Written by Dan Wismar

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The Indians hosted members of the media Wednesday to show off their new premium seating area and discuss their promotions and programs for the 2013 season. The club has removed ten suites on the upper suite level, just to the first base side of home plate, and opened up the 5000 square feet to create a new lounge, bar and dining area that will accommodate up to 100 season ticket holders.

The plush new digs are targeted at the Indians ticket holder looking for a “higher end experience” at the ballpark, and the area is well-equipped with the bars, buffets and flat-screen TV’s to make that happen for them. The team reports that the reception to the new area has been very positive, and that remaining seats are limited.

Local premium auto dealer chain Collection Auto Group has purchased the naming rights to the new club, which will be called, aptly enough, The Collection Auto Club. Other companies in on the ground floor of the club’s sponsorship are Cohen and Company,CPA’s, Frantz Ward LLP, and Thogus Products.

Joel Hammond of the Indians Communications staff (thanks Joel, for the invite) had a post at the TribeVibe blog a few weeks ago, while the construction was still underway, with some details on the new space.

So what else is new? I mean besides Drew Stubbs, Michael Bourn, Mark Reynolds, Brett Myers, and Nick Swisher...

Tribe senior vice-president for public relations Bob DiBiasio was on hand to address the group Wednesday, (and as the photo at right shows, other top team officials were also in attendance) DiBiasio admitted at the outset that Indians staffers were a bit depressed after the disappointing 2012 season concluded last October, wondering how they were going to sell baseball in Cleveland after three 90-loss seasons in four years.

The hire of Terry Francona as manager changed all that, according to DiBiasio, and the club has been riding a wave of optimism ever since, sparked in no small part by the willingness of ownership to open up the wallet for some baseball players, while at the same time reducing concession prices. The team has been listening to their fans in the offseason, and part of their plan is to do more of what is already working for them.

The Indians have 15 Dollar Dog Nights on the schedule, and 16 Fireworks dates, two of their time-tested promotions. They have increased the “Giveaways” dates to 20, up from 11 a year ago. That includes two Bobblehead giveaways, featuring Albert Belle and Omar Vizquel figures, and jersey promotions for four current players.

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Other changes for the 20th season for the ballpark at the corner of Carnegie and Ontario:

- The club is touting their new 4-3-2-1 Concession plan...in which the prices of several popular concession items have been reduced in response to fan input. The “4” is for the $4 price of a 12-oz beer, the “3” is the new price for a hot dog, the “2” is a new rate for all soft drink refills, and the “1” is for the buck a dog will cost you on Dollar Dog Nights.

- The popular Social Suite for social media buffs has been relocated from the left field area over to right field, and will be adjacent to a new Family Social Suite near the Kids Clubhouse.

- The top (fourth) level of the Terrace Club will now be reserved exclusively for group outings, while the third level is now reserved for season ticket holders, and has an updated menu and reduced prices.

- In response to requests from groups looking for better seat locations for the game, the top six rows of Section 151 behind home plate have been removed and a terraced area with tables and chairs will replace them, in order to accommodate groups of up to 36 people.

- A new Tribe Rewards program will be in place, in which season ticket holders can earn points based on their tenure, seat location etc, and can in turn customize their benefits, with perks like a chance to take batting practice, attend post-game press conferences, or get Club Seats for a game.

DiBiasio, sporting an Arizona tan, says the Indians clubhouse atmosphere in spring training has been like night and day from the last few years, and the players can’t wait to get back to Cleveland to get things going in a positive direction.

Speaking of waiting....the fans will be here to greet them on April 8.

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on Twitter at @dwismar