Are people in the Tampa Bay area too cheap to support a major league baseball team? (Miami: buying, luxury)

[BucFan]

The population changes during the summer months - snowbird northerners leave - all businesses, restaurants, etc feel it and lay off staff. It's a pretty significant portion of the population.

NYY games and Boston games get good turnouts, but the rest of the league's teams visiting here don't. Concerts at the end of games usually fills the stadium, but those events cost the owners. (ZZ Top, Hall and Oates, etc).

[mortpes]

It would be more like too smart not too cheap. Communities all over the nation are going into debt building hugh stadiums for sports. Why?

[BucFan]

Our area was hit hard (unemployment, housing crisis, etc). Some think that it's actually progressive to NOT spend needlessly and live within your means instead of spending $25-100/game when you can watch on the HDTV.

I think of as the area has smartened-up and started to save money.

The rest of America needs to wise up and stop living hand-to-mouth.

[gonzoUSF]

Here is a breakdown of single game ticket sales by county, lets ignore the season tickets sales for a moment here and let's break these down. According to this, Pinellas accounts for 25.4% of single tickets so 1/4, meanwhile across the Bay Hillsborough also accounts for 25% or 1/4. While someone can say "but look both counties make up the same percentage of ticket sales", yes, they do, but where is the stadium located? Pinellas County so realistically Pinellas should be making up a greater percentage of ticket sales and should be near 40% considering the stadium is located in that county. The fact that Hillsborough already accounts for 25% is saying a lot considering for the vast majority of Hillsborough residents it will take an hour plus (considering traffic) to get to the game. Plus you have every other county surrounding the the region that accounts for a significant percentage, imagine the stadium moves to a central location in Tampa which is centralized Tampa Bay, the increase tickets from some of these counties could be huge. The fact of the matter is, the percentage of single game tickets coming from Pinellas is just unacceptable at 25%.

[tpajr]

Originally Posted by gonzoUSF

Here is a breakdown of single game ticket sales by county, lets ignore the season tickets sales for a moment here and let's break these down. According to this, Pinellas accounts for 25.4% of single tickets so 1/4, meanwhile across the Bay Hillsborough also accounts for 25% or 1/4. While someone can say "but look both counties make up the same percentage of ticket sales", yes, they do, but where is the stadium located? Pinellas County so realistically Pinellas should be making up a greater percentage of ticket sales and should be near 40% considering the stadium is located in that county. The fact that Hillsborough already accounts for 25% is saying a lot considering for the vast majority of Hillsborough residents it will take an hour plus (considering traffic) to get to the game. Plus you have every other county surrounding the the region that accounts for a significant percentage, imagine the stadium moves to a central location in Tampa which is centralized Tampa Bay, the increase tickets from some of these counties could be huge. The fact of the matter is, the percentage of single game tickets coming from Pinellas is just unacceptable at 25%.

Those are interesting statistics. The one excuse people in pinellas cant use as readily as those in other counties is the location of the stadium. All of the other excuses people use not to support a great MLB team can be used in pinellas though.

[BucFan]

Interesting look at who goes to Rays games.



A Closer Look At The Rays’ Season Ticket Numbers | Rays Index

[TXRyan23]

Originally Posted by BucFan

I'll go to the usual 10-20 games as long as they're here. If they leave, I'll just find something else to do w/ my disposable income. There's always baseball on the HDTV.

I hope they can build a new stadium in Tampa, but if they had to move, I'd like to see them in San Antonio so I can see them more, lol. I feel that if they relocate, it'll be to CT or NY.

[BucFan]

I can't see SA giving MLB more attendance than TB -

[tampagator89]

Originally Posted by TXRyan23

I hope they can build a new stadium in Tampa, but if they had to move, I'd like to see them in San Antonio so I can see them more, lol. I feel that if they relocate, it'll be to CT or NY.

One thing working for us is that there are pretty big problems for this team no matter where they might relocate. I think too many fans in the northeast are either Yankees, Mets, Phillies, or Red Sox fans, and they do not want to switch allegiances. And if you go out to somewhere like Buffalo, that area is probably maxed out with the NFL and NHL franchises they have there already.

The other sites I've heard thrown around are Portland, Nashville, Charlotte, Las Vegas, and Virginia Beach. Portland and Virginia Beach are too small, Charlotte is too small for 3 franchises and lacks consistent enough fan support to tear a team away from somewhere, and Las Vegas has always been a hard sell for any major sports franchise due to the whole gambling thing. As for Nashville, maybe...but I feel that baseball is an even harder sell in Tennessee than Florida. San Antonio might work too, since the Spurs are well-received, but it's risky as the metro area is very small.

Honestly, the most viable option if a team does want to move is not even in the US (Montreal). Which is a risky move for obvious reasons.

[BucFan]

How about New Jersey?