Met Life Stadium

Met Life Stadium

America is crazy about at least two things: Sports, and segregating the rich and the poor. When you combine these two passions inside of a sports stadium, you get luxury boxes.

Great American Ballpark

Great American Ballpark

Luxury boxes, a/k/a skyboxes, executive suites or hospitality suites, are the earthbound, sports-watching version of First Class. Well beyond the financial reach of your average American family, they are the domain of the rich and the corporate, requiring leasing that can run into the millions of dollars. Wealthy folks use them to entertain and corporations lend them out to certain individuals as perks of corporate friendship. This can sometimes lead to resentment from the masses.

"Bad news, Brian, someone keyed your Lamborghini in the parking lot again."

"Bad news, Brian, someone keyed your Lamborghini in the parking lot again."

McLane Stadium

McLane Stadium

AT&T Stadium/McLane Stadium

AT&T Stadium/McLane Stadium

Regardless of the sport or stadium type, the design features of luxury boxes are fairly universal. The most obvious is an unparalleled view of the game, providing full visibility of a ball arching the full length of the field.

Packers Lambeau Field

Packers Lambeau Field

University of Phoenix Stadium

University of Phoenix Stadium

The windowside seating typically features bar-height counters...

AT&T Stadium

AT&T Stadium

(Canada) BC Place

(Canada) BC Place

...sometimes with a couple rows of plush stadium seating in front of them:

Chesapeake Energy Arena

Chesapeake Energy Arena

Levis Stadium

Levis Stadium

AT&T Stadium

AT&T Stadium

Some spaces offer private outdoor verandas, enabling viewers to get the outdoor stadium experience without having to actually mix with the riff-raff.

Georgia Dome

Georgia Dome

AT&T Stadium

AT&T Stadium

Inside there are kitchenettes and buffet counters to support the catering, typically with flatscreens so you don't miss the action while you're shoveling caviar onto your crostini.

Bank of America Stadium

Bank of America Stadium

McLane Stadium

McLane Stadium

McLane Stadium

McLane Stadium

Away from the windows, luxury suites offer lounge-type seating. Depending on the venue, the aesthetics of these spaces range from chain-motel...

Nationals Park

Nationals Park

...to downright designey:

AT&T Stadium

AT&T Stadium

AT&T Stadium

AT&T Stadium

Met Life Stadium

Met Life Stadium

Suites designed to hold larger parties offer lockers where guests can store their rare ivory and blood diamonds.

Georgia Dome

Georgia Dome

Of course, the nicest thing about luxury suites is the one thing they rarely mention—having a private bathroom. For every sports-event-attending male in your average stadium's general population, this is a familiar site:

Now contrast that with these:

Unknown/AT&T Stadium

Unknown/AT&T Stadium

McLane Stadium

McLane Stadium

The existence of high-profit luxury boxes can cause controversy. This regular attendee of Jacob's Field in Cleveland is unhappy about the dozens of luxury boxes installed there, whose position drives the upper decks further skyward, too far for Average Joes to enjoy the on-field action.

Jacobs Field

Jacobs Field

On the other hand, a Yankees executive told Forbes that "offering deluxe suites like these allows the team to keep general ticket prices down.... 'We hope that the well-heeled lessees will subsidize the ability to have Joe Fan come to the game,' he says."