$611 Million Later and Still Getting Screwed
Though the Washington Nationals are well into their third season in the District and moving into their second year under the ownership of Ted Lerner, fans have had plenty to complain about -- the team's record, concessions at RFK and the $611 million stadium debacle. With yesterday's announcement of a new ticket pricing scheme for the team's new stadium, set to open next April, add one more gripe to the list.
Prices for the stadium's best seats are set to rival those of better teams, topping out at $400 per game for front-row spots behind home plate. Seats in the next row up will go for $300, while the 1,800 seats in the next level up will come in at $150. Each of the 66 luxury boxes will retail at $150,000 per season. But it's not the region's well-to-do that are complaining about the costs -- it seems to be everyone else.
While the Post's Marc Fisher didn't seem to be too put off by the price jumps, blogger My Brain Says Rage was quick to respond to the pricing plan, arguing in no uncertain terms that partial season ticket holders were getting screwed. He wrote:
Tickets in the outfield will be $29 a game for partial season ticket holders like myself. No, that is not a typo. That is a price nearly double the gate price at Comerica park and a real slap in the face to those of us that have made the outfield our home in the three seasons here. Bizarrely, the deeper you go into center field, the pricier it gets.
Our own Jeff Beam had pretty much the same to say, writing:
My concern is for the middle-of-the-road folks like me (and 19,000 other stiffs that show up at RFK regularly out of genuine dedication to the team and to the game) that get hosed. My four seats, which cost $14 today, are going up to $20 in the new stadium - $1000 over the half-season package for the four! And they're not even as good as my current seats!And just by looking at the seating chart of the new stadium as compared to RFK's, the total number of cheap seats seems to have decreased.
Fisher argues that because of the stadium's new set-up, it'll actually be the big-spenders getting screwed. After taking a recent tour of the stadium, he says the main concourse will offer views rivaling those of the best seats in the house. But that may not mollify the regulars, much less when Team President Stan Kasten is quoted as saying:
We want to make the most money we can. We want to have as many customers there. We want to make the stadium as good as it can be, which costs money. And we want to have the best team we can have, which costs money. And we want to do all of this while also keeping our game affordable.Given that the city has put up the money for the stadium and the team's payroll is among the lowest in baseball, it certainly feels like Lerner is more concerned with making money than he is with offering an affordable experience.