Fans of the NHL San Jose Sharks can avail themselves of a new SAP Center premium seating option when the team starts the 2023-24 season: a luxury lounge with mingling space and seats in the bowl.

The roughly 4,000-square-foot Penthouse Lounge is the newest $10-million-plus improvement at the 30-year-old building, whose “good bones” allow for regular upgrades that have maintained the arena’s vitality, as opposed to relying on more intermittent $100 million-range upgrade and maintenance projects, said Sharks President Jonathan Becher.

“Each summer we do one large mega project and a bunch of smaller ones where we invest in modernization and upkeep,” he said, adding that $5 to $10 million has gone into upgrades every year since the building opened in 1993 at a cost of $183 million. “The building doesn’t feel as old as it is chronologically because we are constantly working to refresh it and keep it up to date.”

The Sharks’ new premium project at SAP Center, the Penthouse Lounge, will get underway May 4 and be completed in time for the 2023 NHL season later this year. The Lounge, divvied up into four and six-person theater boxes with a private bar, replaces seven suites and three rows of bowl seats at the top of the arena. “This is part of our strategy to deliver experiences to fans that are not limited to the game of hockey, where it’s as much of a social interaction as it is just viewing the hockey game,” said Sharks President Jonathan Becher. “A modern building has to be designed for many different audiences. And what our building historically had less of is those communal environments. … I would not be surprised if we build more of these in the future.”

Coinciding with SBJ’s ALL IN conference on April 20 at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles, we recognize the work of individuals across sports in the area of diversity, equity and inclusion. They are leading important discussions and decisions within their organizations and throughout the industry about how diversity is a business imperative. We relied on input from industry sources and leaders who have been recognized in our previous DEI coverage to help us identify those who lead by example in how sports business can be a welcoming and open forum for all.

The city of San Jose on Thursday celebrated legendary Sharks player Patrick Marleau, the franchise’s all-time leader in regular season games played, goals and points, ahead of his historic number retirement on Saturday.