Kasten working to sell premium seats

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Washington Nationals fans willing to spend thousands of dollars for a luxurious experience at the team's new ballpark still have a chance.

Team president Stan Kasten said he is still working to sell some premium seats at the new stadium and that some luxury suites also remain available.

Speaking at a roundtable luncheon with reporters, Kasten said suites at the highest-priced Washington and Lincoln levels have all been reserved, but that some suites at the smallest Jefferson suites are still available. He said prices, which increased in June, will rise again this month. Kasten said he expects all suites and premium seats to be sold out by Opening Day.

Meanwhile, the process of relocating existing season ticket holders into seats at the new ballpark will continue until at least November. All ticket holders who sought premium seats in the areas behind home plate have been relocated, Kasten said, but the team can't begin accepting full orders for tickets until all existing ticket holders have been moved.

Until our staff gets that done, I can't take live tickets, I can only take deposits, he said. It's been extremely time consuming.

Kasten said he expects this offseason to be one of the busiest of his career as the team prepares to move into the new ballpark.

Remember, as we go into the new ballpark, we're going into businesses this franchise has never been in before, he said. We've never been in the suite business, we've never been in the high-end catering business. We've never been in the high-end sponsorship business. These are new businesses for us.

Kasten also revealed he has met with representatives and ambassadors from nearly every country known to produce Major League Baseball talent as part of an effort to broaden the pool of players who would consider signing with the Nationals.

None of these representatives can deliver players to us, Kasten said. That's not what this is about. But they can be extremely helpful when their countrymen are making decisions on what team to play for.

The team was scheduled last night to play host to a large reception for representatives from eight countries at RFK Stadium.