Booking a prime location, six-person box for all 12 sessions costs up to $11,715 + GST. Boxes and packages vary in size and placement.
Corporate boxes are overseen by Coney Stanley Events, run by former Silver Fern Julie Coney and former All Black Joe Stanley.
The cheapest bottle of wine is the Church Road Rose at $75, while a bottle of Mumm RSRV Blanc de Blancs champagne will set you back $250.
It’s not every day you are treated to the pomp and pleasure of a corporate box at the ASB Classic – an experience sure to be gracing your Instagram feed with women in floppy hats and men in linen shirts acquired at Cotton On for 25% off.
Ournight-session tickets mean we have to wait with a colourful gathering outside centre court for the final doubles match of the day session to end. It drags because of multiple afternoon contests entering a deciding set, but the bubbles, beer and banter help to offset the delay.
A couple of our group used the time to get their moles checked (we were guests of MoleMap) – and yes, you should go and get yours checked at their venue on site at the Tennis Centre.
The empty seats seen on television by anyone watching from home are misleading, as there are actually a couple of hundred people waiting just outside the centre court.
The crowd is eventually permitted through, and my group of six enters our box. The compact area is equipped with a small table, chairs, wine glasses and a wooden crate of hats with a couple of blankets.
A delectable board of three different cheeses, crackers, bread, nuts, grapes, dried apricots and spreads arrives for the sum of $95, though the half-hour wait detracts from the novelty.
Our cheese board, extra bread and crackers, Parmesan bread bites and wine in a corporate box at the ASB Classic.
While the snacks are delightful in quality, the ratio is bizarre. There is enough cheese to make anyone with lactose intolerance put their plumber on speed dial. It takes an extra $15 worth of bread and crackers to even come close to levelling the field.
The seasoned boiled potatoes are a particular highlight of the menu, supplemented by fried chicken bites and Parmesan bread balls.
The intermittent rain delays are nowhere near as bothersome with a gin and tonic and two glasses of chardonnay permeating my bloodstream. When light showers come through, the black umbrella is large enough to comfortably shield our group.
As my blood-alcohol level relaxes me into my chair, the tennis itself becomes a therapeutic audio-sensory experience. The light patter of Emma Navarro bouncing the ball and the hum of a whispering crowd massage my brain, interrupted somewhat rudely by the grunt of Francesca Jones as she returns the serve.
A sushi platter costs $95 in a corporate box at the ASB Classic.
The wooden-framed seats were tested by one guest in our box. The unfortunate furniture broke underneath a sturdily built senior Herald staffer minutes after arriving. Young hospitality helpers hastily replaced it with a plastic deck chair.
The breaks between games allow for fragmented conversation. With the wines continuing to flow, my group finds it increasingly difficult to hush our giggly banter as each point resumes. We are close enough to hear Navarro nonchalantly ask a courtside box how their day is going and hope our enthusiastic encouragement is taken on board by the athletes.
In the session’s second match, Sloane Stephens and Renata Zarazua treat the crowd to a three-set contest under a now clear, black Auckland night sky. As the clock ticks past 11pm, the refreshments start to take their toll and my eyelids droop.
My departing thought is what a tragedy it is that I only took one photo for Instagram.
Nathan Limm has been a journalist with Newstalk ZB and the NZ Herald since 2020. He covered the Netball World Cup in Cape Town in 2023, hosts The Big League Podcast and commentates rugby and netball for Gold Sport.
