Yankees to add social gathering areas, cut capacity

NEW YORK -- New Yankee Stadium is being renovated after less than a decade to include seven new social gathering spaces, reducing capacity by about 2,100 seats.

The Yankees said Monday that a children's zone with an artificial surface and miniature baseball field will be created in the right-field upper deck and include playground equipment and a replica World Series trophy.

Open-air spaces will be added to the left and right of the restaurant in center field, eliminating obstructed view bleacher seats. The new area will include drink rail locations with power and USB ports.

A gathering area above the restaurant will be expanded to 3,500 square feet; a sports lounge will be built in the lower deck and include a full bar; and a pair of party areas will be constructed in the upper decks.

Capacity had been about 49,500. The changes will remove about 1,100 obstructed-view bleachers seats and 600 upper-deck seats.