’ll find Carolina Boiled Peanuts (bottom left), Pork Rinds, Southern Roasted Pecans and Almonds and the "Best Iced Tea In The World." And it’s true. And, no, $6 for the tea isn’t too high. If they serve tea in heaven, it tastes exactly like this.
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By the way, I’m describing only a small subset of the food offerings at BB&T BallPark. There are many more. Honestly, I’m not sure any Minor League sports facility can match the concessions here.
And I’m happy to report that this is a Pepsi facility. I think there are way too many Coke ballparks around the country.
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The video screen in left field is a whopper, coming in at 82 feet wide. The ad signs make it a little busy, but it provides excellent info and is quite readable even in the setting sun.
There’s also a play area for kids on the far side of the batter’s eye.
Make a point of taking a walk all the way around the 360-degree concourse. You’ll see the skyline from different vantage points, plus you’ll get to see and smell all of the concession offerings.
Summary
When I asked Dan Rajkowski, the team’s Executive VP, what he’s heard from the fans about the new park, he didn’t mince words. "Spectacular. I really haven’t heard anything negative.
"I’m also really proud of the reconnection of the team to the community. Every day I run into somebody who tells me how they used to come to games of the O’s (the Charlotte Orioles) with their fathers," he continued. "There was (then) a disconnect when we were in Fort Mill, but this building gave us the opportunity to reconnect."
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And there’s not much to criticize about this new building. True, the ticket prices are a little higher than elsewhere around the Minors, but Its location is fantastic, as the view of the skyline is awe-inspiring. The clever design work by the architects took a difficult, sloping rectangle of ground and somehow fit a first-class ballpark into it. The amenities for both the well-heeled ticket buyer and the average fan are top-notch. Plus the food selections are to die for.
And the lion’s share of the cost is being borne by the team, not the taxpayers.
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Rajkowski summarized his feeling this way: "The Charlotte Knights played a long time in South Carolina, but we’ve now brought them back to Charlotte. I guess that’s what I was charged to come here to do. It just took me a little bit longer than I thought it would."
Thankfully, Jerry Reese’s lawsuits couldn’t stop this forever.
If you want to share your thoughts on BB&T BallPark, feel free to leave a comment below.