By Thomas Heath
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, August 27, 2007

It's a steamy August evening, and the Washington Nationals are battling the New York Mets at RFK Stadium. Fifteen rows behind home plate, Don Taylor is throwing his own pitch. Over hot dogs and beer, Taylor presses his guest, Ed Morgan, an executive with the Trammell Crow real estate company, to hold corporate outings at the golf course Taylor owns in Myersville, Md.

One section away, toward third base, financial consultant Bill Steinbuch is having a business meeting -- on his BlackBerry. Far out above right field, in the team's Diamond Club, Washington attorney Chuck Klein is sipping a draft beer while trying to turn his guest for the evening into a new client for his law firm.

Entertaining at sporting events has become as much a rite of the business world as the annual review or the PowerPoint presentation. Sports teams are increasingly relying on the business community as a big source of ticket sales, whether it be the $220,000 luxury suites at FedEx Field, the $850 courtside seats at Washington Wizards' games, or the handful of $400 super-seats planned behind home plate at the new Nationals stadium opening in April.

Business fans are particularly valuable to clubs when teams struggle and general attendance wanes.

"It's the perfect match. Sports needs the corporate dollar, and business needs the forum of sports to get deals done," said Paul Swangard of the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center at the University of Oregon.

It's difficult to break down the amount of revenue that sports teams derive from businesses because most teams are privately held and do not release their figures. But experts estimate that the luxury suites, club seats and the seats closest to the action -- the vast majority of which are bought by businesses -- amount to as much as half of a team's revenue, excluding fees from radio and television.

The Nationals are targeting the Washington business community in their new 41,000-seat stadium with 66 luxury suites starting at $150,000 per season, an exclusive President's Club restaurant for the 500 seats arced behind home plate and a 1,300-seat Diamond Club one level up. There's another Stars and Stripes Club, which is available to holders of luxury suites and club seats. There's talk of a business center equipped with fax machines, a conference room, computer screens and a message center.

So far, more than half of the 66 luxury suites have been leased. The Nationals have set the bar high, with some seats priced among the highest in baseball for a team that hasn't finished out of the division cellar since moving to Washington from Montreal in 2005.

At any given Nationals game, the seats behind home plate and near the first- and third-base lines are peopled with Washington's business elite. But that's not the only place networking gets done.

David Goldberg, the vice president for planning and development at Inova Loudoun Hospital, describes his approach to sports entertainment like this: "I'm not a luxury box person. I like the sun. Normal tickets make life much easier. Sitting behind home plate, people know you are rich, and they often know who you are. How would it feel to ask for donations when I am sitting in Diamond Club seats? I want to sit and enjoy the game and have people know that I'm a regular Joe."

Goldberg likes to tell the story of how his day in the sun at the Nationals game brought in almost $1 million for the hospital. He took a prospective donor, a wealthy business owner, to his personal seats in Section 400, along the third-base line. It was a Sunday afternoon and 90 degrees. They wore shorts and polo shirts.

Goldberg didn't ask his friend for a penny. They watched the players take infield. They drank beer. They ate hot dogs.

"We took in the whole game experience," Goldberg said. "We talked the entire time about the hospital, the community and the opportunities of supporting the institution. There was no stress, no pressure. Our shoulders were down."

After the game, they took Metro's Orange Line back to the Vienna stop, where they shook hands and parted, agreeing to talk again soon. After a few more discussions over the next couple of months, the donor invited Goldberg to his office. And that's when he made a multiyear pledge to support the hospital's mission in Loudoun County.

"It was all about cultivation," Goldberg said, "and it paid off."

Taylor, the golf course owner, said he invited Morgan, the Trammell Crow executive, to the Nationals game because baseball offers a relaxed atmosphere conducive to long, easy conversation.

"I have him for three hours," Taylor said. "I am trying to build a relationship of trust, because that's ultimately what allows them to make a deal or give you their business."

Wearing his Musket Ridge Golf Club shirt, Taylor described the club's new banquet hall and other facilities. Morgan co-chairs the National Capital Golf Classic for the American Cancer Society. He also runs a tournament called Foursomes for Families that benefits child and family services in Washington. Taylor thought Morgan might also help him pitch organizers of a golf outing for NCAA coaches.

Morgan listened attentively, and Taylor was optimistic.

"It was an interesting time, but no commitment," Morgan said. "We will meet again."