WASHINGTON (AP) — The Nationals lowered individual-sale ticket prices on 14,000 seats for 2009 after ranking near the bottom of the National League in attendance during their new ballpark's debut season.
The team didn't raise prices on any of the 41,888 seats in Nationals Park.
Prices were not changed for the stadium's most expensive seats, including those right behind home plate that cost $300 or more and often were empty when providing a backdrop for TV cameras.
The Nationals, whose record of 59-102 was the worst in baseball, averaged about 29,000 fans per home game in 2008, when they moved from RFK Stadium to their nearly $700 million new home. That put the team 13th in attendance in the 16-team NL, and 19th in the 30-team major leagues.
Individual-sale ticket prices were cut by $10 or more in more than 4,500 seats, including 3,000 in the ballpark's lower bowl.
In September, the club announced it was lowering season-ticket prices for 7,500 seats, mostly in the outfield sections.
Wednesday's announcement also noted that tickets for the June 23-25 interleague series against the Boston Red Sox will be available only as part of season-ticket plans for the time being, but might be sold individually in March.
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Games against the Red Sox are among the 18 games that will cost more than others under what the team is calling "premium" pricing.
