There are some pretty significant changes coming to Petco Park for the 2015 season, which could have at least some significant impact on Nerd HQ next year, or any other event that takes over the space.
There’s no word yet on whether Nerd HQ will be returning to San Diego this July, or if they do if they will be located at Petco Park (the event’s third home in four years), but organizers have stressed in the past that Petco has been the best solution to their needs. Which is why significant changes to the stadium could have a huge impact on the event.
The San Diego Padres’ big news this week is that they will be adding MLB’s third largest video board to the stadium, measuring 61.5 feet by 124 feet. But the changes don’t stop there. The team is also planning some big seating additions and subtractions in both the upper and lower left field bleachers, the latter of which has served as the home of Nerd HQ’s Conversations For a Cause the last two years.
In the lower bleachers, the Padres will be removing 110 seats from the upper rows of several sections, including those that have been utilized by Nerd HQ. Many of those seats are being replaced by bar stool seating and a “social space”, which may or may not be of any use to Nerd HQ.
Additionally they are adding two new rows of seating at the front of those same sections which should help to offset the loss of some of the seats at the top of the sections. The stadium outfield wall is being lowered by over a foot and moved in 34 inches closer to home plate to make room for these new rows.
This change could necessitate Nerd HQ lowering their stage a similar amount as they have previously set their stage up roughly equal with the height of the outfield wall.
Should Nerd HQ choose to call Petco Park home for a third straight year during Comic-Con, it is clear that their set up will be a little different for 2015 from what we’ve seen the last two years, independent of any other changes Nerd HQ makes to their layout as they did by expanding the Conversations For a Cause seating space in 2014.
What do you make of these stadium changes and how they will affect Petco’s outside events next SDCC? Leave a note in the comments below!
