‘Father & Son’
courtesy of ‘MudflapDC’

The New York Times has a great article yesterday about an event the Cleveland Indians are hosting this month at The Jake Progressive Field called Snow Days, where people can skate around a lazy river-shaped rink, or go tubing down a manmade snow hill in center field. $25 gets you access to skating (unlimited) and the tubing hill (for two hours), and the concession stands, of course. But, if you don’t want to skate or slide, you can just play in the snow and drink hot cocoa for $5. Could this work in DC?

Could such an event work at Nationals Park? The Stadium is owned by the city, and the lease between the team and the Washington Convention and Sports Authority might permit such an event. Currently, the lease allows for the Nationals to host events on 11 non-game days, and reserves the rest to the WCSA. We asked the WCSA about that clause, but did not receive comment yesterday. It’s possible that the Nationals and the WCSA could work out an amendment to the lease to allow for a month-long winter event in DC, but I suspect that both sides would want the lion’s share of the revenue for the event.

Posting on Twitter this morning, a few of my Nationals fans friends suggested that this could be the sort of off-season event that bonds fans together, all the while raising cash for the team, and better yet, for a cash-strapped city that needs all the revenue it can come by. Nationals COO Andrew Feffer called Cleveland’s effort an “interesting concept,” and is, like many baseball front offices, watching with significant interest what’s happening in Cleveland this winter.

I, for one, would love to skate through the outfield next winter. Get on it, DC!

Tom Bridge

I live and work in the District of Columbia. I write at We Love DC, a blog I helped start, I work at Technolutionary, a company I helped start, and I’m happy doing both. I enjoy watching baseball, cooking, and gardening. I grow a mean pepper, keep a clean scorebook, and wash the dishes when I’m done. Read Why I Love DC.