WaPo: Boswell - Very Much Sold On New Home (RR)

Now, with the first month of the season complete, early fears of poor attendance, terrible parking, traffic snarls and Metro delays turned out to have been overblown. The Nats’ average attendance is up 40.1 percent over the comparable end-of-April date at RFK last season. Attendance so far is respectable though not spectacular for a new ballpark. It’s slightly better than the average attendance jump of 36.8 percent that 13 other franchises had in new parks that opened since 1992.
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“So far, our (gate) revenues really, really are good,” one Nationals official said. This winter, if the Nats say they can’t afford a free agent, don’t believe them.
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One set of swamped lines and crowding, however, delights [Kasten]. The restaurant and roof bar in center field, with adjoining beer rails, always is standing room only. “Do you realize that every one of those people has a ticket and a seat, but they’d rather stand in center field above the bleachers?” Kasten said. “That’s when you know you have a hot spot. We’re going to have to expand it.”
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However, one problem is a huge eyesore that won’t be solved this season or maybe next either. In the metropolitan area with the highest per capita income in the country, more than half of the 1,900 best—and highest-priced—seats sit embarrassingly empty for every game. These amenity-gorged, steakhouse-access, padded seats sit directly behind home plate, cost $170 to $335, yet for TV viewers create the impression that the ballpark is almost vacant.
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“The Presidential and Diamond seats will get filled over time. Supply and demand will fix it. Maybe prices come down. Maybe we win and those are the hot seats,” one Nats executive said. But it doesn’t look good, does it? “Not now.”