Rays announce plans to leave St Petersburg for Tampa
- Thread starter Fenway
- Start date
Blackmon
Mullet
Building a new stadium did not solve Miami's woes, and it won't solve Tampa's either. Major League Baseball just doesn't work, and is never going to work in Florida.
I took a trip to Miami to catch the Rockies @ Marlins series back in April, and I've never seen a stadium so empty. I swear we get more people going to Edmonton Prospects games.
I took a trip to Miami to catch the Rockies @ Marlins series back in April, and I've never seen a stadium so empty. I swear we get more people going to Edmonton Prospects games.
Dr Pepper
Registered User
I'm at a loss to figure out how/why baseball is so unpopular in Florida, more so than in any other MLB state.
Is it just fan discontent with the way the two respective teams are run? Or something else?
MLB botched Miami. Their first couple years they drew well. The fire sale after the 97 championship team killed attendance. Playing in a suburban football stadium was a disaster. When they got the new park they had the misfortune of still having Jeff Loria as owner. Current ownership was forced to trade Stanton, Ozuna, Yelich because the Marlins had no pitching on the big league team or minors thanks to Loria. By the time the Marlins rebuilt their system and developed pitching Stanton, Ozuna and Yelich would be in their decline years.
As far as Tampa they are 30 miles away from the downtown core. Only 1/5th of Tampa's population is withing a half hour drive of the current stadium. The new location would have 1.4 to 1.6 million people within a half hour drive.
Rays move to Ybor City would put team within heart of region’s population, study shows
rangerssharks414
Registered User
I feel like attendance for all pro Florida sports teams is lousy. The Lightning might have good attendance, but I don't know.
Good luck paying for this.
Dr Pepper
Registered User
I don't follow the NFL a whole lot but I would imagine the Bucs/Jags/Dolphins don't have trouble filling seats, even if their teams can be pretty lousy.
Or the Heat/Magic.
Dont Toews Me Bro
Registered User
- Mar 20, 2018
- 1,601
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It's in downtown St. Petersburg (population: ~244,000), little dude. Not exactly the "like in the middle of nowhere."
Last year it varied. Miami was somehow 2nd , though I wonder if a London game contributed to that. Jacksonville was middle of the road at 18 and Tampa was near the bottom at 27. I went off of perecentage as that tells the true story.
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Dr Pepper
Registered User
Damn, can you imagine if the Rays could manage 91% capacity?
2018 MLB Attendance - Major League Baseball - ESPN
Not surprised to see Florida teams at the bottom of the league.
I am surprised, however, to see that more than half the teams can't even boast 75% capacity for their home games. That's brutal.
Another thing I've noticed, there are a bunch of teams with higher attendance numbers on the road than at home. I'm guessing that's just from games played in Boston, or St. Louis, etc.
2018 MLB Attendance - Major League Baseball - ESPN
Not surprised to see Florida teams at the bottom of the league.
I am surprised, however, to see that more than half the teams can't even boast 75% capacity for their home games. That's brutal.
Another thing I've noticed, there are a bunch of teams with higher attendance numbers on the road than at home. I'm guessing that's just from games played in Boston, or St. Louis, etc.
Bjorn Le
Hobocop
It won't be a saga, this stadium isn't being funded period. I don't believe for a second that Sternberg actually thinks this is going to happen.
rangerssharks414
Registered User
AdmiralsFan24
Registered User
Tropicana is an awful location, right at the bottom of the peninsula. Ybor City is much more centrally located.
rangerssharks414
Registered User
I get that part, but I think "at least 10,000" is too optimistic. Maybe 5,000 per game.
I still don't think that they'll get the funding for the new stadium.
AtlantaWhaler
Thrash/Preds/Sabres
- Jul 3, 2009
- 19,693
- 2,910
https://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta...bay-rays-look-to-suntrust-park-for-ideas.html
The Tampa Bay Rays are building a new stadium — and club officials toured SunTrust Park to see what the Atlanta Braves did to create the Cobb County ballpark that opened 17 months ago.
The Tampa Bay Rays are building a new stadium — and club officials toured SunTrust Park to see what the Atlanta Braves did to create the Cobb County ballpark that opened 17 months ago.
