Author Topic: Boston Garden Seat Review: Celtics floor seats, under the basket. Grade A-  (Read 7571 times)

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Offline mef730

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I did a "seat review" a few years ago that people seemed to find of some value:

https://forum.celticsstrong.com/index.php?topic=99006.msg2620120#msg2620120

so I thought I'd give it another shot.

This past Friday night (Pistons), my 13-year old son and I got floor seats for the Celtics game. The tl;dr is that it was a fantastic experience, definitely on a bucket list.

There are multiple sets of "floor seats." We were behind the basket, in Section 17, Row CC, seats 13 and 14 (on the aisle). There are two sections of baseline floor seats on each side. There are four rows in a section and each row has 14 seats.

There are also rows of floor seats running along the sidelines. On the side opposite the benches, there is a single row (AA). On the same side as the benches, there are two rows (AA and BB). Bob Kraft was about 10 seats away from the Celtics bench in AA, so I'm not sure who those people were who were 1-9 seats away, but they must have been pretty happy.

Pricing: I've seen the tickets in the secondary market (Ticketmaster, the red dots) from $550-900, depending on the row and the location in the row (more on that later). I also see the occasional tickets directly from the Celtics (blue dots) available. Remember, Ticketmaster adds ~20% fees on the resale tickets, but not on the ones that you buy directly from the Cs. In the resale market, the sideline seats cost 3-4X as much as the baseline seats. I've never seen a sideline seat available directly from the Celtics.

The "upgrade" starts the minute you walk in. I showed the guy in the premium line our tickets (a really nice gold color on the app) and he said, "Come with me." He walked us across the floor to the other metal detectors and to the front of the line ahead of a group of people who didn't look too pleased.

Floor seats come with access to the Putnam Club (It should indicate such on your ticket.). We got there about 90 minutes prior to game time and had no trouble finding a table. During halftime and closer to the game, the tables fill up, so take that into account. The Putnam Club is opposite the entrance to the visitor locker room, so you'll see players coming in and out if you stay and watch.

I read a review online that said the Putnam Club had "light appetizers," free non-alcoholic drinks and a cash bar. The appetizers went well beyond light, though. They had shrimp scampi, crab cakes, steak, caesar salad and a huge deli and and cheese tray (among other items that I've forgotten):



In other words, it's a full meal. Well, several full meals.

At halftime, they put out pizza, cookies and bags of candy. If you want a seat at the Club, I'd advise starting out for it about 3 minutes before halftime and watching the rest of the half there. It fills up very quickly and, unlike pre-game, when everyone is arriving at a different time, the halftime rush is all at once.

Our seats were in the 3rd row of Section 17, on the aisle under the basket. Paul Pierce was in Sec 18 row 1, about 10 yards away from us, which was kind of cool. The ushers did an admirable job of keeping people (including my 13-year old son) away from him, but he interacted with the crowd a lot. Also, a girl in our row got selected to be the pre-game ball girl, which was really cool.



Okay, a couple of things to keep in mind:

1) The seats we had were, in some sense, obstructed view, since we had the pole in front of us. It didn't bother us, but I know that it could bother some people. Also, since there's no upward row on the seats, short
vertically challenged people may have trouble seeing if there's someone tall in front of you. Fortunately for us, we had a very nice family with small kids right in front of us.

2) The seats were extremely comfortable (footrests!) but very tight, both in terms of leg and elbow room. Anytime somebody in the middle wanted to get up, the whole row had to, as well. The seats are the only thing that kept this grade from being an A.

3) Before the game, the announcer says that people who use "foul language" will be ejected. Let me tell you, I now know for a fact that every single player on the court should have been ejected.

4) The cheerleaders and Lucky ran right down the aisle next to us, so my son was really excited that he got to high-five everyone and, to their credit, they made a really big deal of him. I told him that he should get some numbers but, as usual, he forgot to bring his phone. Tant pis.

Other Fun Stuff:

Compared to the other guys on the team, Jayson Tatum doesn't look that big on TV. In person, the dude is huge.

It's really cool to watch the players come charging down the court at you.

Overall, it was definitely a great experience. The staff really went out of their way to make us feel special and the little extras were a lot of fun. It also saved the cost of dinner and snacks.* The only disappointment was the tightness of the seats, but being on an aisle definitely helped.

Mike


*Note: A bottle of water costs $5.75 at the concession stand, but was free in the Putnam Club. I saw floor seats available for this game at $575 each, which means that if you take 100 bottles of water...

Just sayin'.

Offline Roy H.

