texas rangers

Ritz-Carlton Dallas Creates World Series Packages

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Sports

The World Series starts tonight in San Francisco and in just a few days, Texas will have its turn to host fans. The Ritz-Carlton, Dallas has announced a weekend of baseball-themed treats. The sports-inspired treats will be offered this Saturday, Sunday (Halloween) and Monday, based on availability, when the Texas Rangers and San Francisco Giants square off near Dallas. On October 31 and November 1. Sunday and Monday-night guests wearing either a Texas Rangers or San Francisco Giants cap or other apparel item when checking into The Ritz-Carlton, Dallas will receive a certificate for one complimentary breakfast to be enjoyed either in-room or at Fearing's Restaurant.

The Ritz-Carlton, Dallas also has a squadron of "baseball concierges" to answer guest questions about games, teams, players, TV broadcasts and baseball history. The minute the Texas Rangers clinched their long-awaited birth in the World Series, the hotel went into high gear, preparing detailed baseball information to be shared with several hundred hotel employees via advance instruction in their regular training line-ups. The hotel's front-line employees have been given advanced training provided personally by the hotel's senior rooms leadership staff and via a baseball-specific Guest Relations packet.

Fearing's Restaurant is offering a "Claw and Antler" hot dog combo in its Rattlesnake bar. The Claw and Antlers" are new set of gestures that have taken the American League-West by storm. If a Texas Ranger make a positive offensive play he makes the claw sign. The "antlers" signify a speed-related player feat like a fast run. Rangers' utility player Esteban German launched this hand-signal trend while playing Triple A baseball in Oklahoma City last season. At Fearing's, the Claw is a Chicago-style hot dog with sweet relish, pickled serrano peppers, sliced tomato, chopped onion, and yellow mustard, while the Antler is a chili dog featuring chopped onions, shredded cheddar cheese, and yellow mustard. Fearing's will honor visitors from San Francisco with a house cioppino inspired by northern California's fresh seafood delicacies. A special in-room menu item just for this weekend features a two-city selection of smoked Texas pecans with ice-cold Anchor Steam beer from San Francisco.

The Ritz-Carlton Spa, Dallas will offer a special gift with purchase of a World Series Wind-Down Massage. Guests enjoying the sports-lovers' massage during Texas game dates will be offered a complimentary choice of Texas or California beer following their 50-minute treatment. Rates for rooms on October 31 start at $369 per night.

Tags: dallas, hotel deals, ritz-carlton, texas rangers, world series

Billionaire Sports Owner Tom Hicks Stops Making Loan Payments

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Sports, Wealth

Billionaire Tom Hicks (#701 on the Forbes list for 2009) has found himself in a bit of a tight financial spot. His holding company which owns the Texas Rangers baseball team and the Dallas Stars hockey team has defaulted on about $525 million in loans. Hicks has said the move was deliberate, a business strategy as part of his negotiations with the banks. His company want changes to the lending agreement including full access to reserve accounts and a revolving credit line.

Hick describes the decision as a "nonevent for the teams, fans, sponsors and vendors" and has said he is doing fine financially, well, as fine as one can be in these times. Last week reports came out that he was looking to sell large minority stakes in both teams.

Sports teams generated a lot of revenue but they are also extremely costly and much depends on audience interest. The economy has has a deleterious effect on ticket sales for many teams. Last year's attendance at Texas Rangers games was particularly low and Hicks is hoping for better luck this season. The Rangers have their home opener on Monday.

Tags: dallas stars, DallasStars, sports, texas rangers, TexasRangers, tom hicks, TomHicks