BNP improves stadium; daily tickets on sale soon

Seats are being added to the upper and lower bowls of Stadium 1
at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. File photo by Paul Bauman

   The Indian Wells Tennis Garden is making numerous improvements to Stadium 1 ahead of the 2016 BNP Paribas Open, chief executive officer Raymond Moore announced on Monday.
   The changes include new seats in the upper and lower bowls and the lowering of the court surface. The 2016 tournament is scheduled for March 7-20.
   The BNP Paribas Open is the largest combined men's and women's tournament in the world other than the four Grand Slams. More than 456,000 people attended this year's tournament, which offers more than $10 million in prize money and is the only event to provide the Hawkeye line challenge system on all match courts, including during the qualifying rounds.
   The BNP Paribas Open is owned by Larry Ellison, listed by Forbes as the fifth richest person in the world with a net worth of $54.3 billion. The co-founder and former chief executive of Oracle, a software company based in Pleasanton in the San Francisco Bay Area, the 71-year-old Ellison is an avid tennis fan and a high-level player who lives near Stanford University in Woodside.
   The court surface in 16,100-seat Stadium 1, the second largest tennis facility in the world behind 23,200-seat Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing Meadows, N.Y., is being lowered by approximately 28 inches. Television camera positions will be moved off the court and into a recessed area similar to the placement in 8,000-seat Stadium 2, which opened last year.

The outside of Stadium 1. File photo by Paul Bauman

   The new green seats in the lower bowl will be a bit larger and include cup holders. To accommodate the additional size, the railings around the seats are being removed, except for those on the aisles. Some of the old seats from Stadium 1 will be moved to the practice courts.
   "All the improvements and changes to the Indian Wells Tennis Garden are designed to continually improve and advance the overall fan experience at the BNP Paribas Open," Moore said. "We are focused on the details, such as seating comfort, sight lines and more, all designed to make the event as special as possible to all our ticket holders."
   Daily tickets and daily double packages for the 2016 BNP Paribas Open will go on sale on Nov. 18. Daily loge and grandstand tickets for Stadium 1 range from $20 for the first Thursday evening session to $70 and $110 for grandstand and loge seats, respectively, for championship weekend.
   The daily double package guarantees the same seat (suite, box or loge) for day and evening sessions. Residents of Indian Wells, students, seniors, military personnel and USTA members can receive 30 percent off on loge seats in Stadium 1 from March 9 to 17.
   Daily tickets for reserved seats in Stadium 2 in the lower bowl, including the 100 sections and select 200 sections, begin at $150. Access to some 200 sections in the lower bowl and to all sections in the upper bowl is on a general admission basis and available to anyone holding a tournament ticket.
   Daily tickets for reserved seats in Stadium 3 also are available beginning at $90. Every tournament ticket provides access to the general admission sections of Stadiums 1 through 9 for day sessions.
   Series, mini, group and hotel packages are available now. 
   For more information or to purchase tickets, visit bnpparibasopen.com or call (800) 999-1585.