Stadium cosmetics 2017

[RobDibblesGhost]

Not only was WiFi not accessible, but Verizon 4G service was unreachable as well in my seats in the club. Verizon worked when I stepped into the club area, though.

And we saw a beer vendor in our section twice in nine innings.

yeah, that was frustrating. I thought they doubled the number of Wi-Fi routers but I couldn't get on at all plus my Verizon data service was basically nil. Maybe the Nats need to take a lesson from San Francisco - they had great Wi-Fi when I was there even with a sellout crowd.

[OldChelsea]

[...]And we saw a beer vendor in our section twice in nine innings.

...in other words, same as last season for us in and around TBSITH (sometimes we didn't even get two visits from beer vendors last season).

[mitlen]

...in other words, same as last season for us in and around TBSITH (sometimes we didn't even get two visits from beer vendors last season).

1st base side of the 300s saw a lot of action last year.    Of course, we tipped.       

[Baseball is Life]

...but if there weren't ridiculous queues it wouldn't be a Nats home opener - I've seen queues that would put US airports to shame at every home opener I've been at. The queues are as essential to a Nats home opener as is the concessions constantly running out of stuff in early/middle innings.

I've adjusted my strategy for home openers. We always tailgate a bit and eat outside and bring in some food and water. I try to never leave my seat for the entire game. The lines are just too damn long.

[OldChelsea]

1st base side of the 300s saw a lot of action last year.    Of course, we tipped.       

So did I, back when the $9 base price made it quite convenient.

[Ali the Baseball Cat]

Another reason to be no more than 3 or 4 seats from an aisle.   

[mitlen]

Another reason to be no more than 3 or 4 seats from an aisle.   

So many good reasons for that.    First or last row aisle seat is the ultimate  ....   next to the concourse  ....  easy in/easy out  ....  bathroom and beer concessions mere steps away.    Don't have to walk anywhere to see if there's an existing line.

[dcpatti]

Eh, I did the Nats-Braves game at The Ted on Opening Day last year and it was an equal crapshow, long lines to get in (although I didn't really have to wait to get in on the 3B side yesterday about 90 minutes before first pitch), out of everything, credit card machines not working; they were out of any beer that wasn't Mich Ultra by the 5th inning, ran out of burgers at some point,  and the one beer stand nearest our seats ran out of change after the card machine broke. And that was nowhere near a capacity crowd.  You kinda gotta have a high tolerance for mayhem on Opening Day, because crap just breaks and you have mostly new people doing new jobs and all the fans show up at the same time.

The single pick-up point for the Magic 8 Ball was a stupid stupid idea, seriously if you're going to have a giveaway item that MLB won't let you give away till people are leaving, don't give it out on a day when you know you'll be sold out (and when people will be there and boozing it up 3 hours in advance).   Like anyone could even throw one of those Magic 8 Balls anyway.  It'd be way more painful to get hit with a flying bobblehead in a box. 

[aspenbubba]

yeah, that was frustrating. I thought they doubled the number of Wi-Fi routers but I couldn't get on at all plus my Verizon data service was basically nil. Maybe the Nats need to take a lesson from San Francisco - they had great Wi-Fi when I was there even with a sellout crowd.

I have Verizon and I got zip the whole freakin day. Too say the least , was I pissed!!

[GburgNatsFan]

Good to know it's not just Nats Park that blows on OD.

That's what I was thinking yesterday: Metro sucks and Nats Park blows.

But I really enjoyed the game anyway.

Eh, I did the Nats-Braves game at The Ted on Opening Day last year and it was an equal crapshow, long lines to get in (although I didn't really have to wait to get in on the 3B side yesterday about 90 minutes before first pitch), out of everything, credit card machines not working; they were out of any beer that wasn't Mich Ultra by the 5th inning, ran out of burgers at some point,  and the one beer stand nearest our seats ran out of change after the card machine broke. And that was nowhere near a capacity crowd.  You kinda gotta have a high tolerance for mayhem on Opening Day, because crap just breaks and you have mostly new people doing new jobs and all the fans show up at the same time.

The single pick-up point for the Magic 8 Ball was a stupid stupid idea, seriously if you're going to have a giveaway item that MLB won't let you give away till people are leaving, don't give it out on a day when you know you'll be sold out (and when people will be there and boozing it up 3 hours in advance).   Like anyone could even throw one of those Magic 8 Balls anyway.  It'd be way more painful to get hit with a flying bobblehead in a box.

[Make_lemons]

Can anyone report if the feature of ordering concessions to be delivered to your seats worked using the Ballpark App?

