Vegas, Baby

I think it's starting to become apparent that the relocation of the Washington Nationals isn't really working out for a lot of people:

Ah, the dog days of summer. Time to kick back, relax on the porch with a tall glass of lemonade and listen to the quintessential sound of the season: the ballgame on the radio.

These days, however, hardly anyone's tuning in.

The Washington Nationals, last in the National League East and closing fast on a 100-loss season, have attracted the smallest radio following in the major leagues, according to audience research from Arbitron.

How low? So low that even the microscopic numbers reported by the rating service might be too low to be statistically valid.

The team's broadcasts on the station formerly known as WWWT (107.7 FM and 1500 AM) attracted a cumulative weekly audience of about 26,500 from May through July, the most recent period measured by Arbitron.

The Nationals' following on radio isn't even in the same league as teams with similar records, even those in metropolitan areas with far fewer people than Washington.

And here is the kicker:

The low figures give the Nationals the unusual distinction of being a team that has far more people watching its games in person (average attendance has been 29,990 per game) than listening to them on radio.

So explain to me again why the D.C. City Council appropriated $611 million to build a new stadium for a team that in no way, shape, or form can make it financially?

Look, I've been to two Nats game this year. The new ballpark is nice (certainly nicer than the dump they use to play in), albeit nondescript. But nobody is going to the games. Nobody is listening to the games on radio, and nobody is watching them on television. How is this team going to survive?

Does anybody doubt that the Washington Nationals will be based out of Las Vegas or some other metropolitan area within ten years?