Photo by Intrepid/TalkNats

Yesterday, we were invited to a top influencer luncheon with Jason Sinnarajah, the new President of Business operations for the Washington Nationals. He just passed the 60-day mark in his tenure. There was no set agenda, just a lot of information shared at the table. Sinnarajah wanted to hear it all — negative and positive. And this was a positive group that was there to help. There was also a nice discussion before he arrived in the room.

We were asked not take photos, and not to record the conversations, so we apologize in advance that we have no pictures or direct quotes. Sinnarajah and the Nats’ VP of Communications, Valerie Todryk Krebs, were the attendees from the Nats’ side. At the table were a nice cross-section of the Nats “social media influencers” scene. The social media person from 106.7 was an attendee, and representatives from Ladies Who Like Baseball, Federal Baseball, and The Nats Report were there. A few invitees could not make it. But for the people who were there, the discussion was lively and informative with some great perspectives.

On the positive side, the cost of beer coming down was well-received, and it showed how Sinnarajah and his staff are listening to the fans. The team also created a new season ticket plan holder entrance at the left field gates out on South Capitol street next to the B-Garage. For some of the giveaway games, the team will allow season ticket holders to enter the stadium earlier. The team continues to try to add more benefits for season ticket holders.

On the television situation, Thursday morning is when MLB and the teams on the MLB package will announce the cable lineups for several teams. The Nats are not negotiating any of this. All we know is that DirecTV will be broadcasting Nats games. There is, of course, a rumor that the Nats will be shown on traditional legacy TV in the original OTA (over the air) for local TV in the DMV in a limited amount of games. But again, that is a rumor.

The clear bag policy has been a bone of contention for a long time. As was pointed out, nobody wants to bring personal products in their clear bag for everyone to see. Some items should be kept private. In the women’s bathrooms, the team now provides complimentary personal products. Exceptions to the clear bag rule are diaper bags, medical bags, and clutches sized 5″x 7″ x 3/4″ or smaller.

The Friday concert series will continue during the 2026 season with artists to be announced at a later date. Most of the attendees wanted to discuss what the team could do to upgrade the stadium. One attendee thought a home run feature like a rising Capitol dome would be “cool” sort of like the Mets have with their Big Apple. A lot of discussion about raising the energy level in the stadium, but many people don’t like the loud noise to the point that Powerboater has said before that he’d prefer Monday throwback games that are free of the loud manufactured noise.

Sinnarajah wanted to hear ideas on how you could get people into the stadium earlier. The discussion centered around opening up the stadium earlier to attend the “home” batting practice. I brought up how the Padres have local musicians play music behind center field. The team will have to get creative on gamedays when they aren’t giving away popular bobbleheads to get the fans to arrive early.

There was the 1,000 pound elephant question. Why didn’t the Nats sign a veteran team leader for the team? Sinnarajah was clear that he doesn’t make decisions on player acquisitions as that is Paul Toboni’s area. How much easier would Sinnarajah’s job be if the team signed a superstar player to a long-term deal? That could get you thinking, maybe do this type of meeting again with Toboni in the room. Here’s the thing, we don’t know if Toboni tried to sign a team leader. Maybe he did — maybe he didn’t. Last year for instance, news leaked that the Nats tried to sign Gleyber Torres. As you know, Toboni hasn’t had many leaks.

Sinnarajah was very complimentary of Mark Lerner and the money that has been spent behind the scenes. Sure, everyone knows about all of the front office personnel who were hired and the money spent on technology. But the team has also spent money in places you might never see. Sure enough, when I went to the “TalkNats” seats in center field, our section had brand new seat cushions installed. Again, the team is listening. The team is doing things that you might never see. I put up photos on the TalkNats’ Instagram stories.

There was a discussion going back to when Stan Kasten was the Nats’ team President that he was a supporter of the influencers and bloggers, and would have these types of meetings on the regular. For anyone who remembers the Nats320 account, they were bloggers who would often be upgraded to seats right behind homeplate. And they disappeared after Kasten left the team — but their old blog still is still available to view with their final posts in 2011. There were times when Kasten would invite influencers for a night in a suite. That was an area where Kasten excelled, and about the only place he wasn’t getting criticized was from those particular influencers and bloggers. After Kasten left the team, the next group didn’t exactly embrace the influencers and bloggers.

When was the last time you listened to terrestrial local DC radio and heard them talk about the Washington Nationals? Well, just last week, 99.5 FM’s morning show discussed the new team dog and the Alexander Ovechkin bobblehead giveaway and Hello Kitty Day. The discussion lasted several minutes (all positive) because their producer Eric was publicly shamed (in a comedic way) for trying to expense $400 in Nats tickets he purchased to Hello Kitty Day, and to pay for his tickets he had to do a Lemonade Stand on Rockville Pike. Unfortunately on my drive to the ballpark yesterday, those same radio people were gushing about their invitation by the Orioles to attend Opening Day. Coincidence? I think not. The Orioles, as you know, market heavily in the DC market — and especially to the DC business community.

