Knights' office space rental a suite deal

In normal times, spending a weekday at the ballpark often meant that one had found a way to escape the office. In these abnormal times, however, the reverse is true: the ballpark itself is the office, providing the opportunity to escape from home.

That's the premise behind the Charlotte Knights' "Work from Home (Plate)" initiative, which began Monday at Truist Field. The Knights, a longtime Triple-A entity, have converted the 6-year-old ballpark's 20 suites into offices. The suites, which can accommodate up to four people, are available at daily ($95) and weekly ($400) rates. They are equipped with Wi-Fi connections and televisions -- as well as stunning, Christmas light-augmented views of the Charlotte skyline and what Knights chief operating officer Dan Rajkowski calls "the nicest 2 1/2 acres of grass in Mecklenburg County."

Rajkowski said the idea for "Work from Home (Plate)" was sparked in part by one of his family members, who needed a place to work while his home was undergoing inspection. The success of this improvised endeavor helped lead to further brainstorming among the team's staff; local hotels were offering a similar service, so why not the local Minor League Baseball team? Work from Home (Plate) was announced on Nov. 17 and officially began on Nov. 30.

"[The response] was slow at first with the Thanksgiving holiday, but now it's started to kick in because of the media exposure. We’ve had TV stations out doing stories on this," Rajowski said on Tuesday afternoon. "We’re finding that, because people have been cooped up for so long, this is better than the same four walls. You get out here and feel like you're staying at a nice hotel. ... It's safe. We're following all the CDC regulations and sanitizing each night. When you're inside your suite, you can take your mask off and work from the table. So now we're taking reservations. Megan [Smithers], our community relations director, said that right now she has 60 emails to respond back to."

To better accommodate Truist Field's new 9-to-5 population, the Knights have converted their spacious owner's suite into a break room. Self-serve vending areas, provided by on-demand food service company Canteen, provide a litany of lunch and beverage options.

"Canteen is actually under the umbrella of [food service company] Compass, and their North American headquarters are in Charlotte," Rajkowski said. "I know their regional president. I called him up, said, ‘I’ve got this crazy idea. I can’t afford to buy the machines. I don’t know how this relationship works.' He said ‘We’ll set you up, fix this up.' So they did it to help out. It’s another amenity. You walk down the hall and can choose from 30 different coffees. It’s a nice convenience for our guests that are coming in."

One of the Knights' very first guests was ESPN senior writer Ryan McGee, who also serves as co-host of the college football, music and NASCAR-themed "Marty and McGee" podcast. McGee, erstwhile Asheville Tourists employee and lifelong Minor League Baseball enthusiast, said he's "taken advantage of everything the Knights have done" during the pandemic. On Monday, he shared his Work from Home (Plate) experience with his more than 86,000 Twitter followers.

So, @KnightsBaseball is doing a "Work From Home Plate" program all off-season, where you can rent a suite to change up your 2020 work routine. Free WiFi and coffee and, yes, it's pretty awesome! pic.twitter.com/cPfLpnl6b3

— Ryan McGee (@ESPNMcGee) November 30, 2020

"We're Knights' season-ticket holders, my dad, brother and I. We've got seats behind the home dugout. Normally, we would have been at 25 ballgames," McGee said. "My wife, when she was doing our annual photo book, told me that 'This is the first time there weren't 7,000 pictures of the Charlotte skyline.' I can't help myself, I just love this ballpark. So this was a great change of scenery.

"I wrote the [weekly college football column] 'Bottom 10' while I was there. Homer came by. There was free Wi-Fi and coffee. Not a bad deal. ... [Knights vice president of communications] Tommy Viola had given me the heads-up that they might be doing this. I told him, 'When you do, I want to be the first.'"

Indeed, he was.

"I was so the first, I was the one who figured out they had to put filters in the coffee machine. And using the fancy vending machines, I was the guinea pig. It was Homer, the IT guy and me figuring out how to buy a sandwich. So anyone renting a suite going forward, they won’t have to figure these things out. They’ll have me to thank."

Homer Suite Homer!@CLTKnightsHomer stopped by to see our "Work from Home Plate" guest of honor, @ESPNMcGee! pic.twitter.com/VE17hluF6m

— Tommy Viola (@Tommy_the_V) November 30, 2020

For Rajkowski and his staff, "Work from Home (Plate)" is an extension of an operating philosophy that has guided the Knights -- and all Minor League Baseball teams -- during the pandemic.

"This is the age of being creative, there’s no question about that," he said. "We don’t run a baseball team now -- we’re selling pumpkins in the outfield, having movie nights, turning the ballpark into a Christmas Village. Work from Home (Plate) came about from that. It's been 18 months now without gameday revenue, and we still need to keep people employed and keep the lights on. So this forced us to be creative, to use the building a bit more. People have been working from home for months on end. We won’t stop this until March, when the season is getting ready to begin."

Truist Field's built-in views, comparative spaciousness and recent vintage make it an ideal venue for the Work from Home (Plate) concept. Nonetheless, it's an idea that has the potential to expand to ballparks across the country.

"If something is unique, you might soon see it throughout the industry," Rajkowski said. "Hopefully, others will take notice of what we're doing."