Prince William, Northern Virginia: Dollar Night at Potomac Nationals

I'll be the first to admit that I'm not a huge sports fan. I'm still learning the rules to... well, actually every sport. I've been to a few Washington Nationals baseball games though and surprisingly loved it. I suspect it's more the atmosphere, the outdoors, and the hot dogs than the athletic displays.

Recently, a friend introduced me to the Potomac Nationals, a minor league baseball team associated with the Washington Nationals. We went on a dollar night sponsored by the Washington Post. Grandstand admission tickets are $1.00 and all hot dogs are $1.00. Parking is $5.00 and there really isn't another option for parking unless your up for a considerable walk. Every Monday night home game in the 2012 season is a dollar night.

I liked this much better than the Washington Nationals games for a few reasons. The first reason is the space, this wasn't overly crowded. I could stretch out my legs, and take up more more room than necessary. I was sitting right next to the P-Nat's dugout so I could see the players and get to know them (not that we talked, but there was a surprising amount of interaction between the players and the fans). I surprised myself when I found out that once I had picked out favorite players, I actually really did care about the game. It was much more affordable than the Washington Nationals, but I had a better experience (The W-Nat's ticket's cost $31.00, and the hot dogs cost $4.50). When I went to see the Washington Nationals, it took us an hour to get there (despite only being 15 miles away), fought traffic the whole way, had to pay for parking, and had to fight crowds in and out of the stadium. The P-Nat's took us 10 minutes to get to (it's near the intersection of Prince William Parkway and Old Bridge Road), had cheap parking, and almost no crowds. They have time after the game for the kids to meet the players, and tons of giveaways and events.

There are a few Dollar Nights left in the 2012 season, and I'm hoping they continue the sponsorship next year:

July 9th 2012
July 16th 2012
August 13th 2012
August 20th 2012

You can check out the Potomac Nationals Website for more information.

Total Cost for our trip to the Washington Nationals:
Tickets: $31.00 x 2 = $62.00
5 Hot Dogs: $22.50
3 Beers: $18.00
Bottled water that we brought in for me: $0.00
Parking: $35.00
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Total: $137.50

Total Cost for our trip to Potomac Nationals:
Tickets: $1.00 x 2: $2.00
5 Hot Dogs: $5.00
3 Beers at the house before the game: Free (with a designated driver only!)
Bottled water that we brought in: Free
Parking: $5.00
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Total: $12.00