The most unique ballpark innovation in Major League Baseball this season was conceived through something many millions of people do every day: Doomscrolling on Instagram. Last October, Malcolm Rogel, the Seattle Mariners' vice president of fan experience, started seeing videos of Florence, Italy's historic buchetta del vino — wine windows carved out of holes in the wall that originated in the 16th and 17th century. Knock on an ancient set of tiny, nondescript wooden doors during operating hours, and get sold a libation in one of the most unique ways possible. Rogel texted Megan Murray, the district manager at Sodexo Live, which operates concessions at the Mariners' T-Mobile Park, and asked if this concept could be replicated at the stadium. Over the cold, rainy offseason, Rogel and Murray went to work on bringing this idea to life. Rogel's father-in-law built a wooden door in the shape of home plate. His close friend's son welded a door knocker in the shape of the Mariners' classic trident logo. Murray toured the ballpark with Seattle's liquor control board to get approval for the concept and the location of the door, which opens up to sinks and closets in the back and counter space with enough room for up to seven staffers to safely work within the location's tight confines. On Opening Day, the Mariners' Sea-cret Door was born as a speakeasy selling one specialty cocktail per game, with the concept spread strictly through social media influencers and word of mouth. There's been no team advertising and no mention of the door on radio or TV broadcasts all season — the door's location purposefully kept secret to create a sort of scavenger hunt for fans searching for it at the park. While it took until the seventh inning of the first game for the drink special to sell out its roughly 100 orders, now the offering is bought up within the first hour or so, with a full queue forming in about 12-15 minutes. Yet Rogel and Murray decided early on that the door wouldn't be open every game, and would probably only operate during about 30 of the team's 81 home games. And when the door isn't open, the M's bolt a storage bin in front of the wall to preserve its location and identity.
Félix Hernández and Adrián Beltré gave fans quite the surprise at the SEAcret Door 🤩🍹 pic.twitter.com/0s38ueFOyH — T-Mobile Park (@TMobilePark) August 9, 2026
"So when it's not open," Rogel told Yahoo Sports, "you can't even see it in the building. When the door's not open, people are constantly still looking around the stadium for this little secret door." The M's would make a huge return on investment if the door was open every game, but decided early on that pure profit wasn't the motivating factor here. "We talk about return on experience and and designing this first around the guest experience and later about the economics," Rogel said. "So much of this goes towards your brand and the perception of what it's like to go to a Mariner game, and this plays more to our brand than just maximizing revenue." Each game the door is open, there's a different $20-30 concoction based on a different current event, pop culture theme, or team milestone, from July 4, the World Cup and Pride Night to the launching of the Artemis II spacecraft and even the viral raccoon Jimothy, who had his own dedicated nights earlier this month. The Sodexo Live culinary team usually plans a theme two to three weeks in advance. For the Artemis II cocktail called the Moon Shot, a vodka and coconut milk drink was poured into a rock glass rimmed with gray sugar and topped with a white cloud of cotton candy with a moon man and a chocolate-covered moon attached to the straws with an assist from the ballpark's pastry chefs. The Mariners have gotten quite creative. To celebrate '90s night at T-Mobile Park, Rogel and Murray helped source dozens of full-size mullets to drape over a drink called The Wig Unit, in honor of Hall of Famer Randy Johnson. For Star Wars night, a green cocktail that looked like Yoda was accessorized with lime wedge ears, olive eyes and a toy plastic lightsaber that a fan had brought over two weeks prior. To celebrate the Mariners' inaugural season of 1977, a French baguette accompanied every French 75 for a creation the team called the French 77. (Courtesy of the Seattle Mariners)
"We try to keep beating ourselves over and over again," Murray told Yahoo Sports. "Like let's make the next one even better than the last one." The MLB speakeasy trend began to catch on in the beginning of the decade, with varying approaches. When the Los Angeles Dodgers planned a $100 million expansion and renovation of its center field plaza and pavilion in 2019, they wanted to add an exclusive experience to that part of Dodger Stadium. The concept, spearheaded by team president and co-owner Stan Kasten and senior vice president of planning and development Janet Marie Smith, was to transport fans back to when the ballpark first opened in 1962. The space finally opened after the pandemic. The speakeasy's design is mid-century modern, based on drawings from architect Edward Fickett, whose drawings for a premium club as Dodger Stadium was being built 65 years ago never came to fruition. The outside entrance is lined with lockers from the original 1962 clubhouse, and the oak-paneled interior with gold chandeliers is filled with memorabilia from Hall of Famer and longtime Dodger manager Tommy Lasorda. The showstopping feature is that the club, also known as Tommy's Bar, features a one-way mirrored view inside the visitors' bullpen. (Courtesy of the Los Angeles Dodgers)
