Monday, July 24, 2006

Old Danny Boy at it Again.

The Redskins will host the Ratbirds from 40 miles north on August 5th for a scrimmage at FedEx Field in Landover, MD. Wisely, Snyder isn't charging admission, but did you catch the fine print here?

That's right, while the stadium gates will be open to anybody who wants to come in, you'll need $25 to park your car, as if it were an actual game and not a glorified practice you were coming to watch. Leave to the Redskins to find ways to raise more and more money. Do they honestly think that 90,000+ people are going to flock to FedEx Field on an August afternoon? Do they really think they need to control the crowd at FedEx Field and in that fashion?

35,517 showed up last year in "Bhawlmuher" for the scrimmage and the Ratbirds charged admission ($12 for end zone, $7 for the lower bowl according to a Lexis-Nexis search). Had the event been totally free, I might have been coaxed into going simply to get my picture taken with the Super Bowl Trophies. But having to pay $25 to park or walk about a mile uphill to the Stadium kills that idea right there.

But the sad part is, it didn't have to be this way. 5 years ago now, Snyder opened up the club level of FedEx Field during the preseason and allowed everybody to come and park for free and watch the road preseason games. That was a nice little event and I am surprised it hasn't been done since. I was later told, it was mostly an attempt to sell club and "dream seats." I guess Snyder isn't making enough $$$$$ or he has to figure out a way to pay his coaching staff.

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