The new baseball stadiums are smaller, more intimate and more classic in design. They include nostalgic touches like the outfield in Arlington--which is part Fenway Park, part Tiger Stadium and part Royals Stadium--or the brick facades and old-fashioned seats in Camden Yards. They offer state-of-the-art amenities like spacious, plush luxury suites and club concourses with upgraded services, without compromising charm. And Anaheim? Way too big for baseball, with 69, seats.
Way too cold, with concrete block walls and gray, rubber floors throughout the concourses. Way too sterile, with no distinguishing architectural characteristics.
And luxury suites that are too small and plain to command the premium prices other teams receive. Those things have passed us by. You need to hire a good architect and an interior designer. City officials and representatives of the Task Force to Keep the Rams in Orange County are exploring a stadium renovation, which would likely focus heavily on the club level, the middle concourse that the Rams and Angels would like to convert to a premium-seating area with special amenities.
That differential over a hundred boxes obviously adds a lot of income. Other possible renovations would be to replace all the seats in the stadium and lower the football playing field to create better sight lines for spectators. Brown also would like to build a restaurant and sports bar in the outfield, one that is open to the field. But many of those seats are usually filled for such stadium events as motocross, concerts and religious crusades.
Anaheim also has the Disneyland Pigskin Classic and Freedom Bowl football games and is trying to attract a national college football championship game, which would require the present configuration with a large number of seats. Those factors could weigh in any decision to convert back to a baseball setup. Possible changes at Anaheim Stadium for either the Rams or Angels would be expensive propositions for the city.
