The Nationals waited more than a month after announcing the ban to reveal that they had
partnered with D.C-based startup Binbox to “make 500 medium- and large-sized storage lockers available” in which to store bags that won’t be allowed in the stadium. Binbox, in the laudable startup tradition of providing an already existing service but in a more complicated and expensive fashion, offers a baffling pricing scheme of “$2 per hour, charged in six-minute increments.” Also, payments have to be processed through an app called Stripe, so now fans can look forward to downloading a useless app they’ll never otherwise need
and stressing out over each pitching change that threatens to extend the game by another six minutes. Dumber still is the fact that, according to the
Washington Post, backpacks will need to be searched by a security staffer before they can be placed in the Binbox, which should make you wonder why a bag that’s been deemed safe by security is somehow still too dangerous to bring into the stadium.
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The average cost of an MLB ticket rose to $32.99 in 2019, a 48-percent increase since 2006, far outstripping the 25.4-percent inflation rate over the same period. The Dodgers, after charging
$60 for gate parking during the World Series last year, hiked in-season gate rates to start at $25. The Nationals, in addition to the bag ban, do not offer a parking option
cheaper than $20, and that one is four-fifths of a mile from the stadium—it will cost $48 to park in one of the lots directly across from Nationals Park, plus a $6 fee to purchase either pass online.
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Let’s imagine a family of four trying to go to a baseball game a few years from now. Opening Day, 2021: four tickets cost
$132 on average in 2019, so let’s say this family paid $150 per ticket. Kids have little legs, so they will need to park close: add another $50. After struggling to bring up their e-tickets on a single phone at the gate (the team recently phased out all paper tickets), our family will be informed their backpack is a no-go, and they’ll have to spend $20 to rent a Binbox. Finally, after making it into the stadium, it’s time to buy food. Hot dogs and peanuts for four, plus beer and sodas for two each will likely crest $40, and that’s assuming the parents are okay with cans of cheap frat-party beer. (For a pour of the local microbrew, it will be more like $15 each. We’ll say the conscientious parents share one.) Our imagined family had better have their credit card, too, or else they’ll need to load their cash onto a gift card before buying anything in the stadium.