Say Hey Kid
Bathory
Tampa and Miami were the 2 worst last year. Tampa had only 1.0 mil and Miami had less than 3/4 of a mil! 
BigBadBruins7708
Registered User
tree falling in the woods...just look at their attendance "peak"
2008 - 97 win team, wins the AL pennant...22,370 per game
2009 - fresh off the prior year's success...23,148 per game (franchise record btw)
2010 - rebound to win 96 and the AL East again...23,105 per game
2011 - win 91 games, finish 2nd...18,879 per game
win or lose, the fan support doesnt exist. Changing location wont change that. If the fan base was there, they would've put up with the hassle to get to the park and see a World Series team.
And lets not act like other stadiums have a picnic of a drive to get in either.
You ever try to get anywhere in Boston at 6pm on a weekday? Driving, you're looking at 1-2 hours from outside the city. Subway is still at least an hour journey. Most fans travel over an hour each way to get to Fenway
2008 - 97 win team, wins the AL pennant...22,370 per game
2009 - fresh off the prior year's success...23,148 per game (franchise record btw)
2010 - rebound to win 96 and the AL East again...23,105 per game
2011 - win 91 games, finish 2nd...18,879 per game
win or lose, the fan support doesnt exist. Changing location wont change that. If the fan base was there, they would've put up with the hassle to get to the park and see a World Series team.
And lets not act like other stadiums have a picnic of a drive to get in either.
You ever try to get anywhere in Boston at 6pm on a weekday? Driving, you're looking at 1-2 hours from outside the city. Subway is still at least an hour journey. Most fans travel over an hour each way to get to Fenway
Say Hey Kid
Bathory
BKIslandersFan
F*** off
Boston and Chicago have viable public transit system to make it work without parking. Tampa does not.
Also Fenway and Wrigley are close to downtown and people getting off work can easily get to the stadium for night games.
Also Fenway and Wrigley are close to downtown and people getting off work can easily get to the stadium for night games.
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Bjorn Le
Hobocop
I like how in this summary article they don't mention finance once, while if you go to the article they are summarizing, it talks about that Tampa has no funding yet, might have to revisit St. Petersburg, and that it's quite different from the situation in Atlanta (mostly the piece is about why the field in Atlanta has worked as well as it does).
Mightygoose
Registered User
Ybor City stadium plan dead.
Rays say current Ybor stadium project is dead, remain committed to Tampa Bay area – for now
Agreement with St. Petersburg to look elsewhere in Tampa Bay was set to expire at the end of the year.
Lease reverts back to the iron clad through the 2027 season.
Rays say current Ybor stadium project is dead, remain committed to Tampa Bay area – for now
Agreement with St. Petersburg to look elsewhere in Tampa Bay was set to expire at the end of the year.
Lease reverts back to the iron clad through the 2027 season.
Centrum Hockey
Registered User
- Aug 2, 2018
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https://www.foxsports.com/mlb/story/mlb-history-the-threat-of-contraction-begins-102916
MLB tried to fold the twins over the metrodome i wonder how long they will tolerate the trop
Start saying your goodbyes to Tampa Bay baseball now
First city to offer MLB a ready to build stadium plan gets the Rays and it will be long before 2027. The lease buyout is now a manageable number.
First city to offer MLB a ready to build stadium plan gets the Rays and it will be long before 2027. The lease buyout is now a manageable number.
Centrum Hockey
Registered User
- Aug 2, 2018
- 2,092
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From Universal DH To Radical Realignment: Here's How MLB Might Look If It Expands To 32 Teams
It seems like the league is seriously talking about moving the Red Sox and Yankees Away from the rays losing the all the snowbird fans from the northeast in regular match ups would most likely hasten the demise of the team in tampa
Is the owner, of the Rays now looking to sell? There seems to be a ownership group in Montreal wanting this team....
There are whispers that the current Tampa owner could take over the Mets and the Rays would be sold to MLB.
Montreal does have an ownership group in place
https://www.tsn.ca/radio/montreal-6...ng-to-make-sure-baseball-comes-back-1.1226055
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