Premium Nats Tickets to Rise

At $400, New Stadium's Top Seats Among Priciest

Construction continues for the new Washington Nationals Ballpark in Southeast which is set to open in April 2008. (Ricky Carioti - The Washington Post)

Tickets for the top seats at the Washington Nationals' new stadium will cost as much as $400 per game, among the highest prices in Major League Baseball, the team announced yesterday.

Fans will pay at least $150 per game to sit in the 1,800 most desirable locations in the stadium, the team said. The most expensive seat this season at RFK Stadium is $140, according to the team's Web site. The new stadium is being built with $611 million in public funds along the Anacostia River in Southeast Washington and is scheduled to open next spring.

Nationals President Stan Kasten defended the pricing of the top seats, saying they "were acceptable numbers that can easily be filled" and represent a small percentage of the stadium's 41,222-seat capacity.

"It's the money that comes from those upscale customers, from the upscale businesses, that really helps us, that really enables us to keep the low-end ticket prices that we want so desperately as well," Kasten said. "So all of those people who asked about the high-end pricing, [those ticket buyers are] getting great service, but they're also providing great service for Joe Fan."

Tickets farthest away from the action, in the outfield and upper deck, will cost between $5 and $20, the team said. But the premium-seat prices are as expensive as seats to watch baseball's elite franchises. And that does not include prices for the new stadium's 66 luxury suites between first and third base, considered the best vantage point. Pricing for those starts at $150,000 a season.

D.C. Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray (D) said the tickets should be more affordable than those of other teams because the city is paying for the stadium.

"That should be returned to the citizens of the city, especially children," Gray said. He added that making tickets more affordable would be a "good business investment" because it would help hook young people on the game.

The opening of a new stadium typically gives professional sports teams an increase in ticket demand and a corresponding opportunity to increase prices to match that demand. The Washington Wizards increased prices when they moved from their arena in Prince George's County to the privately built Verizon Center in downtown Washington in 1997. The Washington Redskins likewise have raised prices since moving into FedEx Field, also in 1997.

The Nationals' premium-seating policy follows a trend in the NBA and NFL to sell front-row courtside and front-row field-level seats, and often amenities such as stadium VIP club and restaurant access, for as much as $1,000 per game. The Washington Redskins installed more than 1,100 "dream seats" ringing the field several years ago and charge $420 for them, and the Wizards sell elite, courtside seats between the team and the scorer's table for $850 per game, according to the team.

In Major League Baseball, the New York Yankees charge up to $400 for top seats this season. The Boston Red Sox charge $312 for an infield dugout box. The Los Angeles Dodgers charge $450 for some premium, game-day seats close to the field.

Most major league baseball teams have not set ticket prices for next season, making a true comparison to Nationals prices impossible.

"The sports industry is fast learning that you cannot price your best and most visible seats too high," said Marc S. Ganis, a Chicago-based sports marketing consultant. "There is always a market for those great seats, especially those that are in the television camera angles. With a new stadium in the nation's capital, where visibility and proximity to power is most important, these seats should sell very easily."