Last fall, we got our first good look of the Texas Rangers’ new Globe Life Field. The $1.1 billion stadium will have a seating capacity of 40,000 when it is completed in 2020. As the stadium, which is a public-private partnership between the city of Arlington and the Rangers, takes shape, we’re learning more details of what the interior of the ballpark will be like.
By increasing attention to food and beverage options, customer service, and interior design, the Rangers hope to make Globe Life Field—which will adjoin the new entertainment district called Texas Live!—stickier. “We’re trying to capture that group to come earlier and stay later as their source of entertainment,” says Loretta Fulvio, who runs the sports and entertainment interiors department at HKS. “People are paying a lot of money to see a game, and we need to keep this crowd entertained. … This will be the ultimate curation of experience.”
HKS is the same architecture firm behind the Cowboys’ AT&T Stadium, the Vikings’ U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, and the Colts’ Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, among others. Here are some highlights from a recent conversation with Fulvio.
- Globe Life Field will have an apothecary- and speakeasy-inspired bar. HKS and Delaware North, the stadium’s food service management firm, worked to create food and drink menus, waitstaff uniforms, and decor to be reminiscent of dinner theater. “We’re creating almost like chemically produced cocktails, like you’re in a science lab with beakers and folks in lab coats,” Fulvio says. The Rangers Executive Vice President of Business Operations Rob Matwick is testing out a couple names for the bar that could be a nod to Arlington’s history.
- Food, drink, and seating options will be designed to remind fans of different neighborhoods and cities throughout North Texas, such as Dallas, Arlington, and Fort Worth.
- Fans can eat barbecue while sitting in a rocking chair on a top-floor deck, called the sky porch.
- Some tickets will include a “down home plate” where a local chef will prepare ticket holders a meal during the game.
- A museum-like section of seats will have “all the best Rangers memorabilia.”
- Another seating area adjacent to the home team dugout will have a looking glass so fans can “sit literally next to the dugout” at tables and cheer on their team.
- On an upper level of the stadium, there will be a Legacy Hall-style food hall with local food offerings such as craft beer or home cooking. It will offer “upscale food by local restaurants.”
- Besides serving the Texas Rangers, the venue will host concerts, expos, farmers markets, meetings, festivals, and the like.
- HKS is working on a secretive children’s area. “We’re working to develop something for kids. We can’t roll that out yet, but the Rangers are so excited about this venue for kids. It will be a major show piece,” Fulvio says.
A significant consideration for the designers was to create a place where North Texans could have some ownership. “We want everyone to know this ballpark belongs to the region around it,” Fulvio says. “Whatever level you go to, you’ll know you’re at the home of the Texas Rangers.”
