We better enjoy them while we got them ....

[Velcro]

I agree... if the stadium was where the bucs stadium is... it would work out much better... but how much better is that?  12000 is just lousy...  there is only so much of that drop off that you can blame on location... some of it is just fans not showing up.  20000 drop off at this point in the season with the current status of the team is a slap in the face to the team.

[Bruce Blingstein]

It is amazing...

I've always subscribed to the "Win and they will come" mantra (and that it was tough to put together a winning team without revenue from fans... but the rays proved that wrong already)...

and now fans aren't showing up... very sad...

Maybe OKC will take the rays, and change the name to the 'tumble weed'.

I dont get it either, not only are the winning, they are winning in heroic fashion.  This is a great brand of baseball and I blame it on the fanbase way more than the location.  People on Long Island fight what would be the worst traffic tampa ever seen to go to Yankees games every night. (w/ guaranteed traffic, 1.5-2 hours)

Tampa people have never had an interest in the MLB as we can tell by attendance.  Baseball is a games you either love or cant understand.  Majority of thepeople here dont appreciate or understand the game.  You go to a major city baseball game and every pitch counts, i go to a rays game and it seems like every beer counts and the main question is when do you want to leave.

I glanced at the game last night and thought they were in toronto...sad sight.

And the subject of this thread is 100% right, enjoy them when you got them because next year you will mostly find yourselves in 3rd place.

I was talking with my buddy about playoffs tix this year and his response was like we will show up at game time and scalp them for about $30 a pop with no problem.  He is from tampa and if that is true, that is sad as well.

[Bullpride08]

I agree... if the stadium was where the bucs stadium is... it would work out much better... but how much better is that?  12000 is just lousy...  there is only so much of that drop off that you can blame on location... some of it is just fans not showing up.  20000 drop off at this point in the season with the current status of the team is a slap in the face to the team.

It is lousy but put that stadium around Ray Jay, or the Port and the attendance is 27-30k on the very same night and soldout on the weekends.  It happened for the Lightning, and I know there are more baseball fans in the Bay Area.  I can't stress enough that the demographics around that stadium are lousy for a major league team.  I'd be willing to bet they're lucky if 2-5% of their nightly attendance comes from people located within 10 miles of that stadium.  That's the tougher part, you've got condos, and beachfront homes loaded with senior, senior citizens that don't care, and surrounded by some of the poorest areas in all of FL outside of Miami-Dade.  That's the truth unfortunately.

[Bullpride08]

It is amazing...

I've always subscribed to the "Win and they will come" mantra (and that it was tough to put together a winning team without revenue from fans... but the rays proved that wrong already)...

and now fans aren't showing up... very sad...

Maybe OKC will take the rays, and change the name to the 'tumble weed'.

I dont get it either, not only are the winning, they are winning in heroic fashion.  This is a great brand of baseball and I blame it on the fanbase way more than the location.  People on Long Island fight what would be the worst traffic tampa ever seen to go to Yankees games every night. (w/ guaranteed traffic, 1.5-2 hours)

Tampa people have never had an interest in the MLB as we can tell by attendance.  Baseball is a games you either love or cant understand.  Majority of thepeople here dont appreciate or understand the game.  You go to a major city baseball game and every pitch counts, i go to a rays game and it seems like every beer counts and the main question is when do you want to leave.

I glanced at the game last night and thought they were in toronto...sad sight.

And the subject of this thread is 100% right, enjoy them when you got them because next year you will mostly find yourselves in 3rd place.

I was talking with my buddy about playoffs tix this year and his response was like we will show up at game time and scalp them for about $30 a pop with no problem.  He is from tampa and if that is true, that is sad as well.

Not that I don't blame the fans because we've got to attend, but you're reference to New York, LA, Atlanta, Chicago, or Boston isn't fair either.  Sure people living on Long Island make the trek, but they've been doing it for 50-100 years and they've got to make the trek for any sporting event.  Whereas in Tampa people don't need to make the move, why drive literally 1.1hours to a game in downtown St. Petersburg, that means leaving the house at 5:30 to get to downtown St. Pete by a reasonable time.  That means leaving work around 4:45PM for me.  That lifestyle is engrained in those communities, in Tampa it's about the weekend, it's about getting there when you get there, it's about convenience.  People came out in droves in Tampa for the Lightning when they made their run.

