Attendance??

Is it just me or does it look like the stadium is drawing anemic crowds?

Other than the big opening night affair, this is probably the worst home attendance weekend for a brand new ballpark in recent history.

I thought this taxpayer paid for stadium would be this huge draw to justify the cost to the public.

I though the mediocre attendance at RFK would change with the new park.

Did the honeymoon end so quickly?

yes there was some lousy weather and a bad drawing team....

But DC has nearly 5 million people and a high amount of disposable income per capita.

I am watching the game now.  It is perfect 75 degree weather...yet it looks like there only is about seven or eight thousand people at the park.

I hope for the Nationals sake, it picks up a bit.

Its still a very young team and they will draw more when they get better pitching and become competitive.  They are still growing as an organization. 

GO NATS

for real they are still very young and have very few (no matter how great) vetrans to lead the young on the field. but alot of the young guys that have been around for a year or two are starting to catch on to how we do things. Nick Johnson is always a plus for offence of couse but also as a leader.  this team has great things ahead of them no doubt.

GO NATS

The attendance for the Satrday game was 32,500. 41,888 is capacity. While not the sell out that you would hope for, it is not a completely weak showing. Consider that it was raining on and off in DC until late afternoon as well which could have chased some people away. Of course the eight game losing streak doesn't help matters.

One other point is that I have noticed that the $300 and $150 right behind home plate have been sparsely populated which never looks good on TV. I wouldn't be surprised if those tickets take a dip in pricing at some point during the season.

Teams that had less fans than the Nats today: KC 13k, TB 16k, Pitt 11k, Cleveland 17k, White Sox 26k, Texas 21k

I think the Nationals will do fine in attendance this year. Wait until we actually have a name with "star power" or when the Nats are contenders.

PS... don't forget that 18k were at the Capitals game today too.

I was at the game again today. There were 29,000+ on a cold, cloudy day with a threat of rain. The people were flowing into and out of the game well and I think that everyone is figuring out how to handle the transportation well.

They need to build more parking facilities in the area but between the Metro and the free shuttle busses going to the RFK parking lot it seems to be going well. My opinion, however, should be taken with a grain of salt because I have the luxury of being able to walk to and from the ballpark.

It was good to see some early runs from the Nats but it was nerve racking to have Rauch come in with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the ninth. Luckily Texiera did his best Vic Wertz imitation with a long, loud out to end the game.

All valid arguments...

But this is a brand spanking new ballpark.

This isn't a team with a 10 year old stadium playing its 4th losing season in a small city

This is a team in a giant wealthy city that hasn't had baseball for 30 years.

I can understand subpar attendance in tired losing franchises or older stadiums.

BUT a relative new team in a new stadium???

like i said before. this place only cares about het skins. they care about them so much they will go to another state to see them play.

anyway if i love baseball adn if i was back home i would have season ticekts. keep in mind its also april and school is still around. come summer time, it should get more packed. unless they are in the playoff run nobody will go. this D.C. isn't a baseball town. thats due to no championships too. I live in IL, but 20 min from St. Louis and as much as i hate to say it cause i hate the cards, this is a baseball town, but they got more championships then any other NL team.

I don't know how accurate this is, but according to ESPN's attendance report for this year, the Nat's average attendance through the first 12 games was a little over 30k, which is 16th out of 30 teams.  Last year, their attendance average was 24k (25th out of 30). 

For what it's worth, they are averaging a higher attendance than 14 teams in baseball, including the Orioles, who have a pretty loyal following.

Here's a link to the report:

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/attendance?sort=home_avg&year=2008&seasonType=2

Go Nats!