[SmootSmack]

This was a long, long time coming.

So is this good news? Baseball in DC? I know there are many who don’t care, either because they don’t care about baseball or because they figure the Orioles is enough. While I’ve never known what it’s like to have any team in this area but Baltimore I’ve embraced the Orioles as the home team. Still, as a fan of the game I don’t think having another team in the area will hurt. Especially considering that it’s a National League team. And a stadium in the Southwest Waterfront is just what that part of town needs. I might be a bit biased because I love harbors and waterfronts but I think cities should always maximize that feature. Nothing better than being by the waterr. They could really do some great things down there. They already have some nightlife there, and they’re building condos down there as well. With a new stadium in place they should be able to add some shops and restaurants as well. It could do for that area what MCI Center did for Chinatown.

So the big question is will this affect the Orioles? First of all nothing has affected the Orioles more than Angelos himself these past few years. He probably saw the writing on the wall before last season, which is why he went heavy on the free agent signings. Initially I thought this would hurt the Orioles to an extent but I didn't care, I just wanted another team here. But now I think that the negative impact will be little to none. A team in the District is going to attract a whole new core of fans that simply chose not to drive all the way out to Baltimore. Also, the DC area attracts nearly 25 million tourists a year, and it's one of the wealthiest metropolitan areas in the nation. All those factors will allow this area to support two teams.

It's not at all uncommon for there to be two teams in a major market-Yankees/Mets, Giants/As, Angels/Dodgers, White Sox/Cubs. All these teams have been to the postseason the past few years and this year at least four of them will make it again. And if you look at the financial reports of the teams in California-you only do this if you're a baseball freak and did a marketing presentation in B-School about baseball- then you'd see that the attendance of the four Cali teams is above the major league average. Of course it helps to have winning teams and Barry Bonds. But that's the point. If the Orioles remain committed to building a winning team and keep some superstars-Tejada, for example-another team in the area wouldn't be a problem. And the Baltimore/Washington area is larger than the Bay Area.

The big issue really isn't game day attendance it's control of the tv and radio market, even though technically DC and Baltimore are two separate media markets. But with the deal the MLB has apparently worked out Angelos will get a regional network for the Orioles, plus he's getting a guaranteed minimum revenue for the team each year. Angelos really has nothing to complain about.

If anything, a baseball team would have a negative impact on teams in the immediate DC area. The Capitals are even further screwed than they were already. And the Redskins and Wizards could lose some major corporate sponsors and luxury box owners, who might choose to invest their money in the hot new franchis instead. The Redskins have a lot of sponsorship deals and luxury box deals due to expire at the end of the season, beyond the obvious I'm sure Snyder considered the business ramifications of hiring Gibbs just before these deals were to expire and baseball came to town.

Technically the Texas Rangers own the rights to the name Washington Senators, but I'm sure something could be worked out. Although, some people on the inside have indicated they might like a completely new name to signal a new era of baseball in the nation's capital.

I apologize in advance for a highly regionalized, non-Redskins post