[MarquisDeSade]

Eh, I did the Nats-Braves game at The Ted on Opening Day last year and it was an equal crapshow, long lines to get in (although I didn't really have to wait to get in on the 3B side yesterday about 90 minutes before first pitch), out of everything, credit card machines not working; they were out of any beer that wasn't Mich Ultra by the 5th inning, ran out of burgers at some point,  and the one beer stand nearest our seats ran out of change after the card machine broke. And that was nowhere near a capacity crowd.  You kinda gotta have a high tolerance for mayhem on Opening Day, because crap just breaks and you have mostly new people doing new jobs and all the fans show up at the same time.

The single pick-up point for the Magic 8 Ball was a stupid stupid idea, seriously if you're going to have a giveaway item that MLB won't let you give away till people are leaving, don't give it out on a day when you know you'll be sold out (and when people will be there and boozing it up 3 hours in advance).   Like anyone could even throw one of those Magic 8 Balls anyway.  It'd be way more painful to get hit with a flying bobblehead in a box. 

To be fair the Ted was going through a ton of issues at the time with stuff being moved to SunTrust Field and contract and delivery issues with vendors. A friend of mine works for the Barves so I was there for Opening Day and got to check out the stadium well before the gates opened to the public. Sure you noticed the CowG-d in LF was missing.

[machpost]

http://wtop.com/washington-nationals/2017/04/nationals-fans-blast-ridiculous-lines-terrible-service-opening-day/

That's totally normal and to be expected. Much of that dysfunctional level of service persists throughout the entire season, too. And the Nats clearly don't give a hoot.

[Baseball is Life]

That's totally normal and to be expected. Much of that dysfunctional level of service persists throughout the entire season, too. And the Nats clearly don't give a hoot.

If the lines are efficient and move faster, then they sell more stuff, right? Why would they not care about that?

But, yeah, Opening Day is always a mess. Typical games are fine for the most part.

[dcpatti]

Nats issue apology to fans, and promise to do better:  https://twitter.com/Nationals/status/849723249076322304

[dracnal]

Nats issue apology to fans, and promise to do better:  https://twitter.com/Nationals/status/849723249076322304

Until they sell out on a regular basis, they aren't going to fix the issue. I'm pulling numbers out of the air here, but it should make the point -

Let's say on an average game, they need 10,000 hot dogs and 500 staff to keep lines short and satisfy people. On a sell out game, they need 14,000 hot dogs and 650 staff. While it's pretty easy to get the extra 4k hot dogs, getting the extra 150 people to work for a single game and then get fired is not exactly an easy thing to do.

End result: They staff for the projected level of volume throughout the year and don't bother ordering additional food because past performance indicates a: all stadiums tend to do it and b: fans forget after the first two weeks of the season.

[machpost]

One positive at the concession stands is that they're using all new point of sale hardware that supports Apple Pay and Android Pay, which seems a lot faster and more convenient than using eCash or a debit/credit card, especially now that they're using chip readers for cards.

[bluestreak]

One positive at the concession stands is that they're using all new point of sale hardware that supports Apple Pay and Android Pay, which seems a lot faster and more convenient than using eCash or a debit/credit card, especially now that they're using chip readers for cards.

This is great. Except do you still get the discount/cash back if you don't use eCash? That's a lot of money to give up for the convenience of using your watch or phone to pay.

[Baseball is Life]

Let's say on an average game, they need 10,000 hot dogs and 500 staff to keep lines short and satisfy people. On a sell out game, they need 14,000 hot dogs and 650 staff. While it's pretty easy to get the extra 4k hot dogs, getting the extra 150 people to work for a single game and then get fired is not exactly an easy thing to do.

I don't think it works like you think it does. I don't think they need more staff. There's only so much space behind the counters, etc.  I just think they have a bunch of staff that are not in their mid-season form.  Basically I think they need spring training for staff.

[Baseball is Life]

One positive at the concession stands is that they're using all new point of sale hardware that supports Apple Pay and Android Pay, which seems a lot faster and more convenient than using eCash or a debit/credit card, especially now that they're using chip readers for cards.

They also have new e-cash card readers. Are we talking about the same ones. They're much faster once you get the hang of it. Just tap and it reads.

[machpost]

This is great. Except do you still get the discount/cash back if you don't use eCash? That's a lot of money to give up for the convenience of using your watch or phone to pay.

That's right, I didn't think about that.

[dcpatti]

You can pay with the Ballpark app and still get the discount.

[lylelgreen]

New All Star Game logo being unveiled at Nats Park?

https://twitter.com/lylelgreen/status/889964644630241280

[Dave301]

New All Star Game logo being unveiled at Nats Park?

https://twitter.com/lylelgreen/status/889964644630241280

Mark Zuckerman‏Verified account @MarkZuckerman · 5m5 minutes ago 
Mayor Bowser, on keeping Metro open for All-Star events: "We'll make sure it will be taken care of."

 

[skippy1999]

(Image removed from quote.)

I have no recollection of other All Star Game logos but that one is really quite splendid