Caps Take Over RFK

It was interesting tonight at the Nats game at RFK (a game in which we really don't need to talk about too much). I don't know if anybody really noticed, but in the bottom of the 5th Inning, the Ribbon Scoreboards in the outfield had and advertisement for the Washington Capitals. All it did was put a couple of logos up, hawked the Caps website and posted a phone number (202)266-CAPS (that one is free Ted! :)= ). But what would get the most attention if anybody bothered to stick around (and the way the Nats are playing, they aren't likely too) is that the Caps are sponsoring the "Washington Capitals Big Hit of the Game." There's a quick little montage of A.O. hits (memo to Ted, include the hit against Columbus) that leads the highlight "hit of the game" in and out.

With training camp approaching and the regular season a little over a month away, it is nice to see the Caps ramp up their marketing. (Which in turn tells us hockey season is just around the corner.) What makes this rather noteworthy IMHO is that a year ago, the Caps couldn't do any of this. Not because of the lockout but because ex-Nationals Team President Tony Tavares wasn't going to allow it. I have it on good authority that Tony did not believe that the Nationals should promote the other sports leagues in any way. It took a considerable amount of arm twisting to get Redskins scores posted during Sunday day games last September. Of course, why the Nationals would turn down a check from anybody is beyond me, but that's the dysfunctionalism of Major League Baseball for you.

Anyway, kudos to Ted and Co for marketing the team and kudos to the Lerners and Kasten for being good neighbors and being smart enough to take a check.