Jul

9

Where Have All the Nationals’ Fans Gone?

July 9, 2008 | by Keith | Categories Newspapers, Television |

When baseball returned to the Nation’s Capital in 2005 we were told the reason was that the region was passionate for baseball.  A lot can change in three years.

Based on recent local television ratings, fans of the Nationals are not tuning in.  Information from Nielson Media Research shows that only 9,000 television sets in the DC market are regularly tuned in to Nationals games.  That, by far, is the lowest local ratings of any team in baseball.  Here is more from Tom Boswell at the Washington Post.

One of the most intriguing parts of the story is that more people regularly turn out to games than watch on television.  The Nats average over 25,000 fans each home game.  Much of he allure can be attributed to their new ballpark.

Even though Washington has been decimated by injuries, such a low television audience is not a good sign for the club. Boswell points out the problems with the Nats sharing television space with the Orioles on the Mid Atlantic Sports Network (MASN).  I don’t buy it.  Passionate fans are savvy enough to find out which network will be telecasting their team’s games.

Let’s see what happens when the Nationals start producing winning seasons. The fans will come back.  What will be interesting to see is how many more will leave if their struggles continue.


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