The Caps attendance took at least a year to jump up after they started winning. In Ovie's first few seasons DC was getting ripped as a hockey town because we had the best player in the world and we weren't drawing big crowds.
In the first two post-lock-out seasons the Caps finished with losing records and missed the playoffs (and drew accordingly)...in 2007-08 they did make the playoffs, and in the season after that the still-ongoing sell-out streak began.
It's going to take a while for the Nats to become a consistent draw as well. A campaign similar to that of the '05 Overachievers will get a decent boomlet started, at least until football season begins...but if the time comes when they are in first place or within biting distance of a wild-card berth on Labour Day the turnstiles will get going, and a NLDS trip (especially with a series win) will see crowds of 30k in the park for Tuesday nighters against the Marlins. One has to figure in, too, that (1) more people identify with baseball than with hockey, and (2) Nats tickets are much easier to get and more affordable - at least as of now - than Caps tickets (Caps are effectively sold out on season tickets as it is*), so that would help fuel an attendance boom as well - IF/WHEN THIS TEAM STARTS WINNING CONSISTENTLY.
*They do make a few singles available (I think there is some league rule requiring this, or something similar) on their website, but the prices are horriific ($95 including handling for a regular-season ticket in the nosebleeds?).
