THE CREATION OF THE GOTHAM CLUB
By Rory Davis, Sales & Marketing Coordinator, Giants Enterprises
At Giants Enterprises we pride ourselves on creativity and innovation. We host worldclass events for top-tier clients and are constantly striving to deliver exceptional experiences in new and exhilarating ways.
Our core focus is hosting private & public events on non-game days in and around AT & T Park, the home of the San Francisco Giants baseball team. Fortunately for us, the Giants are one of baseball’ s most storied franchises and we play baseball and host events in one of the premier venues in all of sports. Combine the longest current sellout streak in all of Major League Baseball with waterfront views in a prime downtown San Francisco location, add countless brilliant minds in our front office, and we have all the ingredients we need to be innovative.
AT & T Park, recipient of the 2008 Sports Facility of the Year by Sports Business Journal, is widely considered one of baseball’ s best venues. However, it wasn’ t until 2013,( the ballpark first opened in 2000), that the facility boasted a truly upscale, VIP events venue.
Enter The Gotham Club – a private, speakeasystyle social club that provides members with one-of-a-kind experiences while celebrating the rich history of the Giants franchise. Members receive game day access to three club spaces located throughout AT & T Park – The Game Room, the on-field Bullpen and The Clubhouse. Beyond game days, members are invited to unique monthly events, including exclusive opportunities extending beyond the walls of the ballpark.
Giants Enterprises executives conceived the idea and turned underutilized spaces into sleek, vintage-themed venues that have allowed the organization to generate revenue year-round, increase fan loyalty and serve as a premier destination for entertainment on both Giants’ game days and non-game days alike. Two birds, one stone.
In 2016 alone, The Gotham Cub has hosted more than 100 member and private events, in addition to more than 80 Giants baseball games. All told, The Gotham Club will have been in use in excess of 200 out of 366 days last year, including 29 events in November and December of 2016 alone. The club has become so popular that there is now a waitlist for prospective members( membership capacity was reached in early 2016).
One of the primary reasons for creating The Gotham Club was to give members a way to connect to the team in unique and creative ways year-round, beyond just the baseball season. In order to accomplish this goal, members are presented with exclusive event invitations, designed to deepen their connection with our team’ s rich and storied history. These events include speaker series with former Giants players and broadcasters, private wine tastings( including player-owned wineries), historic bus tours throughout San Francisco led by Giants’ executives, VIP tickets to concerts, and road trips to watch the Giants play in other cities across the country. This past season, The Gotham Club Road Trip series took two groups of 50 members each to New York and Boston. The trips, expertly planned by Gotham Club and Giants Enterprises staff, included lodging at top hotels, group dinner reservations and behind-the-scenes experiences. While at Fenway Park in Boston, members got a oncein-a-lifetime opportunity to actually step inside the Green Monster – the gigantic wall located in left field that is often regarded as one of the most iconic features of any ballpark in America.
The club has also hosted numerous functions for colleagues within the Giants organization that focus on community relations, sponsorship and baseball operations to name a few. Most recently, The Gotham Clubhouse opened its
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