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

[FloridaKash]

Also, getting them out of the AL East might help. A whole lot of Yankee and Red Sox fans here. Kind of hard to support another team in the same Division. Not sure how that could possibly happen though....

The Trop is fine for a stadium... it's the location that sucks. Impossible for me to get off work, drive to my house to grab the family and head all the way to the Trop on a weekday to catch a game.

Bucs excuse - they need a winning team.

Not nearly as many people would like the Yankees if they were a team that came last in their division for the last decade or so.

[JSnFla]

bad teams still draw well in good markets, countless examples over the years in all sports.

[tampagator89]

I read somewhere back that the Rays' walk-up ticket sales averaged middle-of-the-pack, maybe a little bit low. The point being the main problem is support from corporations, which is what will get you that day-in day-out support for everyday baseball games that general fans don't provide as much. When you have an ugly stadium in a sketch area with nothing do to, with small boxes and an ugly field, and place it far away from the central hub of the business region, what do you think will happen?

Also, whatever poster in here said baseball needs to be a "night out" is right on the money. A lot of people here are apathetic about baseball, but that still doesn't mean they won't attend games if the ballpark is surrounded by parks, bars, restaurants, and entertainment, or if the ballpark itself has lots of games and venues to cater to people who don't want to spend 3 hours watching a game.

One can dream about this scenario...of course, the likely thing is the hurdles won't be jumped over and the owners will sell or move the team.

[gonzoUSF]

Everyone needs to stop comparing attendance issues with the Bucs to a what if scenario if the Rays were to come to Tampa. The first argument and really the only argument people from Pinellas keep pointing too is the Bucs. "Well if the Bucs can't fill 8 games at RayJay, who is going to fill the Rays games". Stop comparing the two! Two totally different markets, complete opposite ticket prices, good team past 5 years vs. crap team past 5 years, good front office and fan relations vs bad front office and fan relations.

Sure everyone can say the Bucs have poor attendance, but prior to the economy tanking they sold out every single game and the economy tanking came at the same time the Bucs started to play like crap. Besides that, RayJay still manages to get ~55,000 (average) people into the stadium every Sunday. That is nearly triple your average Rays game which only average 19,000.

Apples to oranges people, keep it in perspective.

[BucFan]

Many NFL teams aren't selling out, but their ownerships or local corporations are buying up the tickets to make it seem like a sell out and get the TV blackout lifted. The Glazers did that for a season or two (2008, 2009), but that gets expensive for an ownership to do every season.

I usually go to 10-20 Rays games a season, but there were several times that I decided against it because the hassle of going to a game didn't trump watching on the HDTV big screen in my living room. Why would anyone spend $25-$100+ to take their family to a game when they can easily watch it on the tube?

[sinatras]

It's so sad that instead of progressing, Tampa Bay seems to be REGRESSING. Now it's on the verge of losing a pro sports team that has one of the BEST reputations in baseball.

People in Tampa Bay just don't seem to care about losing its baseball team. Let's face it: this is an area with not that many baseball fans, not that many people who can afford to go to games, not that many people who care. All of that adds up to: lack of support for team. Which means they should go elsewhere, because it's a great team that deserves sooooo much better. I just wish we had more people, more money, more passion to support it here.


Now it would have HELPED if someone in Tampa Bay would have had the good sense to put them in a stadium in a halfway decent area. And by decent I mean a centrally located area (South Tampa/Downtown) close to the where the people with money live and work.

From a sports economist:

"It's very important in today's economics that stadiums be located as close to a business district as possible — particularly baseball, that can play six or 7 games a week. It enables the team to attract members of the business community to the stadium at the end of the work day and sell season tickets and premium seating.
Fans are of a higher economic demographic, so signage and corporate sponsorship becomes more valuable. You can create synergies with other businesses. You might have a tax increment financing district or tax abatement for a vibrant entertainment district."

Makes sense to me.

In order for the Rays to have had a FIGHTING chance to survive the blaise attitudes about baseball in Florida/Tampa Bay, they would have had to play in Downtown Tampa. Then, if they failed there, then we would know they just don't belong here. Period. But to have them play in that horrible arena in nowheresville St. Pete, is really just a disservice to the team.

[GoRays813]

Put it in downtown Tampa connecting Ybor, downtown, and Channelside. The infrastructure supports a baseball stadium.

[dnvrsoul]

Originally Posted by GoRays813

Put it in downtown Tampa connecting Ybor, downtown, and Channelside. The infrastructure supports a baseball stadium.

I would be for Channelside before the place becomes a complete ghost town. I know the city was disscussing the Carillon area...which is already congested..BUT close enough to the Howard Franklin-

Something has to be done...I really hope people will not allow the Rays to move-I look foward to spring training.

[BucFan]

Originally Posted by GoRays813

Put it in downtown Tampa connecting Ybor, downtown, and Channelside. The infrastructure supports a baseball stadium.

there are no guarantees about that....once the initial novelty of a new stadium wears off (1-2 seasons), there will be empty seats there too......proof positive Bucs franchise.

this area isn't big enough to support three professional franchises, imo - and unless major corporations plan on moving here in the future, it won't change as a small market.

move the team already for all I care

[SeaSpur]

Originally Posted by BucFan

This topic has been rehashed on this message board ad nauseam.

1. Poor location
2. Huge transplant demographic who refuse to support the local team
3. Huge elderly population who refuse to leave their condos.
4. Poor economy, housing crisis, unemployment
5. Population has wised-up not to live hand-to-mouth and save a few dollars in case they're hit with #4 above.
6. Almost every game of the season is broadcasted FREE on HDTV where people watch at home rather than make the journey to beautiful parts of St Pete (sarcasm intended).
7. No public transportation to the venue like the larger cities (NY, Boston, Chicago, etc).
8. Very little history w/ this franchise - and only recent success (last 3 out of 4 seasons), other than that they've been a basement dweller.
9. Very little corporate support (tickets, suites) - so no income stream to the team. Corporations in the area (Publix, Raymond James, Tropicana) can buy tickets in bulk and give them to customers, employees.

I think this point is highly underrated. Look at how many markets have public transportation in the city to move people to the game? You can walk down the street to get on a train and be at the stadium in less than 30 minutes with no worries of having a beer, fighting traffic, etc. In Atlanta and DC, the trains are PACKED on gamedays...and I am sure it is the same for New York, Chicago, and LA. Then you have teams in other cities with honestly nothing to do in comparison to Tampa (Milwaukee, Denver, Minnesota, Cincy).

Either way, I moved to Tampa from SC 2 years ago and looked forward to finally adopting professional sports franchises and becoming a real "fan" of one. Living in SC, people pull for the Braves and MANY people make the 4+ hour drive for games each week. I never felt attached to them like some people but I have gone to about 15 Rays games and would really hate to lose them.

However, the think that bugs me about Tampa most...or should I say the most disappointing missing feature...is public transit. Ridiculous to have this many people in an area without it. The economy would boom with it because I know I'd love to have drinks in downtown Dunedin, tailgate for a Rays game, or go to a street festival in Safety Harbor and have a few without worrying about driving.