News & Politics

Want to Buy a Ticket to a World Series Game in DC? Good Luck.

Many seats are already gone, but there's hope: The Nats are doing a "rolling release"—and a lottery.

Photo via iStock.

According to a spokesperson for the Washington Nationals, seats for the three World Series games here—October 25, 26, and 27—are “extremely limited.” But more may be coming available.

Those with season-ticket plans got early dibs on seats—first, weeks ago, when they had an opportunity to buy tickets for every postseason game that might be played here, and, again this week, in a presale when they could buy extra seats. Many did—to the point where some season-ticket-holders who logged on for the presale around noon on Tuesday, October 15, could not find two seats together, though single seats and standing room were available.

Yet there’s hope for the ticketless: According to the spokesperson, there will be a “rolling release” of tickets by the Nationals. MLB also controls some seats that could be released.

Fans who bought tickets to the NLCS against the Cardinals will get a chance to participate in a presale of “a limited number of tickets,” starting at 10 a.m.* on Friday, October 18. An email to everyone who bought NLCS tickets went out today, with details.

Didn’t buy NLCS tickets? Sign up for the Nats Fan Club by 5 p.m. on the 18th, and you will get a chance to register for a lottery for a limited number of tickets. The lottery will take place at 1 p.m. on October 19.

Buying season tickets now for 2020 may also be the ticket for World Series seats. Nats Plus members will get “VIP priority access” to the 2019 postseason, based on availability. New members will also get discounted prices on World Series seats.

Aside from these presales, there will be no general public sale of World Series tickets. (Which makes the term “presale” a bit mysterious.) There is, of course, always StubHub. As of noon today, standing-room tickets (which the Nats sold for $269 in this week’s season-ticket-holder presale) were going for at least $800. Diamond Club seats were priced at around $5,000.

According to TicketIQ, the “secondary market get-in price” for Nationals tickets is around $800—the second-highest price in the past decade, after the 2016 Cubs.

 

*This post has been corrected. An earlier version said the October 18 presale would begin at 9 a.m., but the information received was incorrect and the time was later set at 10 a.m.

 

 

 

Editor in chief

Sherri Dalphonse joined Washingtonian in 1986 as an editorial intern, and worked her way to the top of the masthead when she was named editor-in-chief in 2022. She oversees the magazine’s editorial staff, and guides the magazine’s stories and direction. She lives in DC.