Nationals shut down business, promotional operations

Washington, DC (Sports Network) - The day after a District of Columbia Council voted that private financing would have to make up half of a proposed stadium deal, the Washington Nationals shut down business and promotional operations on Wednesday.

 

The Nationals, formerly the Montreal Expos, were to begin play in D.C. this season at a refurbished RFK Stadium and later move to a new state-of-the-art facility.

 

However, that is in serious jeopardy right now. Part of the agreement between Major League Baseball and the District of Columbia was that a new stadium would be built with government money and the Council's decision clearly opposes a fully financed stadium.

 

"The legislation approved by the District of Columbia City Council (Tuesday) night does not reflect the agreement we signed and relied upon after being invited by District leaders to consider Washington as a home for Major League Baseball," MLB president and COO Bob DuPuy said in a statement on Wednesday. "The legislation is inconsistent with our carefully negotiated agreement and is wholly unacceptable to Major League Baseball.

 

"Because our stadium agreement provides for a December 31, 2004 deadline, we will not entertain offers for permanent relocation of the club until that deadline passes," he added. "In the meantime, the club's baseball operations will proceed, but its business and promotional activities will cease until further notice. We thank the fans of Washington, D.C. for their support and enthusiasm, but given the present uncertainty, any ticket purchaser who entrusted us with a deposit may request a refund through the club's ticket office."

 

On Wednesday the Nationals cancelled a press conference to unveil their uniforms and team colors.

 

It appeared that things began to fall apart back in November when Council chairperson Linda Cropp proposed a new stadium plan, thus delaying the stadium vote until Tuesday. At the time, Cropp was saying her intentions were not to kill the deal, just make it more friendly to the city. She was sticking to that after the vote.

 

The stadium's proposed price plus the cost to refurbish RFK Stadium was estimated at nearly $550 million.

 

If negotiations completely fall through, MLB can re-open talks with the other cities that showed interest in having a team. Those cities were Northern Virginia, Portland, Oregon and Las Vegas, Nevada.

 

 

 

 

 

12/15 20:25:37 ET

Most likely Virginia.

The Washington Nationals are currently not accepting deposits

for 2005 full season ticket packages.

 

If you have previously made a deposit for full season tickets and you now would like to request a refund, please send an e-mail to tickethelp@website.nationals.com with your name, zip code, and the e-mail address that you used when you made your deposit.

Bye bye Nationals.

Not even a month...ouch

Wow, what a total waste.

10-15 years from now the Nationals will be a Jeopardy question like the Giants to Tampa mess.

Peter Angelos has a big smile on his face right about now.

so where they gonna play?

This isnt a done deal I hope you know.

 

Theres a very strong possibility the Nationals will still exist. A slimmer chance that the Nationals play in Washington this year, then move somewhere else. And pretty much no chance that the Nationals move anywhere else this year.

We even had a logo!

 

In the end, MLB will pay whatever it takes to get this deal done. They know they can't make as much money any place else. This was their doing, and now they have to live with it.

Just a sad situation

I think this is a game of chicken. People in DC are not very happy.

The people in DC are idiots and are being lied to by Cropp, Fenty and other politicians who say they are fighting for them. The stadium deal WAS financed by taxes on large stadiums and the users on the stadium. Supposedly the stadium bonds would have been paid off within 20 years from those two sources of revenue. That's not even getting into the tax revenue collected from the other 10 years on the lease or the injection of sales tax revenue from MD/VA at bars and restaurants nearby.

 

The deal is being killed by opportunist politicians and community activists against racism (read gentrification) and landlords (what rights do renters deserve?) who want to prey on the public's fears for their own gain. Just like the national Democratic party with social security. And the Repblicans about national security.

This is one of the biggest pwnts in sports business history.