From the Washington Post
Review by Kristen Rauch in KIN 435 (section 2)
Looking at the crowd in Nationals Stadium on Opening Day two years ago, one would have thought they were at Citizens Bank Park, home of the Philadelphia Phillies. Phillies fans flooded the capital in 2010, which is why the Washington Nationals have launched a promotion campaign called “Take Back the Park” for this season’s series against the Phillies in May. Andrew Feffer, the Nationals’ COO, claims that this year is “a different day,” as the campaign aims to get the majority of seats filled with Washington fans.
The Take Back the Park promotion offers a special presale of single-game tickets available only to those who live in DC, Maryland, or Virginia. The presale opened at 7:00 am on Friday, February 3rd, and will continue until a yet-to-be-specified date. During this time, Nationals season-ticket holders and residents of the DMV area are encouraged to register for the offer, although eligibility for presale does not guarantee availability of those tickets; tickets are subject to a first-come, first-served basis. Along with this promotion, Feffer has made an appeal to local fans that “filling the park is not only about the Nationals and Phillies, but rather a civic issue.” He hopes the community will band together and take advantage of this opportunity to reclaim what is theirs: Nationals Park.
What does Take Back the Park mean for Phillies fans? They will not be able to purchase tickets to the series until the conclusion of the promotion, and even then, the group tickets they do buy will be at a non-discount rate. This has upset many of the Philadelphia tour operators who generate their income by grouping bus tickets to Nationals Park with tickets to the games. Feffer wants to make sure that Nationals fans get the opportunity to get a ticket to the game before Phillies fans, but once the promotion is over the remaining single-game tickets will go on sale to anyone.
In my opinion, this promotion plan has potential for short-term success. I think that Take Back the Park will get local Nats fans to become more aware of the rivalry with the Phillies, and realizing that this opponent has really “taken away” their stadium, competitiveness will set in and Washington fans will want to reclaim what is theirs. In the long-run, however, attendance ratios at Nationals-Phillies games will really depend on whether or not the Nats win. The new promotion idea will excite the people of Washington for the first series, but if the Nationals are not winning it will have a negative effect on the number of DMV residents who take advantage of the presale and attend future games. Furthermore, limiting group ticket sales may anger Phillies fans, potentially resulting in poorer sportsmanship from those that do end up getting seats in the stadium.
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