coors field guide
Since 1995 the Rockies have called Coors Field home. Historically it has been a ballpark that boasts great attendance, and a fan friendly environment. There are a select few seats which have a view of the Rocky Mountains which is a unique feature of this ballpark. It is now time to learn some ways to be smarter on your next trip to Coors Field.
parking
The setting of Coors Field is lower downtown Denver, which means there is a fair mixture of parking options. Of course you have the team garage, which is a little expensive, but there are some places to park for free near Coors Field, or at least really cheap. Cheap Fan ContestI did find an excellent article on this topic from Travis Lay of The Examiner, which summarized quite a few options for parking at a Rockies game. I am going to pick out the “savvy” parts of the article for you, but you can see the full thing here
- 3 blocks from Coors Field at the corner of 18th and Market you can park in the south corner garage for $5. Neighboring lots are $10, and quite frankly $5 that close to any stadium is a good deal.
- If taking the light rail, you can drive to the Broadway stop which has good amount of parking; from there you can catch a train to Union Station or to 18th and Stout which would leave you with about a 9 block walk to Coors. The fare is $2 per adult each way.
- Eat at Rock Bottom Brewery before or after the game and get free validated parking at the Independence Plaza garage which is underneath the restaurant. I personally like this option best as it provides free parking and a good place to eat with unique local beer selection.
If you have read other guides on this site, you know that I usually recommend metered parking as an option to find a free spot by the stadium. Unfortunately this option is practically off the table at a Rockies game. Denver meters are in effect up until 10 pm Mon. – Sat., and they have a 2 hour time limit. The only time this can work is on Sunday, at which point you can find some spots on Blake along with other places in the area, but you will need to get there early, about 2 hours early.
Even if you aren’t taking any of my advice for Rockies parking, here is a pretty neat tool to scout out exactly where parking can be found around Coors Field.
You will need to search for “Arts and Entertainment” then choose a sub category for Colorado Rockies Baseball. Finally, click on the “P” icon on the left hand menu to show where all the lots are. If you scroll over them, it will tell you the daily rate and the number of spaces available.
FYI – official Rockies parking is $10 - $12, and it gets crowded, expect a wait to get out of the garage.
tickets
The best value package for Rockies games is the Coca-Cola pack. There are a few of these value games spread throughout the year, but it includes 4 lower level tickets, 4 hot dogs, 4 Cokes, and a parking permit for only $49. You can see the schedule of games here.
I start off with that, because it always pays to plan ahead if you are looking for good value at the ballpark. That being said the Rockies do offer one of the cheaper tickets in baseball with their “Rockpile” tickets in centerfield. For $4 you have entrance to Coors Field and a view of all the action. You can also get tickets for kids 12 and under and old folks 55 and over for only $1 each at the gate for this section.
While the seats may not be the best (bleachers with no backs) many fans will just get up and walk around to another area of the outfield and watch from there. You can hang out by the bullpens or just roam around and look for another seat to take. Your best odds of getting a different seat are generally done in the upper deck, or other cheap seats which tend to be less sought after from seat poachers.
Another thing that makes Coors Field unique is the seats with a view of the Rocky Mountains. This is only true on a clear night, and most of these seats are in the right field upper deck. Although the view is distant, it’s still pretty cool. Sections 325 – 316 boast the best views of the mountains in the distance, and you can sit there from $16 - $40 depending on the section and on the game. This is another instance when it pays to plan ahead. If you are a casual fan, or you don’t really care about the opponent, it may make more sense for you to go sit in section 324 on a night when it costs $20 instead of $40. It annoys me that teams are doing tiered pricing for premium games, but it’s a fact of life. If you are going to sit in these sections, ask the ticket office to get you as close to the front row as possible. I usually recommend this for upper decks because you are the closest (obviously), and you don’t have as many people walking in front of you when they show up late, leave early, or go get something to eat for the 6th time.
In summary; if I was broke, I would go rockpile. If I could afford a little bit more, I would sit in the 320’s which is money well spent; great view of the game and the scenery.
I also feel obliged to mention that my good buddy (who I am in no way associated with or ever met) from the Examiner also wrote a good article about the best places to sit at Coors Field. He touches on a couple of the same things above, but there is one budget idea that he pointed out which I hadn’t considered. He mentions getting seats in section 301 and asking to sit in the top row in the end seats. You can actually get a nice view of downtown Denver from up there, and while you will be far away from the action, these tickets are only $10 and once again you have a unique perspective.
