This time, Washington’s baseball boom is for real. When Nationals Park opened in 2008, expectations for the new Capitol Riverfront neighborhood soared and were quickly burst as the team lost more than 100 games that year and a recession halted the highly anticipated development.
But the 2011 Nats finished just below a .500 winning percentage, and by midseason next year, the long-awaited bars and post-game hangouts are slated to open their doors to become the hopping ballpark neighborhood the District long envisioned.
“We’ve been waiting a while,” said Michael Stevens, executive director of the Capitol Riverfront Business Improvement District. “But I think it’s about to pop.”
| Nationals Park attendance |
| Year MLB rank* Total attendance Average Total games |
| 2011 20 1.94m 24,8777 78 |
| 2010 23 1.83m 22,568 81 |
| 2009 24 1.82m 22,715 80 |
| 2008 19 2.3m 29,005 80 |
| *MLB attendance rank out of 30 teams |
| Source: ESPN.com |
This baseball season ended on a high note for the area on and off the field.
Finishing at 80-81, the Nationals posted their best record since the team moved to the ballpark, and phenom pitcher Stephen Strasburg returned to the mound after a year of recovering from elbow surgery.
An average of about 26,200 people attended the Nats’ final 39 home games — nearly 3,000 more than the average through the first 39 games. Roughly 1.94 million fans visited the park this year, up by roughly 112,000 people in 2010, and accomplished in three fewer home games.
And Nats fans are already voting with their feet and their wallets for next year.
“Season tickets are being renewed at a very strong pace,” said Nationals Chief Operating Officer Andrew Feffer. “We’ve doubled new season ticket sales compared to the same time last year.”
Television viewership also increased, averaging a 1.5 household rating, compared with a 1.3 rating in 2010, said John McGuinness, a spokesman for Mid-Atlantic Sports Network. Advertising interest is also up as ratings are expected to improve in 2012 with a full season of Strasburg and the possible big-league debut of outfielder Bryce Harper.
“Don’t get me wrong, we’re still going out there pursuing interest, but the phone has been ringing quite a bit more here than last year,” McGuinness said.
And it’s also happening with the bricks and mortar. At least one dozen restaurants and more than 1,000 residences are slated to open in the neighborhood over the next two years, and the high-profile property just across the street from the center-field gate is expected to break ground in early 2012 after years of delay.
But in the business world, the team’s performance and 298 losses during Nationals Park’s first three years have little to do with the dearth of nightlife officials had buzzed about when the team arrived in 2005 from Montreal. Retail is always the last to open in new neighborhoods, said Stevens, and the recession made that process even slower.
The neighborhood now appears at that tipping point, though, with 35,000 office workers there by day and occupancy rates for the existing residences hovering at 95 percent. The increasing performance of the Nationals is icing on the cake.
“Once there’s that shift of having the community excited about it, developers are going to want to go,” said John Maroon, a sports marketing expert.
