POSTED BY LIZ FARMER | SEPTEMBER 3, 2013
There isn’t much that links a low-lying Texas border town like El Paso to a former northern industrial hotbed like Detroit—that is, there wasn’t until very recently, when the 1,700 miles stretching between the two suddenly seemed too close to officials in the southwestern city.
Liz Farmer, Examiner Staff Writer
The Examiner (Washington, DC) July 6, 2012
A few blocks from the Nationals Park, the crowds at Justins Cafe on First Street Southeast are buzzing.
"The vibe is definitely more fun, said owner Justin Ross. Its definitely more dominated by Nats fans this year."
After years in which the economic promise of locating a major league ballpark downtown was unfulfilled, the Capitol Riverfront neighborhood near the stadium is experiencing an upswing in nightlife that matches the rising fortunes of the baseball team.
Ross has seen the biggest difference when the team is away and people come to Justins to watch the game on TV. "When youre 20 [wins] below .500, thats not really happening," Ross said.
Nearly a quarter-million more people have flocked to the ballpark so far this year, and total attendance for the season heading into Thursday nights game is up 28 percent compared with the Nationals first 36 games last year. Once largely a 9 a.m.-to-5 p.m. neighborhood, Capitol Riverfront now hops on game nights, bringing a windfall to the few businesses equipped to handle thirsty fans.
Retail activity is expanding quickly and will soon catch up with the burgeoning crowds. Michael Stevens, executive director of the Capitol Riverfront Business Improvement District, said nine restaurants are slated to open within the next 14 months, in addition to a Harris Teeter store with residences and a gym on the upper floors.
Posted: 8:17 pm Mon, June 7, 2010
By Liz Farmer
Daily Record Business Writer
How big is Washington Nationals rookie pitcher Stephen Strasburg?
He’s big enough to sell out Nationals Park days in advance of his scheduled major league debut Tuesday night.
The 100-mph-fastball pitcher is big enough to catapult ad sales — and rates — on the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network for his expected starts this month.
The 21-year-old phenom is even big enough to inspire 249-year-old Strasburg, Va. to rename itself (if only temporarily) Stephen Strasburg, Va.
Simply put, expectations have soared beyond Earth’s gravitational pull and the money is already flowing — all before Strasburg throws his first big league pitch.
What the Peter G. Angelos name means in Baltimore depends on whom you ask.
Angelos, who turns 80 on Saturday, is a legal giant — a civic white knight who became the “king of asbestos” in the 1980s, securing $1 billion in settlements for tens of thousands of union workers he has represented for nearly 50 years and identified with his entire life.
He’s also the businessman who some say is suffocating the very baseball team he set out to restore as a source of pride for his adopted city.
A multimillionaire, Angelos could be living in the lap of luxury and enjoying retirement. Instead, the son of Greek immigrants spends six days a week in the office and is just as hands-on with his business ventures as he was decades ago.
His friends say his generosity knows no bounds and his loyalty is fierce. Orioles fans have slung mud at his name, pointing to more than a decade of losing seasons.
And what does that all mean to Angelos?
“What’s important is what people think of you … overall — not just from the standpoint as a baseball owner,” he said, during a two-hour interview with The Daily Record this week at his Charles Center office. “You just hope that, overall, people think of you in the positive as opposed to those areas where you didn’t quite meet the test.”
Posted: 1:00 am Thu, August 14, 2008
By Liz Farmer
Daily Record Business Writer
Some say it’s baseball in its purest form. Others say they like to root for the players, many just fresh out of their teenage years, trying to make it to the majors. Still others say it’s an inexpensive family outing where their kids can get a few freebies.
Minor league baseball in Maryland is filled with signature moments like fans shaking their keys in the seventh inning of a Frederick Keys game, lining up at a Bowie Baysox game to collect player autographs, taking in the history at the Hagerstown Suns’ Municipal Stadium or keeping an eye on the kids as they play bumper boats in the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs’ Crabby Cove. But from the business perspective, minor league ball is in many ways an operation far removed from the actual game of baseball.
In a way, it almost seems backward — while the Orioles’ game attendance rises and falls with the team’s on-the-field productivity, general managers of minor league clubs say most of their fans don’t know where the team is in the standings or even the final score of the game they just saw. And, they add, that’s exactly what they’re shooting for.
It’s a strange dichotomy of marketing and running a business in which the owner has no control over the actual products fans watch night in and night out.
