{"id":340742,"date":"2025-10-14T16:01:14","date_gmt":"2025-10-14T16:01:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/340742\/"},"modified":"2025-10-14T16:01:14","modified_gmt":"2025-10-14T16:01:14","slug":"cleveland-cavaliers-and-h-wood-group-unveil-new-rocket-arena-club-with-membership-capped-at-100","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/340742\/","title":{"rendered":"Cleveland Cavaliers and h.wood Group unveil new Rocket Arena club with membership capped at 100"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Cavaliers made an eight-figure investment to convert Rocket Arena\u2019s workshop into an event-level membership club called HIPP. The high-end space is only available for Cavs games and limited to 100 members. Its low-five-figure annual membership fee includes valet parking, an exclusive entrance, chef-driven plated meals in a luxurious supper club-inspired environment featuring custom cocktails, a premier wine list and unlimited concessions, as well as access to the rest of Rocket Arena\u2019s clubs. Membership doesn\u2019t include event tickets, though. <\/p>\n

HIPP is a nod in style and name to Cleveland\u2019s historic Hippodrome Theater, which opened in 1907 but was torn down in 1981. The Cavs\u2019 new club — in a space previously used to repair broken arena furniture or build custom pieces for concerts — mimics the late Hippodrome\u2019s lavish interior design.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019ve studied the arc of our city, Cleveland during the industrial revolution was in its golden age,\u201d said Nic Barlage, CEO of Rock Entertainment Group and the Cavaliers. \u201cThe Hippodrome during that era was the epicenter of arts and entertainment, the place in Cleveland. We believe with a lot of the real estate development<\/a> (Rock Entertainment Group is) doing now, we\u2019re on the cusp of the next phase of the golden era of these Mid-American cities in Cleveland and Detroit<\/a> and we want something that was symbolic, that paid homage to our past but also foreshadowed a bright future, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Cavs partnered with hospitality firm h.wood Group, known in part for its Bootsy Bellows concept (a version of which is at SoFi Stadium). Populous provided architectural design services and Whiting-Turner completed the construction. Rocket Arena food and beverage service provider Aramark Sports + Entertainment will handle HIPP\u2019s F&B. <\/p>\n

HIPP is the final piece of a four-year event level renovation at Rocket Arena. The physical space, and the city fire code, helped steer the team toward the 100-member cap. <\/p>\n

\u201cOur thesis around this type of investment and experience, there is really a strong market for what we call ultra premium, this elegant experience,\u201d said Barlage.<\/p>\n

HIPP is the latest ultra luxury space to open at an NBA venue, following pioneers like Crown Club<\/a> (Barclays Center) and the Ra Ra Room<\/a> (Phoenix\u2019s newly renamed Mortgage Matchup Center<\/a>). Its creation was inspired in part by the rest of the Cavs\u2019 high-end premium offerings reaching their capacities.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis isn\u2019t just a trend in the NBA,\u201d Barlage said, noting wait lists to join country clubs across the Cleveland area. \u201cI think this will have a lot of staying power and I think the interesting thing will be how these teams draw commercial activity around these.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Cavs unveil 100-member invite-only club at Rocket Arena The Cleveland Cavaliers and h.wood Group partnered to create HIPP, a new members-only club on the event level of Rocket Arena, designed by Populous. (Cleveland Cavaliers) \"\"Cavs unveil 100-member invite-only club at Rocket Arena The Cleveland Cavaliers and h.wood Group partnered to create HIPP, a new members-only club on the event level of Rocket Arena, designed by Populous. (Cleveland Cavaliers) \"\"Cavs unveil 100-member invite-only club at Rocket Arena The Cleveland Cavaliers and h.wood Group partnered to create HIPP, a new members-only club on the event level of Rocket Arena, designed by Populous. (Cleveland Cavaliers) \"\"Cavs unveil 100-member invite-only club at Rocket Arena The Cleveland Cavaliers and h.wood Group partnered to create HIPP, a new members-only club on the event level of Rocket Arena, designed by Populous. (Cleveland Cavaliers) \"\"Cavs unveil 100-member invite-only club at Rocket Arena The Cleveland Cavaliers and h.wood Group partnered to create HIPP, a new members-only club on the event level of Rocket Arena, designed by Populous. (Cleveland Cavaliers) \"\"Cavs unveil 100-member invite-only club at Rocket Arena The Cleveland Cavaliers and h.wood Group partnered to create HIPP, a new members-only club on the event level of Rocket Arena, designed by Populous. (Cleveland Cavaliers) \"\"Cavs unveil 100-member invite-only club at Rocket Arena The Cleveland Cavaliers and h.wood Group partnered to create HIPP, a new members-only club on the event level of Rocket Arena, designed by Populous. (Cleveland Cavaliers) <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Cavaliers made an eight-figure investment to convert Rocket Arena\u2019s workshop into an event-level membership club called HIPP.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":340743,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3772],"tags":[7,306,305,193,3846,2206,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-340742","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cleveland-cavaliers","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-cavaliers","10":"tag-cleveland","11":"tag-cleveland-cavaliers","12":"tag-clevelandcavaliers","13":"tag-fan-experience","14":"tag-nba"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/115373361928135153","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340742","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=340742"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340742\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/340743"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=340742"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=340742"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=340742"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}