(Nationals Chief Operating Officer Andy Feffer, right, mugs for the camera with some guy named John Riggins -- back in 2007 when The Feff was COO for NFL Players Inc. Photo by Brian Bahr/Getty Images for Players Inc.)
Optimism Reigns in O's Country!
Spring is in the air! (at least in Baltimore)
Orioles: 10,000. Feffer: 0.
~10,000 Orioles fans showed up at the convention center in Baltimore for Orioles FanFest Saturday.
~0 Nationals fans showed up at Nationals Park on Saturday.
It's the dead of winter, and Nationals fans in Washington D.C. are dying for baseball. And yet, the Nationals seem oblivious. Exhibit A: the decision to kill off the ol' tried and true Winter Caravan, NatsFest, and Hot Stove Luncheon for season ticket holders. Old news, yes; the Nats delivered the verdict via a press release a few weeks ago:
“The feedback we received from our fans this offseason convinced us to do something new, exciting and unique,” Nationals Chief Operating Officer Andrew C. Feffer said. “Unlike previous years, the 2011 NatsFest will be more inclusive for all our fans and offer them opportunities to interact with their favorite Nationals. Through this event, we hope to engage our fans like never before and get them excited for what is sure to be an electrifying baseball season.”
Andy Feffer's focus group has spoken! But really, just who are these Nationals fan(s) who convinced The Feff that "new, exciting, and different" required killing off the winter events? Reading accounts of yesterday's FanFest in Baltimore amounts to rubbing more salt in the wounds.
Meanwhile, via Florida Today, ~200 baseball starved fans lined up at Space Coast Stadium in Viera on Saturday to buy Nationals Spring Training tickets. At least they were able to get a little whiff of spring.
How many days until pitchers and catchers report?
Booooo!!!!!
Posted by: jdc | January 30, 2011 at 11:09 AM
How many of the fans lining up to buy tickets are planning on sitting along the 3rd base side? Checking StubHub, about 75% of the tickets for sale are on the visitors side
Posted by: powerboater | January 30, 2011 at 11:15 AM
It may be old news (and it's long-past-time for me to post something new at Natsfangirls.com), but the post about this Nationals #fail has become the most-read thing ever at Nationals Fangirls, by a long shot. Through your link (thanks), links and Tweets by others, and in-vain Google searches for information about "NatsFest," the post continues to draw hits from varied sources.
Something else Andrew Feffer didn't understand ... it's hard for us to forget the Nationals' oversight when every weekend is filled with news from the terrific events the other teams hold for their fans.
Posted by: Jenn Jenson | January 30, 2011 at 11:49 AM
Feeffer feffer's Feedback on Fan Fest failed a frozen fruit.
The Opening Day fest will be fun but it doesn't satisfy our desire for a WINTER event.
That is where Feffer failed. It is a WINTER FanFest. WINTER and because of the Holidays and the start of Spring Training seems to point at mid-January as the optimum timeframe.
The code deciphering of Feffer's message of said 'Feedback' is his word making it his fact. I don't buy it.
When a Nats marketing person said they will have all the players there at the March event I said BIG DEAL all the other team's Winter FanFests seem to get all the current players there and many alumni.
Posted by: Michael L.G. | January 30, 2011 at 01:46 PM
I think Mike Henderson has it right dude.
Mike Rizzo has been cleaning house. Mostly getting rid of Bowden's follies, this year far more than last.
Its kind of hard to have a winter fan fest and then afterward see a particular player[s] in attendance gone? Either released or traded?
Best to wait and see right up to the end what the finished product will be. Makes sense to have it on the day before opening day when the initial 25-man will at least be set.
Posted by: foo | January 30, 2011 at 02:19 PM
They didn't have the budget to have a Winter Fan Fest. The code I was told when I asked if this is a permanent move was "well if the Nats start out 30-10 and boost up ticket sales, there could be lots of changes going forward". i.e. They had such a limited budget for the winter activities that they just bagged them.
Make sure Mr. Feffer and others get your feedback. ([email protected]) Clearly, (if they're telling the truth) someone didn't like the winter events, but if they get more e-mails on this than anything else all year, maybe they'll actually listen.
Send them a link to the Orioles Fan Fest article or something.
Posted by: Quackrbackr | January 30, 2011 at 02:38 PM
Let's see. The Orioles hold a winter fan fest and raise ticket prices following a year of poor attendance, in the teeth of a recession. The Nats hold the line on ticket prices and move a poorly-attended winter fan fest* to a day closer to the season, where the range of activities can be expanded and fans who had grown bored with the winter format and/or never bothered to attend it might decide to give it a try. And you're telling me the Orioles are more fan-friendly? I think not.
*Admit it. The winter fan fests were not all that well attended. A couple thousand fans at most. It just looked like a good crowd because they were all shoehorned into fairly small places.
Posted by: Feel Wood | January 30, 2011 at 03:34 PM
Does Feffer inherit Stank Kasten's other title of Village Idiot of NatsTown?
Posted by: Kan Stasten | January 30, 2011 at 07:36 PM
@FeelWood: Ah ha! So YOU were the fan Feffer referred to in his press release! You're the one who gave him the feedback he needed! Thanks for killing NatsFest, buddy!
Good point -- the O's raised prices on single game tickets. The Nats left ticket prices intact. Ticket pricing (besides those empty gold-plated seats behind home plate at Nationals Park) is one thing the Nationals have gotten right. Good value. Kudos to the Nats. Score one point for Ted Lerner.
But back to the matter at hand. How is holding a fan festival on a Wednesday in March more fan-friendly than holding it on a weekend in January?
Now, admittedly we should probably reserve judgment until FefferFest actually happens (h/t to @kevin_reiss for dubbing the event 'FefferFest'). We were just feeling particularly torqued off this morning while looking out the window at the piles of dirty snow and reading about all the fun they had up the road in BirdLand yesterday.
Posted by: The Nationals Enquirer | January 30, 2011 at 08:12 PM
The Orioles have been a joke under Angelo$ and any comparison to the Nats is an insult to the real Washington baseball fans.
The only reason Angelo$ is trying to field a competitive team now is to stem the tide of losing fans in the fringe areas of the DC market to the Nats.
He hasn't had to worry much with the horrible teams in DC so far until this year and the O's just keep signing 1 year contracts to look like they are trying to improve and the cat and mouse game constantly going after the same players that the Nats are.
Posted by: Michael L.G. | January 31, 2011 at 10:09 AM
@Michael L.G. First, let me state that I hate the O's and have not been to Camden Yards since 1997, when I finally got sick of Angelos blocking a DC team.
But, what exactly have the Nats done to win the hearts and minds of Howard County residents. Yes, they signed old BaySox stars Jerry Hairston and Jayson Werth, but other than being bad enough to get Strasburg and Harper-- which is just a stroke of luck not skill that they were the worst two straight years, I don't see how the Nats are going to be sucking fans in.
The Orioles at least have a marketing department. They get the players out into the community so the fans can get to know them-- even during the season. They offer lots of perks to their season ticket holders. Their stadium is a classic.
I'm a full STH for the Nats, but I have to say if I lived in Bowie or Columbia, it would not be a slam dunk that I should switch to the Nats.
Posted by: Quackrbackr | January 31, 2011 at 10:32 AM
I think the media coverage of the nats in DC especially radio 106 and 98 is pitiful. stopn talking about the pitiful skins in the offseason. 8
Posted by: jim bartlett | February 05, 2011 at 04:42 PM