We have finally made it, as at the time of writing, we are about 48 hours away from Opening Day in Major League Baseball. This means it's time to start budgeting and looking at how many games you want to go to this year. Nationals Park has typically been in the top 10 for most expensive ticket prices on average. This could be due to a few factors. The first being being the new area built around Nationals Park including bars and a concert venue "The Bullpen" making the area more appealing to tourists. Also, being in a major city Washington D.C. things tend to be more expensive as a whole. With that being said, let's dive into these Opening Day ticket prices starting from cheapest to most expensive.
Ticket prices vary based on section/location of seats. In the upper deck 400 level you will find the cheapest seats starting at $46. While these aren't the best seats, they are the most affordable option. Especially with the new promotion of District Tickets, which allows for DC residents to receive $5 tickets for up to 4 games. This is the best deal at any ballpark, especially because it is centered around giving the fans a reward for being faithful to the area for so long.
The 300 section is currently running between $80-$93 which is where the prices start to really increase. Trying to take the entire family out to the ball game with those prices will prove difficult. For many families, it seems that unless the Nationals lower their average cost to attend, staying home and listening to Bob Carpenter and Kevin Frandsen on the broadcast might be the easier call.
Tickets in the 100 level all go for over $100 and the seats directly behind home plate are $608. This still puts the Nationals are the top half of the league in terms of ticket sale prices, due to the fact that there is not enough median in the prices. Notice that the cheapest seats are $5 and the most expensive are $609. The majority of the seats in the stadium cost over $100, which makes a family of four going to a game fewer and farther in between. The cheap seats are good but there needs to be more affordable seats throughout the park and not just in the 400s if you live in DC.
Especially in an area which is known as the DMV because of their proximity to Maryland and Virginia, there may very well be Nats fans willing to travel to see more games if the tickets were slightly more affordable. Since the team intends to improve attendance from last year, the attendance will certainly rise regardless due to a better product on the field, but could rise even more if there were more options.
Will you be attending Opening Day?