Read: It costs too much money.

/cheapshot.

Have there been any discussions about getting more proactive on this front? It seems they are constantly chasing these kind of things.

I hate to say this, but bring back Tony Taveres. Remember the on field picnic for season ticket holders? That was amazing. Kasten has not done enough to keep fans happy and loyal. The Auto Show? Come on! And it just fuels the reputation that the Lerners are too cheap to care about the fan experience or the talent level of the team.

"Likely some players will be at the Washington Auto Show" and knowing the Nats, you can read that to mean, "No Nats will be at the auto show." Likely means that they haven't nailed it down yet. And if it's not nailed down now, it won't be.

I agree about Tony Tavares, bring him back. Stan has done diddly squat for the fans and STH.

This is incredibly short-sighted, especially considering the admission of poor planning and strategizing is a reason for no activities. Considering the absolute 100% reliance on the new park to fuel long-term fan interest, my seat better massage my ass every time I sit down in it if this team plans on me paying for it past 2008.

Stan can't spend what the Lerners won't give him.

GHE, when are they going to get their act together on Fan Fests/Caravans? :(

GHF, at least the auto show is in Washington. :)

So basically the VP of Communications is saying, well, we would have had a fan event, but, uh, I forgot. Maybe with a new team and all it would have been a good idea to hire a VP of Communications that was a little more experienced and more than a semi-pretty face.

yeah, there's no legitimate excuse for this. "we forgot to ask the players before the season ended" and "they're hard to get in touch with" is pretty bogus.

i totally agree that the FO is making a *huge* mistake by doing so poorly with marketing the team. this is a critical juncture looking at the future of this team and its fan base. if they screw this up now, it will haunt them for years as far as revenue down the line.

i just can't understand why they continue to make mistakes like this and both potentially alienate their current fans as well as miss out on the perfect opportunities to draw new fans. especially with being able to tout the new stadium at the same time. it's just plain poor business.

Poor Prior Planning Produces Piss Poor Performance

The absolute biggest tragedy of this decision is the missed opportunities. The Nats are preparing to open a $600 million stadium. They could have prepared a fanfest, advertised and marketed the hell out of it, and signed up 500-1000 new season ticket holders at the fanfest itself.

Kasten may be a great baseball guy given his past, but something seems terribly terribly wrong with the front office/marketing aspect of this team. As long as the team continues to shoot itself in the foot at every possible opportunity, I cannot blame the WaPo sports editors for virtually ignoring the team. The Nats themselves make it too easy to ignore the team.

I work downtown, and remember when the O's used to have a big event -- during the season! -- at Farragut Square. They'd have players and coaches there, not necessarily the biggest of names, but it was a fun way to spend lunch, and lots of folks would bring their kids. I'd think if there was more experience in the marketing department, they'd think of this. But I'd also think that they should know it would be cool to deep six Sweet Caroline and adopt Take Me to the River as "their" song.

REPOST: (there's been one for and one against. help please!)

off-topic question:
i've never been a ticket plan holder, but rather just bought tickets on a game-by-game basis. but this year i'm worried about not getting into the march 30 game if i don't at least buy a partial plan where i can get offered the tickets before the general public. i'd rather not buy a plan, but would if i thought the march 30 game would be difficult to get tickets to any other way. what do you guys think? thank you!

I cannot really say that I blame the Nats. After all, who are they going to trot out a tthe fanfest anyway? Their juiced up catcher or their abusive and criminal reserve outfielder?

Yeah, I wonder who

gretchen, i don't think you saw a for and against (if i read the other response correctly).

i said you probably won't be able to buy from the team directly, and the other response said you could buy them on the open market if the team was sold out. unfortunately, you won't likely find them for face value on the open market. those are likely to be expensive tickets on craigslist/stubhub/ebay/etc., being the first ever opening day at the new stadium and all.

hey! don't leave us out!

Give the pitchers some love too

seems to me that those guys do turn up at wizards and caps games. but at the end of the year, bowden probably wasn't sure who was going to remain a nat through the offseason. why commit to fanfare and create more awkward moments. new stadium and all that entails should command their full attention.

although it would be nice to see zimmerman or someone else on the sidelines of the redskins game tomorrow.

speaking of coke... hello martina hingis!

i dunno, longterm. other teams don't know for sure about some players at the end of the year, and they seem to manage. that doesn't mean you can't schedule it with as many players as you can, then if someone is traded, you try to get the guy(s) he was traded for instead.

and it's not like we expected 80% of the guys who were listed in the responses to be gone in 08.

New post about a caravan-like event.

An insult to the fans who are being asked to pay even more for tix.

Maybe the PR dept should check w/ JimBo for the players phone #s. He seems to reach all the players he trades. IS EVERYONE on the staff helping build the stadium? Why can't the team hire someone who knows how to promote the team? Maybe even Danny-Boy will be avail after the Skins are done. He could at least consult how to promote a team AND MAKE $!! There are a bunch of other major league baseball teams who (I would think) could offer free advice how to market their product. By the way they share tv profits so it would make sense for other teams to be willing to share their successful marketing ideas. As everyone knows we have a lot of baseball fan experience on this board from around the country. Maybe the Nats need a fan advisory board?

LAME!

Isn't there an admission fee to the auto show? This stinks! I've had FanFest on my calendar since November 7th when Stan said there would be a FanFest "in late January." I am really disappointed.

Ridiculous - The Nats could have made a ton of $$ selling off RFK stadium memorabilia but nothing... absolutely nothing. This team doesn't deserve to be in business.