Orioles-Nationals Game Features Gift to Workers Affected by Federal Layoffs

The Washington Nationals and Baltimore Orioles announced a new exhibition series between the regional rivals on Friday.

The Nationals will host the Orioles on March 24, a single exhibition game three days prior to Opening Day. From 2026 through 2029, the series will expand to two matchups a year with one contest played in Washington, D.C., and the other in Baltimore.

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The exhibition series follows in the footsteps of similar preseason tuneups in Northern and Southern California. The San Francisco Giants and Oakland A's, and the Los Angeles Dodgers and Angels, have played head-to-head exhibition series for years after the conclusion of their spring training schedule in Arizona.

A decades-long feud between the owners of the Orioles and Nationals effectively prevented any sort of "Beltway Series." The well-documented legal battle over MASN, the regional sports network shared by the two teams, only recently resolved.

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Throw in a new controlling owner of the Orioles — David Rubenstein formally took control from the Angelos family last year — and the circumstances were finally ripe for the two teams to schedule some March rivalry games.

The Nationals also announced a perk specific to federal employees past and present:

Current and former employees of the federal government are eligible to receive two free tickets to this year's exhibition game as a special expression of gratitude for their services. Federal workers can claim their free tickets at the First Base Box Office beginning at 11:45 a.m. on Monday, March 24.

The Nats have a longstanding partnership with GOVX.com, an online clearinghouse for discounts for military, police, fire, EMS, first responders, educators and other federal employees. The partnership has previously included a 40 percent discount off Nationals regular season tickets, and a spending credit on concessions and merchandise inside Nationals Park.

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Recently, many DC-area businesses — have reportedly offered discounts to laid-off federal employees. A yoga session, an orchestral concert, and a baseball game appeal to different sets of consumers. Against this backdrop, the promotion makes sense.

The Nationals will have a quick turnaround from their split-squad games in Florida on March 23 (against the Astros and Cardinals) before hosting the Orioles in D.C. 24 hours later.

After that, they'll have two days off before hosting the Philadelphia Phillies on March 27 in their regular season opener.

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