Nats season-ticket holders get first crack at Strasburgpalooza

 

(Scalpers can be seen peddling their wares on Half Street before every Nats game. Photo is by ghbrett via Flickr.)

Nats do the right thing with Baseball Jesus tickets.

But will it be enough to prevent Strasburgpalooza from turning into Scalperpalooza?

Good move by the Nationals to shut off the flow of single-game tickets for Baseball Jesus's June 8 debut. So, the game isn't sold out: Season-ticket holders will have the opportunity to buy up to four additional tickets for The Game starting this morning at 10 (through Thursday).

Turning off the flow of single-game tickets online accomplishes a number of things, including: a) temporarily prevents scalpers from stockpiling tickets and b) allows the Nationals to cash in on the Strasburg Effect by selling mini-plans which include June 8 and a few other games nobody cares about and c) most importantly, rewards long-suffering season ticket holders, who now have the option of buying up to four additional tickets, which they use or even sell for a profit on legalized ticket scalping websites like StubHub.

And via DC Sports Bog, Stan Kasten might have some individual tickets leftover:

"Over the next couple of days, we're gonna try to take care of season ticket holders, and possible future package purchasers out of the allotment we've reserved. I would anticipate still having some left to release after that (though I can't be sure). So yes, I would keep checking." (Stan Kasten, via DC Sports Bog, 6/1/2010)

And then there's always the approximately 400 $5 tickets the Nationals make available 2 1/2 hours before each game...

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Comments

[BigTrain]

Not sure I'd agree on your "a" and "b" points above. The decision might delay the flow of tickets to those secondary markets by a tick, but they'll get there. And on "b", the so-called "games nobody cares about" actually could include Strasburg starts, if someone looks at the schedule and extrapolates his next starts. So yes, it allows the team to cash in on the Strasburg Effect you mention, but the other games aren't just throwaways.

Overall, it's a good PR move by the team to keep season ticket holders happy.

[DMan]

This was the real benefit of the last two awful seasons. Over the last year and a half, the organization has woken up to the reality that they needed to start showing more appreciation for their season ticket holders who have stuck with the team and not bailed out. As 1/2 season plan holders, my father and I were able to upgrade into the section we always wanted in the new park this season, because previously they were designated for full season plans only. They still have a long ways to go to earn our trust. I still don't trust them to not kick us out of that section once the team gets good and they think they can sell that section to full plans only again. Good to see this move though.