That is a segue to the fact that the Nats have a lot of competition for baseball dollars with their neighbors to the north. The Orioles have upped their marketing game and are paying attention to what the Nats do. For several years, I worked inside of Camden Yards. My message is that they were always interested in what the Nats do. I only accepted the job after they hired Doug Duennes as their Head of Business Operations. Doug was a former executive with the Dodgers and someone who I had a long relationship with. Back in the day, the Dodgers weren’t the behemoth they are now — and they would not only compete with the Angels in a close geographic vicinity — but also with the San Diego Padres. But it certainly makes Sinnarajah’s job more complicated that that he has the Orioles geographically in his front yard.

In his previous job, Sinnarajah was with the Kansas City Royals. Geographically, the closest team was the St. Louis Cardinals, and they are a 3.5 hour drive away. The Orioles are a 25 minute drive from Burtonsville, Maryland in Montgomery County. The team from Baltimore is still trying to stay relevant after a losing season in 2025 — and they spent a ton of money in the offseason. One person said the Nats were third from last in spending — I interjected (with a loose laugh) that the Nats were fifth from last after signing Zack Littell. Yes, not much better — just wanted to keep the numbers accurate, and frankly being fifth from last still stinks.

Let’s face it, the Orioles have the advantage of being a revenue sharing recipient, and 20+ years of having the upper hand in the MASN deal. It might take time, but hopefully the Nats breaking free from MASN and being able to market on their own network can change the public perception of the team.

The Nats might be less than seven years removed from a World Series win, but it feels longer. The fans want that winning pride to return. That would help Sinnarajah and his staff. Before he entered the room yesterday, there was an influencer discussion on how the team has suffered even in the good times of the winning years that there was an erosion of the public perception of the team as the local media used stories like the Strasburg retirement, the Harper choking incident, the clubhouse rat story, the Strasburg flu, and even the Strasburg shutdown as huge negative stories. One newspaper writer vowed that the Nats would never win a World Series under Lerner ownership. Well, “never” is a long-time, and it happened in 2019. When is the last time the Orioles won anything that was significant? Exactly. And 1983 was long before Toboni was born.

So maybe the most important part of the job for the Nats is to improve their public perception. That is a challenge when a team is losing. But as we showed in a recent article, the Nats were never better than 11th in attendance in rankings for MLB during the winning years. It goes to show you that while Washington, D.C. is in the top-8 in MSA population size, that matters little if they aren’t adding to the revenue at Nationals games. But the potential is there to grow the fanbase.

Influencers can change public perception. Many companies only use influencers for advertising. Some in corporate America are finding it more cost effective and more productive to market through influencers. Advertising in print media has steadily decreased for the past decade. There are plenty of articles to read on the subject.

When Kasten moved to the Dodgers, he has been part of the greatest revenue growth in the history of baseball as they approach the first team to reach the billion dollar mark in a fiscal year. When he arrived there, the team wasn’t thriving. He embraced the local influencers as an ally. They’ve grown as the team has grown. And they have a huge media presence in both L.A. and now Japan.

When you meet Jason Sinnarajah, you notice that he is a good listener, highly intelligent, and honest. In my two meetings with him, there is no B.S. with this man. He didn’t tell me what I wanted to hear. In 2007, Kasten worked on me to buy a suite at the soon to be opened Nationals Park — and he offered me plenty of incentives like throwing out a ceremonial first pitch. I bought a suite that I kept for five years. In 2009, I asked Kasten when I’d get to throw out my first pitch — his answer to me was that I’d get to do that when I bought a second suite. That was Kasten, the same guy who was inviting Phillies fans to occupy Nationals Park.

We also had a discussion on how everyone liked the new broadcast. I spoke to how much I like Alexa Datt’s interviews and the amount of research she does in preparing questions. Others said they do not like how the interviews with coaches are very cliche. Also, nobody likes when they go fullscreen with an interview, and we can’t see the action on the field.

For Sinnarajah, yesterday was the first game he attended in Nationals Park as an employee. That was just a small warm-up to get his walking shoes ready. He said he will be out and about in the stadium to see things with his own eyes. That’s the best way to do it. The crowd was light yesterday. It won’t be on Opening Day. Give the new Nats management time to keep improving things. Ultimately, improving the fan experience is a priority again. Cultivating new fans is a top goal. For now, enjoy the new lower prices of the beer.