The rest of his suggestions aren’t really in line with the intentions of this site, but this guy seems to be very thorough. Here is the article if you are interested.
where to buy
Let me first say this; the Rockies gouge your eyes out when it comes to fees for buying tickets online. If you can, buy at the gate. But seriously, read this from the Rockies website: “A service charge ($2 per Rockpile ticket; $2.25 per $5 - $9 tickets; $3.50 per $10 - $13 tickets; $4 per $14 - $19 tickets; $4.25 per $20 - $29 tickets; $4.50 per $30 - $49 tickets; $5 per $50 - $149 tickets; $6 per ticket $150 and over) plus a $4 transaction fee applies.” If you bought the tickets I recommended above for a family of 4, you would almost pay for a 5th ticket in fees. Outrageous!
Tickets are always available on eBay as well. Here is my advice for ticket buying on eBay; wait until the last minute. I know that sounds crazy, and you would think that closer to the event the prices would shoot up; but that is not the case. I have bought and sold plenty of tickets on eBay and I have found that when I sell them early I get top dollar because there is less competition. As the event gets closer, everybody in America who is selling tickets begins to list them at auction. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that when the market is flooded with supply the price is driven down. I don't know if there are any published numbers to back me up, but I have seen it time and time again. So if buying on eBay, buy late. Here are a couple of auctions ending soon with a current bid under $50.
parking
The setting of Coors Field is lower downtown Denver, which means there is a fair mixture of parking options. Of course you have the team garage, which is a little expensive, but there are some places to park for free near Coors Field, or at least really cheap. Cheap Fan ContestI did find an excellent article on this topic from Travis Lay of The Examiner, which summarized quite a few options for parking at a Rockies game. I am going to pick out the “savvy” parts of the article for you, but you can see the full thing here
- 3 blocks from Coors Field at the corner of 18th and Market you can park in the south corner garage for $5. Neighboring lots are $10, and quite frankly $5 that close to any stadium is a good deal.
- If taking the light rail, you can drive to the Broadway stop which has good amount of parking; from there you can catch a train to Union Station or to 18th and Stout which would leave you with about a 9 block walk to Coors. The fare is $2 per adult each way.
- Eat at Rock Bottom Brewery before or after the game and get free validated parking at the Independence Plaza garage which is underneath the restaurant. I personally like this option best as it provides free parking and a good place to eat with unique local beer selection.
If you have read other guides on this site, you know that I usually recommend metered parking as an option to find a free spot by the stadium. Unfortunately this option is practically off the table at a Rockies game. Denver meters are in effect up until 10 pm Mon. – Sat., and they have a 2 hour time limit. The only time this can work is on Sunday, at which point you can find some spots on Blake along with other places in the area, but you will need to get there early, about 2 hours early.
Even if you aren’t taking any of my advice for Rockies parking, here is a pretty neat tool to scout out exactly where parking can be found around Coors Field.
You will need to search for “Arts and Entertainment” then choose a sub category for Colorado Rockies Baseball. Finally, click on the “P” icon on the left hand menu to show where all the lots are. If you scroll over them, it will tell you the daily rate and the number of spaces available.
FYI – official Rockies parking is $10 - $12, and it gets crowded, expect a wait to get out of the garage.
tickets
The best value package for Rockies games is the Coca-Cola pack. There are a few of these value games spread throughout the year, but it includes 4 lower level tickets, 4 hot dogs, 4 Cokes, and a parking permit for only $49. You can see the schedule of games here.
I start off with that, because it always pays to plan ahead if you are looking for good value at the ballpark. That being said the Rockies do offer one of the cheaper tickets in baseball with their “Rockpile” tickets in centerfield. For $4 you have entrance to Coors Field and a view of all the action. You can also get tickets for kids 12 and under and old folks 55 and over for only $1 each at the gate for this section.
While the seats may not be the best (bleachers with no backs) many fans will just get up and walk around to another area of the outfield and watch from there. You can hang out by the bullpens or just roam around and look for another seat to take. Your best odds of getting a different seat are generally done in the upper deck, or other cheap seats which tend to be less sought after from seat poachers.
Another thing that makes Coors Field unique is the seats with a view of the Rocky Mountains. This is only true on a clear night, and most of these seats are in the right field upper deck. Although the view is distant, it’s still pretty cool. Sections 325 – 316 boast the best views of the mountains in the distance, and you can sit there from $16 - $40 depending on the section and on the game. This is another instance when it pays to plan ahead. If you are a casual fan, or you don’t really care about the opponent, it may make more sense for you to go sit in section 324 on a night when it costs $20 instead of $40. It annoys me that teams are doing tiered pricing for premium games, but it’s a fact of life. If you are going to sit in these sections, ask the ticket office to get you as close to the front row as possible. I usually recommend this for upper decks because you are the closest (obviously), and you don’t have as many people walking in front of you when they show up late, leave early, or go get something to eat for the 6th time.
In summary; if I was broke, I would go rockpile. If I could afford a little bit more, I would sit in the 320’s which is money well spent; great view of the game and the scenery.
