Yesterday was an awful combination for attendance. The weather was dreadful for most of the day, and it was raining steadily and hard around COB, at least where I was. If I had tickets for yesterday I might have punted and gone home.
On top of that, Caps playoff game. Until the Caps are done no one is going to realize it's baseball season. I can't find Nationals news on local radio.
...now who, as recently as three years ago, would in his wildest fantasies have thought that the Caps would eclipse any other team in this town?
I've been a Caps season ticket holder since 2001 and I remember well those Tuesday and Wednesday snoozefests against the Lightning and Thrashers, during those first couple of post-lock-out seasons with maybe 6,000 actual attendance...now that they're winning and contending they're selling out every night and Caps gear can be seen everywhere (I'm hard put to remember the last time I was at Nationals Park and didn't see at least a couple of people in Caps gear).
It's simple: unless you're the Redskins, you have to win to get people in the seats. Now the Caps are winning, and the Phone Booth is packed out and the Caps are the talk of the town (and opposing supporters can't bring the numbers they once did)...while the Nats, while improved (at least for now), are still quite a way from contending, and the ballpark has lots of empty seats...for now.
Wait till the Nats start winning and contending...we'll be getting 30K+ in the ballpark for mid-week visits by the Rockies, and Phillies supporters are going to have to find some other opposition ballpark to trash.