Please note that while I do mention
specific teams in this post, I have the utmost respect for all of them, and if
I were not working down at school this summer, I would likely be attending multiple
events for these teams and I do one day hope to work for one of these teams.
That being said, I think there is
always room for improvement and this can be a stepping stone for Washington
D.C.
After hearing about Joe Carr’s
arrest near Nationals Park for ticket scalping, I quickly came to the decision
that it is a terrible idea to arrest people for ticket scalping in Washington
D.C. Much like Joe pointed out there are bigger things to worry about in the
District than ticket scalping. I have made a short list of reasons why Joe
should not have been arrested.
Crime
Drugs and murder are things that
deter people from living in certain areas of the country, especially if they
live a more luxurious lifestyle. The southeast corner of the District is not
the greatest area. Those that lead a
glamorous life have more money, which is what the Nationals want (they are a
for-profit company), are prone to not live in the area. If police attention was
focused more on drugs, murder, and gang violence, perhaps the area would be
cleaned up enough to allow for some nicer apartments to be built for the
lavishly living folk and with the convenience of being just a few blocks away,
they would probably attend more games.
If there is only a chance of me making it to a game, I am
not buying a ticket.
If there’s no chance of me being able to sell
my ticket in the case that I can’t go, then I’m not buying one from the team.
However, I might consider buying a $30 ticket if I could go back and sell it
for $20 if something comes up. The money is made by the team once, I buy the ticket. If I give it away, it's not illegal and I'm out $30 instead of $10, not exactly the experience I would hope to remember.
The Economy
The
idea behind the economy is that you need people to come to your area, spend
their money, and take back less value than what they came with. This is why
souvenir items can cost you can arm and a leg. But now that Joe has had a bad
experience in Washington, when his friends ask about his trip, he is telling them
how horrible it was, and they are going to consider other cities first.
Sporting Event Security
While
this might be considered by many to fall under crime, I’m keeping it separate.
Positive game experiences can be made or broken by who you sit around. If there
is a rude, intoxicated spectator yelling and screaming at the players, I’m much
more likely to have a negative experience and not want to come back. A higher police
presence inside the stadium would probably be beneficial.
In
addition, the last act of terrorism in our great nation did happen at a
sporting event. I’m not trying to scare people, just trying to state a fact. If
there was greater police presence including the use of K-9 Units, I would
absolutely feel safer at games. It’s not that I don’t feel safe already, but given
the NFL’s new security policies, I’d feel much safer going to a Redskins game
in Upper Marlboro than a Nationals game near Anacostia.
Like I said earlier, I hope this is a stepping stone for Washington D.C. I love this city and I do not want everyone to have a bad taste of it. Hopefully even Joe will give the District another chance.
