Back in the middle of the last decade, when they couldn't draw flies to a picnic, the Washington Capitals had lots of promos and ticket prices didn't go up all that much from season to season. But then came the playoff drive in 2008 and the still-ongoing sell-out streak, and these promos and offers are all gone...replaced by ticket prices rising at by far the fastest rate (for non-premium seats) of any area pro sports club.
Simple supply-and-demand economics.
This is the beginning of the same economics at the Nationals, amid the post-season drive and best-ever Nats Park attendance, and we'll see more over the next few years if the Nats keep winning and keep drawing crowds: fewer and fewer deep-discount tickets, fewer and fewer T-shirts and other giveaways, Red Carpet Rewards scaled back or done away with altogether (depending on how much the STH base grows)...as well as, of course, higher ticket prices.
Simple supply-and-demand economics...one can only hope the Lerners don't get as carried away with it as Leonsis has at the Capitals (Club Red??)...meanwhile, welcome to The Price Of Success.