In an exclusive interview with Federal Baseball, new President of Business Operations Jason Sinnarajah talked about a wide range of issues, including the decline in attendance, beer prices and a potential stadium reboot. Sinnarajah took his new role at the beginning of the year and has his hands full. However, he is working tirelessly to regain the trust of a weary fanbase.
One thing he spoke about that struck me was when he hinted at changes to the stadium itself. I asked Sinnarajah, what do you think will be different about the ballpark experience in like 2 to 3 years once you really make your mark here? In his answer he said, “Without speaking to it too much directly because we are working with our friends in local government to make it happen, but I think the ballpark itself will go through what I would call a tuneup or a change. It is a 19 year old ballpark, and there are areas that need to be refreshed. It needs to be modernized in some areas, our premium areas need to be better, our concession experience needs to be better, our connection to Half Street and the community could be better. People are going to walk in here in a few years and see an experience they can be really proud of”.
This was a newsworthy, and somewhat surprising quote. A so-called ballpark tuneup had not been on my radar, but it is a good idea. As Sinnarajah mentioned, the ballpark is not that new anymore. It is crazy to think about, but Nationals Park is 19 years old now. That is around the time when you see some of these ballparks have a bit of a facelift.
I think Nationals Park could use some refreshing. It is not a bad ballpark, but it is known as one of the more bland stadiums. In a USA Today piece ranking stadiums, they wrote, “It’s a solid, newer stadium. It has amenities but lacks overall character”. Jason Sinnarajah is well aware of that reputation, and is looking to change it. He is still early in his tenure, but he has ambitious goals.
Another thing Sinnarajah is aware of is the Nationals reputation for having some of the most expensive beer in the league. When you go on the internet, you see graphics that list the Nats as having the most expensive beer. So, I asked him what steps the organization has made on the affordability side of things.
Sinnarajah told me that he sees those graphics when he is surfing the internet. However, he told me, “I understand there are people that think we still have beer at $15.75 only. That is not true, we launched $8.99 16 ounce cans of Budweiser and Bud light. Sometimes there are these old habits and hearsay. Like I have been saying since Spring Training, I cannot speak to what happened here before and all the challenges we have had, but what we can do is listen to our fans and hope they come to the ballpark with an open mind. Hopefully they like the experience, and if they don’t we want to hear the feedback so we can get better”.
The Nats are taking steps in the right direction, but sometimes it can take time for those positive changes to translate into results. You can see that in the attendance numbers. On average, about 4,000 fewer fans showed up to the first 16 Nats home games compared to last year. That is the biggest attendance drop in baseball. A lot of that can be attributed to rebuild fatigue, but the ballpark experience plays a role too.
I asked Sinnarajah about these attendance problems. As you would expect from someone in his position, he was well aware of the issues, telling me, “I have obviously noticed that our attendance is down compared to prior years. I go back to the core principles of what we are trying to do. We are trying to listen to our fans, make sure they are being heard, listen and take fan feedback and adjust. We are aware of the attendance, but we feel like we need to continue taking a data driven approach and listen to our fans. We have seen improvements in the Voice of the Consumer metrics, we have seen positive feedback. I hear it from fans”.
Sinnarajah also acknowledged that the ballpark experience is not where they want it to be yet, though he pointed out it is getting a little bit better with every game. He told me that, “If we can improve every game and every homestand, then we are doing a good job. On the attendance piece, there are all sorts of factors that go into that. What we are doing is we are trying to provide as good of an experience as we can when we come in. The attendance this weekend should be large, so we are excited”.
Clearly, this is still a work in progress. Just like Paul Toboni did when he took over the baseball side of things, Jason Sinnarajah knew he had to refresh an already existing rebuild. It will be exciting to see the baseball and business side of the team hopefully take off and find their footing at the same time. Both sides of the operation are rebuilding, and I think they have good people in place now.
Sinnarajah came to the Nats after three years with the Royals. When he was with the Royals, the team ranked second in the Voice of the Consumer metric. He helped bring Joe’s BBQ to the ballpark and helped freshen up the ballpark experience at Kauffman Stadium. Sinnarajah hopes to have a similar impact here in DC.
Another ambitious project that Sinnarajah is trying to pull off is to bring more female fans to the stadium. That is something he did in his previous role in Kansas City that he wants to bring here. Sinnarajah told me, “I believe we need to connect with female fans, especially young ladies. When we played Miami this weekend, they had a Barbie promotion. I have seen a Hello Kitty one. Things that bring people who don’t necessarily watch baseball everyday to the ballpark and try the product. To connect with that demographic would be really cool and we are having those conversations”.
This weekend’s series against the O’s is a time where Sinnarajah and his team can prove themselves. They have several promotions, including a fun hot dog hat and an Alexander Ovechkin bobblehead. Jason Sinnarajah has a lot of big ideas, and this weekend he will show fans what he has got. Hopefully the team can do some winning because that is the biggest key to a good ballpark experience.