I also feel obliged to mention that my good buddy (who I am in no way associated with or ever met) from the Examiner also wrote a good article about the best places to sit at Coors Field. He touches on a couple of the same things above, but there is one budget idea that he pointed out which I hadn’t considered. He mentions getting seats in section 301 and asking to sit in the top row in the end seats. You can actually get a nice view of downtown Denver from up there, and while you will be far away from the action, these tickets are only $10 and once again you have a unique perspective.
The rest of his suggestions aren’t really in line with the intentions of this site, but this guy seems to be very thorough. Here is the article if you are interested.
where to buy
Let me first say this; the Rockies gouge your eyes out when it comes to fees for buying tickets online. If you can, buy at the gate. But seriously, read this from the Rockies website: “A service charge ($2 per Rockpile ticket; $2.25 per $5 - $9 tickets; $3.50 per $10 - $13 tickets; $4 per $14 - $19 tickets; $4.25 per $20 - $29 tickets; $4.50 per $30 - $49 tickets; $5 per $50 - $149 tickets; $6 per ticket $150 and over) plus a $4 transaction fee applies.” If you bought the tickets I recommended above for a family of 4, you would almost pay for a 5th ticket in fees. Outrageous!
Tickets are always available on eBay as well. Here is my advice for ticket buying on eBay; wait until the last minute. I know that sounds crazy, and you would think that closer to the event the prices would shoot up; but that is not the case. I have bought and sold plenty of tickets on eBay and I have found that when I sell them early I get top dollar because there is less competition. As the event gets closer, everybody in America who is selling tickets begins to list them at auction. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that when the market is flooded with supply the price is driven down. I don't know if there are any published numbers to back me up, but I have seen it time and time again. So if buying on eBay, buy late. Here are a couple of auctions ending soon with a current bid under $50.
food
Coors Field lets you take quite a bit into the stadium. You can bring “food items” into a Rockies game, so feel free to save some money by buying from a street vendor and take it in. Obviously this means you can also pack some hot dogs in foil at home, or bring snacks and sandwiches for the kids and save a bundle. You can also bring non-alcoholic beverages in a plastic bottle into Coors Field. Actually according to their website you can bring in a plastic or paper cup 22 oz or less with a permitted beverage. This is my 19th ballpark guide and that is the first time I have seen that permitted. Usually teams won’t allow that so folks can’t easily slip liquor into their pop. I do not condone that behavior, but now you know.
Prices in the ballpark are typical. If you are going to eat in the Rockies ballpark plan to pay through the nose.
I want to come back to a place I mentioned earlier in Rock Bottom. This is another great double whammy value when going to Coors Field. There menu is a little pricey, but pretty much on par with the millions of other middle of the road restaurants. The big benefit is you get validated parking for free, which saves you $10 or more in most cases and you will walk about 15 minutes for it, which isn’t a big deal to me personally. The dinner itself will be nicer than the food at Coors Field and you will probably come out with more food for a similar price.
Another option that I consistently recommend is Restaurant.com Here you can buy $25 gift certificates to local restaurants for $10. You can also do a google search for "Restaurant.com coupon codes" and almost always get an extra 60 - 80% off that. I often buy these $25 certificates for $2. That is the best way to eat a decent meal before or after the game and save a chunk of change. When you follow the link, just type in the zip code of Coors Field (80265) to see what restaurants are nearby.
Coors Field lets you take quite a bit into the stadium. You can bring “food items” into a Rockies game, so feel free to save some money by buying from a street vendor and take it in. Obviously this means you can also pack some hot dogs in foil at home, or bring snacks and sandwiches for the kids and save a bundle. You can also bring non-alcoholic beverages in a plastic bottle into Coors Field. Actually according to their website you can bring in a plastic or paper cup 22 oz or less with a permitted beverage. This is my 19th ballpark guide and that is the first time I have seen that permitted. Usually teams won’t allow that so folks can’t easily slip liquor into their pop. I do not condone that behavior, but now you know.
Prices in the ballpark are typical. If you are going to eat in the Rockies ballpark plan to pay through the nose.
I want to come back to a place I mentioned earlier in Rock Bottom. This is another great double whammy value when going to Coors Field. There menu is a little pricey, but pretty much on par with the millions of other middle of the road restaurants. The big benefit is you get validated parking for free, which saves you $10 or more in most cases and you will walk about 15 minutes for it, which isn’t a big deal to me personally. The dinner itself will be nicer than the food at Coors Field and you will probably come out with more food for a similar price.
Another option that I consistently recommend is Restaurant.com Here you can buy $25 gift certificates to local restaurants for $10. You can also do a google search for "Restaurant.com coupon codes" and almost always get an extra 60 - 80% off that. I often buy these $25 certificates for $2. That is the best way to eat a decent meal before or after the game and save a chunk of change. When you follow the link, just type in the zip code of Coors Field (80265) to see what restaurants are nearby.