T-Mobile Park, originally named Safeco Field, opened in July 1999, after five years of planning and construction. The park replaced the Mariners’ original stadium, the Kingdome, which had come under question as a suitable MLB facility during the 1990s. In September 1995, King County voters defeated a ballot measure to secure public funding for the stadium. However, shortly thereafter, the Mariners’ first appearance in the MLB postseason and their victory in the 1995 American League Division Series revived public desire to keep the team in Seattle. As a result, the Washington State Legislature approved an alternate means of funding for the stadium with public money.
T-Mobile Park is a retractable roof stadium located in Seattle, Washington. It opened in 1999 and is the home ballpark of Major League Baseball’s Seattle Mariners and has a seating capacity of 47,929. The park has gained a reputation for being a terrific setting for baseball and a great place for baseball fans, with sweeping views of Seattle’s downtown skyline and breath-taking sunsets over Puget Sound.
How to Get to Seattle
The nearest airport to the T-Mobile Park is Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA), also known as SeaTac Airport, which is approximately 14 miles away. There are several airlines offering direct flights between London Heathrow Airport (LHR) and Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) with a flight time of approximately 9 hours and 45 minutes.
If you are already in the US and looking to travel to/from Seattle, then you have the choice of most US domestic airlines including Air Canada, Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, American Eagle, Frontier Airlines, Jet Blue, Southwest Airlines, Spirit Airlines, United Airways and WestJet.
Public Transport
There are several public transportation options available around T-Mobile Park. The park is accessible by Link light rail, ST Express buses, and several Metro routes. Mariners’ games are a short walk from the Link light rail Stadium Station and International District/Chinatown stations as well as numerous bus stops within walking distance.
You could also make use of free apps such as Moovit to get real-time timetables, maps and directions to the arena using public transportation. Rideshare services such as Uber or Lyft are also available in the vicinity with a designated drop-off zone at the arena.
Staying in Seattle
T-Mobile Park is in the SoDo neighbourhood of Seattle, Washington. SoDo stands for South of Downtown and is an industrial area that has been undergoing a transformation in recent years with the addition of new businesses and attractions.
There are many hotels nearby to suit all budgets, which can be booked directly or via one of the hotel reservation booking sites like Expedia. Some of the closest hotels, all within walking distance of T-Mobile Park, include Silver Cloud Hotel, Embassy Suites by Hilton, and Best Western Plus Pioneer Square Hotel Downtown.
Seattle Mariners Tickets
The Seattle Mariners sell their tickets via Ticketmaster.
SeatGeek has replaced StubHub as the official ticket resale partner for MLB.
Baseball fans can still use other resale ticket marketplaces to buy and sell tickets to MLB games. MLB will verify those tickets so buyers know they’re getting a legitimate ticket.
Here are links to the main ticket resale sites. Click on the link, which will open up a new window, and you can compare the prices on the different ticket resell sites, bearing in mind that the prices shown are before the selling platforms fees are added, so take time to have a read of my tips to Buying Tickets in North America.
- SeatGeek
- SportsEvents365 (Click on the Search Button)
- StubHub International
- StubHub US
- Ticketmaster US
- TicketNetwork
- Viagogo
- Vivid Seats
I recommend downloading the Ballpark App to your phone as it contains a lot of Gameday information for the Ballpark you are visiting and a place to check in and record all the baseball games you have been to.