Source: Ted Lerner met with Mayor Gray with a proposal for a $300 million retractable roof over Nats Park. Gray was "shocked," said no.
— Adam Kilgore (@AdamKilgoreWP) November 26, 2013
Incredibly, the Washington Nationals asked for $300 million to put a freaking roof on the stadium that public tax dollars paid for and which was opened in 2008, a mere five years ago. Thank goodness the mayor showed them the door.
Here's a thought: If you want a domed ballpark -- and why the hell do you, anyway? -- sell the name of the stadium to pay for half of that, and pay the rest, yourselves, you damn ingrates. Citizens Bank Park, in Philadelphia, fetched $95 million over 25 years for its naming deal, and that was a decade ago.
Washington, DC, may not have as much money floating around as Silicon Valley and the Bay Area, and the Nats aren't the San Francisco 49ers, but Santa Clara just got $220 million over 11 years for the naming rights to Levi's Stadium. In other words, if you can't get $150 million over 20 years, the likely amount of time the team would have to pay off financing for construction, then you stink at being an ownership group.
Update: Inspired by my friend, Dan, I found Maury Brown's list of rainouts during the first decade of this century. From 2005-2011, the Nationals had seven. SEVEN!
(Image cc-licensed: "Nats Park" by thetejon)