Rays 2013 Season (Tampa: vs, tickets, schedule)

[BucFan]

Originally Posted by Sunshinecc

I won't even embarrass myself by stating how much I've paid for tix in the past. But what I don't understand is these tickets are so incredibly reasonable - for great seats I might add - and attendance is still low. I would think families would take advantage of this, what a cheap day for the kids.

I'm only one, so what the heck could I do but I would love to try to rally some new support. And I'm really looking forward to going to plenty of games.

Last night's game was over at 10:30 pm-ish. If it takes you an hour to get home, you're getting to bed around midnight. Workerbees need their sleep. And so do kids going to school the next day.

[Sunshinecc]

Originally Posted by BucFan

Last night's game was over at 10:30 pm-ish. If it takes you an hour to get home, you're getting to bed around midnight. Workerbees need their sleep. And so do kids going to school the next day.

Oh ok, that does make sense. I would have a similar drive (actually a bit more) if I went to a Sox game so for the same reason you mentioned, I wouldn't want to go during the week.

Anyway, it sounds like you have a great package for home games. And that Miami road trip sounds fun!

[Kestrel88]

Originally Posted by BucFan

Last night's game was over at 10:30 pm-ish. If it takes you an hour to get home, you're getting to bed around midnight. Workerbees need their sleep. And so do kids going to school the next day.

No different than any other stadium in the world. 30 mile drives via interstate with hardly any post-game traffic is not something people of real sports towns complain about. And it doesn't take an hour to get to Tampa anyway.

[BucFan]

Most stadiums are within a 30-min drive of the heart of the population - at least that's the argument Sternberg is making when advocating building a new stadium. The Trop is far from being in the right location for the heart of the area population and is one of the major reasons for poor attendance.

[tampagator89]

Originally Posted by Kestrel88

No different than any other stadium in the world. 30 mile drives via interstate with hardly any post-game traffic is not something people of real sports towns complain about. And it doesn't take an hour to get to Tampa anyway.

This isn't rocket science. Pick any stadium in the MLB, drop a 30-mile (diameter) circle around it, then drop a 30-mile circle around Tropicana Field and compare.

I'll save you the time: your circle around the Trop is going to contain at least a 60/40 water/land ratio, which will guaranteed be larger than any other such ratio as far as MLB stadiums go. So if you live in the Gulf of Mexico or Tampa Bay, the stadium caters very nicely to you, otherwise, yes, it's going to take an hour-plus for a lot of people to drive there.

Who would have thought that putting a stadium at the tip of a peninsula would cause such location complaints?

[Kestrel88]

There would be a ton of water near a Tampa stadium as well. Just like there is in San Fran, Oakland, Baltimore, Detroit, Seattle, San Diego, Toronto, Boston, New York, etc

I'm quite sure the average commute time to a MLB game is quicker for Tampa residents than it is for almost every other market. If Tampa had a stadium and was as populated as those cities, fans within 10 miles would still need to allow 30+ minutes to get to a game. And as the last five years have proven, they'd keep using that as a reason not to go.

To recap: Tampa residents have it better than the vast majority of all MLB fans in terms of team success, ticket prices, commute times, and popularity of opponent (18 Yankees/Red Sox games).

[tampagator89]

Originally Posted by Kestrel88

There would be a ton of water near a Tampa stadium as well. Just like there is in San Fran, Oakland, Baltimore, Detroit, Seattle, San Diego, Toronto, Boston, New York, etc

To recap: Tampa residents have it better than the vast majority of all MLB fans in terms of team success, ticket prices, commute times, and popularity of opponent (18 Yankees/Red Sox games).

I'm sorry, but I disagree with you on some of these points. San Fran is the only other team with water all around the stadium, but the density on that peninsula far, far exceeds that of Pinellas county, so it doesn't matter. In fact, the density within immediate vicinity of the stadium in every city you've listed FAR exceeds that of St. Pete. 19% of the Tampa Bay population lives within a 30-min drive of Tropicana Field, worst among major league cities by far.

A Tampa stadium would not be ideal, but would at least cater to north, west, central, and east areas of the region, while a current Pinellas stadium caters only to the west and central regions. I do agree with you in one area: the density around Tampa Bay is so low that it would be iffy to expect attendance to increase dramatically if a Tampa stadium is built. However, it's also important to note that the Lightning drew 8th in attendance while located at downtown Tampa and while finishing with one of the worst records in the league. Raymond James sold out 10 straight years of consecutive games at one point.

Originally Posted by Kestrel88

I'm quite sure the average commute time to a MLB game is quicker for Tampa residents than it is for almost every other market. If Tampa had a stadium and was as populated as those cities, fans within 10 miles would still need to allow 30+ minutes to get to a game. And as the last five years have proven, they'd keep using that as a reason not to go.

Population isn't the issue at all, it's density. If Tampa were as dense as those other cities, we'd have subways and light rail that people could use to avoid traffic, and 60% of people would live within 30 mins of the stadium instead of 19%. I think it's wrong to assume the average commute time here is lower than that of other cities without statistics to back it up. Do we know for sure it takes 2 hours for the average Boston fan to get to a Red Sox game?

[Sunshinecc]

Does it look like rain delay will be awhile?

[Kestrel88]

Originally Posted by tampagator89

I'm sorry, but I disagree with you on some of these points. San Fran is the only other team with water all around the stadium, but the density on that peninsula far, far exceeds that of Pinellas county, so it doesn't matter. In fact, the density within immediate vicinity of the stadium in every city you've listed FAR exceeds that of St. Pete. 19% of the Tampa Bay population lives within a 30-min drive of Tropicana Field, worst among major league cities by far.


Population isn't the issue at all, it's density. If Tampa were as dense as those other cities, we'd have subways and light rail that people could use to avoid traffic, and 60% of people would live within 30 mins of the stadium instead of 19%. I think it's wrong to assume the average commute time here is lower than that of other cities without statistics to back it up. Do we know for sure it takes 2 hours for the average Boston fan to get to a Red Sox game?

Please look at a map of the United States and Canada. There's as much water within 30 miles of those cities listed as there would be if the Rays stadium was in Tampa.

As for Boston, those five miles away need more time to get to the park then residents of Tampa do to St Pete. The population, density, and amount of water doesn't matter. Tampa residents don't attend games because they say it takes too long for them, even with an interstate delivering them straight to the park.
The average commute for Red Sox fans is well above 30 minutes, and yes, even 2 hours, because fans come from all over New England. Every night.

[TXRyan23]

I've already posted numbers before in one of these Rays threads...

The Trop is actually further away from their main fanbase city than any other Major League Baseball stadium in the nation.

Most franchises are located downtown and benefit from 9-5 city workers sticking around after work for a game. I wish we had a team of the caliber of the Rays here in Houston, we might actually sellout games again...

Tropicana Field is 24 miles from Downtown Tampa, lets not even talk about the drive for the fans in Eastern Hillsborough, Polk, Osceola, and Orange Counties.

As I've mentioned in that other thread, when the Rays first started in 1998, we lived between Plant City and Brandon and after my dad got off work and had to drive out to pick us up, then drive all the way to St. Pete, then all the way back, it wasn't feasible anytime except Saturday.

Most people that work 9-5 in Tampa and live East of Tampa won't drive home to pick up the wife/girlfriend/kids, and double back through Tampa to St. Pete, especially when games start at 7:05pm.