'Champions' to get swank seats at RBC

For the price of a front-row seat, new section will give fans more luxury

RALEIGH -- To the victors go the spoiled.

Fans of the Stanley Cup-winning Carolina Hurricanes will have a posh new option at the RBC Center this fall.

A new 330-seat "Champions Club" will feature all-you-can-eat gourmet dining, four free glasses of beer or wine, and a private lounge with flat-screen televisions. Buyers of two tickets will get a VIP parking spot as well.

The cost: $5,125 for the hockey season, equivalent to $125 a game. That's the same as a front-row ticket next to the ice, or about 12 times the cost of the cheapest seat.

The Hurricanes will market the seats to corporate buyers looking for a new perk and perhaps the individual well-heeled hockey fan looking for an upgrade.

"This is really for that business client that can't afford a suite, but wants to be a season ticket holder," said Dave Olsen, vice president and general manager of the RBC Center.

A designer's virtual tour of the new space gives a glimpse of what those willing to pay for the champion experience will get:

Guests enter from the concourse into a club decorated in warm-colored wood tones and red and black carpet. A 45-foot-long full-service bar and buffet lines the back of the suite. Lounge chairs, tables, sofas and 14 high-definition televisions fill the space (plenty of room for mingling for the not-so-sportingly inclined) that opens up to the seats overlooking the bowl of the arena.

The club seating will not just be for the Hurricanes. N.C. State, which holds men's basketball games at the RBC Center, will sell season tickets there for $876 and plans to offer lifetime seats to some major donors. Champions Club members will be able to sit there during some concerts for a fee.

The Centennial Authority, the public agency responsible for the RBC Center, is spending about $1.5 million on the remodeling. Construction workers are tearing out three suites that were available for single-game rentals.

Business in the suites was strong last year because of the Hurricanes' championship run, but sales have been lackluster at other times, said Matt West, the team's vice president of business operations.

Few companies needed so many seats at one time, and the rentals were pricey. A 44-seat suite with food cost $4,400 a game, while an 88-seat suite with food cost $7,920. Other suites are sold for the season.

The shift to exclusive seating is in line with a recent trend at arenas, West said. Hockey stadiums used by the Atlanta Thrashers, the Florida Panthers and the Tampa Bay Lightning have similar clubs.

If the club sells out, it would generate nearly $1.7 million a year -- more than 2 1/2 times what sell-outs of the three suites would have raised.

Harvey Schmitt, president of the Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce, said the seats would be attractive to smaller companies that want to entertain clients and reward employees. "This is a great place to show off your hospitality," he said.

The new club is part of a recent effort to spruce up the arena, which opened in 1999.

Over the next two years, the Centennial Authority will spend about $7 million to replace the sound system in the lower seating bowl, add concessions and allow customers to use credit cards.

Last year, it added a bar on the south end that is open during games to mid-level ticket holders.

The renovations and remodeling are being financed from reserves set aside from each year's revenue. The money comes from rent charged to the Hurricanes and N.C. State, naming rights sold to RBC Centura and a share of the countywide hotel and meals tax.

Contractors expect to finish work in time for the Oct. 4 season opener against Buffalo.

Some regular fans said the club, while luxe, wouldn't change their experience much.

Brian Williamson, president of the Carolina Hurricanes Booster Club and a designer with a Raleigh architectural firm, said he will continue buying seats in the arena's cheaper upper level.

"The club level is nice, but half the people aren't watching the games, or they're just there to be there," he said. "If I had a choice, I'd go to the upper level. There's more normal, average folks up there."