"This is the only place where you're standing on level ground with a bullpen pitcher," Emily Hillery, the Dodgers' vice president of planning and development, told Yahoo Sports. While the space can be rented on non-game days for a relatively affordable $7,500 for up to 85 people, the 40 or so fans who can get in on game days can't actually pay for the ability to enter the speakeasy. The Dodgers have a rewards system for season ticket members and single game buyers where fans accumulate points for different purchases, challenges or events. Accumulate enough points, and you can cash them in for a spot in the speakeasy, which sells light bites, beer and craft cocktails for an additional price that you can't get elsewhere at the stadium. Sometimes when the speakeasy isn't as busy, Dodgers staffers will go out into the center field plaza and whisper a password to fans for the privilege to enter. "It's been really popular with the fans and an asset for both the folks going in and the fans who walk by on a day-to-day basis," Hillery said. As the Soho House-style members club trend exploded in New York City and across the U.S. in the 2020s, the New York Mets opened the Cadillac Club in 2023 to take advantage of the moment and add an element to Citi Field never seen before in MLB. The Mets wanted to redefine what a unique luxury ballpark experience looked like, while simultaneously paying homage to their history, according to Tara Napoli, the team's senior director of hospitality. So they named the club Payson's after Joan Payson, the Mets' original majority owner who became the first woman to purchase control of a club in MLB history. "She had a fan-first mentality and deflected attention away from herself to celebrate the team and the fans first," Napoli told Yahoo Sports. "This club captures all that, bringing a new era of luxury into Citi Field while integrating sophisticated, optimistic and bold elements reminiscent of classic New York City." The Cadillac Club sits just beyond the right field warning track and has a separate, nondescript VIP ballpark entrance for the 100 fans lucky enough to get in. The trendy, intimate atmosphere begins when you walk through the entrance into a holding area lounge with a bar, chairs and couches where you can order a drink. You then walk through a tunnel surrounded by brick walls and greenery through a pair of doors and into the club itself, an indoor/outdoor area that includes a communal bar and individual seats with cupholders, video screens and storage compartments under each seat. (Courtesy of New York Mets)
Unlike Tommy's Bar, the Cadillac Club is far from free. While the team did not disclose the price, entrance includes free parking and food and beverage options that includes your traditional ballpark fare but also meat carving, fish dishes, composed salads and dessert from a Michelin star pastry chef. While the initial membership list was limited to 25-30, roughly half the 100 spots are now owned by season ticket members who get assigned seats for every game. And once those fans experience the club, the retention rate for this membership is quite high. "They're not quick to give those seats back," Napoli said. "That's for sure." Is the speakeasy concept the future of the MLB ballpark experience? Rogel, the Mariners executive, said representatives from four teams have come to see their Sea-cret Door concept in person and nine or 10 teams have called to talk about it. And not only will the concept be back next season, but the M's are considering adding an additional door somewhere at T-Mobile Park for 2027. The new attraction could include food and drink pairings, which they've done at times this season, or some rotating combination that features local ballpark partners and vendors.
The Mets have discussed internally how to create more one-of-a-kind club spaces at Citi Field, but don't appear close to having any concrete plans to build out an additional speakeasy concept. The Dodgers don't have any plans either. "It would be popular," Hillery said, "but for now, we're happy celebrating the one we've got." Because Rangel found inspiration from his Instagram algorithm, Mariners fans may be looking left and right for the next concession sensation to seemingly appear out of thin air next season. And for other clubs who may be looking to replicate the Sea-cret Door in the not-too-distant future, it might just take one small hole in the wall to create the next viral stadium hit.