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Sounds like a wild experience.  Why "only" A-?  Was it the tight seating?


I'M THE SILVERBACK GORILLA IN THIS MOTHER——— AND DON'T NONE OF YA'LL EVER FORGET IT!@ 34 minutes

Offline bdm860

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How did you get the floor seats?

You're a STH right?  So was this part of a perk where they upgraded you for free, or maybe a reduced rate?  Or did you just treat yourself and pay full  market price, or maybe something else?



I had the luxury of getting front row floor seats once.  Not in Boston, but in Dallas (but the C's were in town).  I got them for free (there was a generous season ticket holder who constantly gave away seats to people participating in the Big Brothers Big Sisters program).   Things I remember:

* Face value was $800 (and this was in the '06 season).

* Was told the tickets were good, but didn't know how good. So I was just expecting something in the lower bowl.  Showed the tickets to the usher, he said you're in the front row.  I just thought he meant the front row of the 2nd section in the lower bowl (ticket said row AA, I thought it went A-Z, so then the 27th row would be AA).  I was getting ready to stop near the back of the baseline section, but the usher just kept walking all the way up to the front row. Felt like a million bucks having him lead me all the way up there.

* All the concession stand food was free.  They have the wait staff bring it to you like in the club seats, and I tried to pay, but they said it was all included with the seats, nice surprise.

* This was my little bro's 2nd game ever, and he didn't understand the big deal.  His first game was a month earlier where a block of like 100 tickets in the corner of the upper bowl had been donated to Big Brothers Big Sisters.  He said he liked that better because you had a chance to catch a t-shirt, but when we were in the front row, they just threw them way over our heads, lol.

After 18 months with their Bigs, the Littles were: 46% less likely to use illegal drugs, 27% less likely to use alcohol, 52% less likely to skip school, 37% less likely to skip a class

Offline jbpats

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I've had these exact seats as well. Had no idea about the Putnam perk so that kind of stinks.

My overall impression of the seats is that they are a rip off. It's a cool experience to be so close to the court and next to the visitor bench, but watching the game is a challenge. Lots of obstructions caused by the basket on the side you are on, and it's hard to follow whats happening on the opposite end of the court. The two rows in front of you are the same level, meaning there is no incline so you are staring at the persons head directly in front of you. My neck was pretty sore by the end of the game, straining it from trying to see what was going on at the end of the court.

As I said it was a fun experience for one game, but not seats I would ever spend a fortune on, or would want as my season tickets. 

Offline hardlyyardley

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I had second row seats Celtics  end to the left of the basket all during the Bird era....he stole Thomas' pass and fed DJ right in front of me.....many many memories especially the 84 finals
Did not attend Larry Bird night....gave tickets to Redz.....went to Amherst for opening night of the Mullins Center

Offline mef730

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Sounds like a wild experience.  Why "only" A-?  Was it the tight seating?

It was the tight seating. I was really surprised that there was so little room between seats and between rows. On the plus side, the guy in front of us gave us the t-shirt from the t-shirt toss.

@bdm: Yup, through season tickets. It was a make-up call for something that was missed earlier in the year. Fun note: We were called out as the "American Express surprise STM of the game" and got to stand on the floor and wave to the crowd like idiots.

Best seats I've ever had were at a Twins game a few years ago. Face was only about $350 and it included free food delivered to my seats, as well as a huge clubhouse with a massive buffet.

I think that, being in Boston, sometimes we forget just how little much of the rest of the country cares about sports, and seats that would be thousands of dollars in Boston cost a lot less.

Mike

Offline mef730

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I've had these exact seats as well. Had no idea about the Putnam perk so that kind of stinks.

It was printed on my tickets. My rep was surprised, since she didn't think that it gave access, either, but from what I've read on the internet, all floor seats are supposed to get it. Having said that, there's not a lot of information on the web about it.

Mike

Offline greenpride32

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I sat here before only section 18 row CC - the other side of the hoop.  It's an incredible experience because you can actually make out what the refs and players are saying when they shout.  The action under the hoop is incredible.

But as far as game action goes, you cannot really see anything that happens on the other side of the floor.  Even 3 point shots from your side of the floor it's actually hard to tell the depth perception.

Pre-game I walked right by Brandon Jennings of the Bucks, and Tommy Heinsohn.

Great experience to do it at least once or maybe every once in awhile.  But on a regular basis, I'd rather sit in center balcony to watch the game action then sit here. 

I think most of the allure of these seats is to try and be on TV and it's more much attainable price-wise than sideline floor seats.