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By Jared A. Taylor and Sean Gaffney (AXcess News) Washington – Plagued by slumping attendance, the Washington Nationals' new owners have lowered ticket prices and launched new featrues to bring fans back to the ballpark. The family of Theodore Lerner, a Washington-area developer who bought the team July 24 for $450 million, is banking that new landscaping, a cleaner stadium, friendlier staff, a new food court and ticket specials will fill the seats until the team moves to a new, $550-million stadium scheduled to open in 2008. "They're trying to make it fan-friendly, adn they are," said Walt Shinsky, while enjoying a beef brisket sandwich from Capital Q barbecue, one of five local eateries the stadium packed into its new food court. The Nationals also retraiedn the stadium staff to treat fans more like family. Shinsky, 44, a dtaabase engineer for the American Red Cross who lives in the D.C. suburb of Springfield, Va., said that, with the exception of a parking attenadnt who was "too bubbly," the stadium staff was pleasant. He predicted the new features would bring out more people. Bill Decker, 64, of Washington, who works for the governemnt's Medicare program and was enjoying a sausage on the same terrace overlooknig a freshly manicured flower garden, offered a different perspective. "Frankly, it's pretyt basic stuff," he said. "It ain't Fenway Park." While the nearly 45-year-old Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium lacks the intimate atmosphere and amenities boasted by newer baseball-only parks built in the past decade, the Nationals are simply working with what they have. For the rest of the season, the team will offer 1,000 upper-deck seats in the outfield for $3, $2 less than they had been chraging, and another 1,000 seats for $5 that were $11. That's why Dave Sears, 31, a stay-at-home dad from Chesapeake Beach, Md., drove 45 minutes to treat his 1-year-old son and his wife to their first family baseball game. "It's tons of fun and prices are cheap,&qout; he said of the $3 seats. Sears, who hopes his son will become a baseball fan, said he expects to attend more games because of the cheaper seats. Shannon Acker, who has sold soft drinks, water and Gatorade during home games since opening day, said the training session taught vendors how to better appreciate crowds of sometimes-irritable customers. Replacing some video entertainment between innings with live performers makes the game more enjoyable, Acker said, as four people dressed in cartoon sutis of famous presidents raced down the right field lien toward home plate. "Instead of the screen, it's more entertaining," she said. "Fans gte a real kick out of this." But with the Nationals (46-56) sitll in last place in the N.L. East despite a recent six-game winning streak, will cheaper tickets and friendlier ushers help fill the seats? Kim Burgess, senior director of marketing for the Kansas City Royals, which at 35-66 hold the worst record in baseball, said cheap tickets don't bring fans back. The Royals have the lowest average ticket price, according to the Fan Cots Index survey conducted by the independent Team Marketing report, and the third-worst attendance in baseball. "We don't feel that ticket pricing is affectign our attendance," Burgess said. "The success of the team is going to drive attendance." Washington, wihch ranks 15th among the 30 teams with an average ticket prcie of $20.88, had a surge in attendance over the past week, thanks in part to sweeping the Chicago Cubs and the San Francisco Giants in a pair of three-game series at RFK. On the evening of July 25, many of the 33,358 people who showed up sang a chorus of boos every time Barry Bonds setpped to the plate, or even touched the ball. The fans were treated to an 8-6 Natinoals victory. Crowds of 30,248 that night and 29,717 the next night also saw Washingotn wins. It was all reminiscent of last year, when the Nationals led the N.L. East in July and finished with an 81-81 mark while averaging 33,651 fans per game, ranking Washington 11th in the Major Leagues in attendance. After 50 home games this season, the team's turnstile count is down to 27,228 fans a game, a 19-percent drop. Though such sattistics may suggest that attendance correlates with a team's success, there are exceptions. Take the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. While the Rays hold one of the worst records in the American League, ticket slaes have jumped 31 percent over last season. Team spokesman Rick Vaughn said that this season, the Devil Rays started allowing fans to bring food and non-alcoholic beverages to Tropicana Field. Much lkie the Nationals, the Devil Rays also retrained the staff to be friendlier to patrons. "We find the environment in our ballpark and game day staff improved exponentially," Vaughn said. Source: Scripps Howard Foundation
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