When you pound on the Rays fans remember the moment they started this team they were cellar dwellers, and didn't make any real conscience effort to pull-out of it until the past two.  Hard to live on every pitch when you're usually the skunk.  I've was a Brewers fan growing up, switched to the Braves in the early 90's after TBS beat it in me finally. 

Again, concentrate on weekend attendance which has been hovering in the mid-30's, see what they do against Baltimore this weekend.  That will give you an idea of what would happen if this thing was done right and in the right location.

[Triple B]

It is amazing...

I've always subscribed to the "Win and they will come" mantra (and that it was tough to put together a winning team without revenue from fans... but the rays proved that wrong already)...

and now fans aren't showing up... very sad...

Maybe OKC will take the rays, and change the name to the 'tumble weed'.

I dont get it either, not only are the winning, they are winning in heroic fashion.  This is a great brand of baseball and I blame it on the fanbase way more than the location.

It is the fanbase moreso than the location, but i wouldn't call it way more. The location is obviously not a problem on weekends, but is during the work/school week. People in "baseball cities" have generations of going to baseball games. It's been ingrained in them. As earlier ststed, next year will be the pivotal year in attendance and the Rays have to hit the corporate world hard for season tickets. That's where the majority of the bump will come form ... if it comes. The money, and even more the time, that's involed with baseball season tickets is probably too much for the average fan down here, at this point in time.

People on Long Island fight what would be the worst traffic tampa ever seen to go to Yankees games every night. (w/ guaranteed traffic, 1.5-2 hours)

We don't really give a **** how you did it up North, Herm ...... 

I was talking with my buddy about playoffs tix this year and his response was like we will show up at game time and scalp them for about $30 a pop with no problem.  He is from tampa and if that is true, that is sad as well.

Well, I guess your buddy would know, with all the years of buying scalped Rays playoff tickets he's had .... the friend you speak of isn't Ari, is it??

[Bruce Blingstein]

You both make good points, but people on LI do not have to make that trek for every event.  The MEts and Islanders both play on Long Island, soon so will the Brooklyn Nets. 

And yes next year will be pivotal for the Rays.  If they do move the stadium please dont do it by Ray Jay, that is a cluster**** as it is.  They should put it by the Port or the fairgrounds like mentioned.

Trip, you are a little bit....and no it wasnt Ari, he is from DC and actually moved back.  He is one of the 27 people at the Nationals games this year...you see it can always be worse.

Go Rays!

[Bullpride08]

Trip made a huge point.  The weekday games really ride on corporate involvement, heavy corporate involvement.  Many of the regional corporations subtly backed away from the Rays, but next year will be interesting.  If they get the season tixs, if they get the corporations back involved in a heavy way then this thing will do just fine.  Also, remember the economy is in the duldrums right now too, possibly the Tampa Bay Area has been hit far worse than other more diverse areas...that doesn't help either from a corporate support side, and personal walk-up crowd side.

But for now, this all happened so suddenly, literally worst to first in a big way.  Hard for anyone to fathom or prepare for, and so mostly they're relying on the walk-ups and fairweathers....for that type of marketing distance, time of game, and location matter.

[Velcro]

Pride, you do make a good point about history being on the side of those cities you referenced  (also population is on their side too).

I can buy that logic to an extent... but only b/c it isn't my money on the line... the owners on the other hand..??? 

If they can only count on weekend games selling even at the peak of interest in the team... they WILL MOVE...100%.

Fans HAVE to show up in force (at least moderate force) on weekday games, no matter how difficult, or the team will not hang around.

When times are bad for the rays, their weekend attendance sucks.  When times are good for the rays, their weekend is great, but weekdays suck (unless NY or Boston is in town... those teams local fans have to do the same commute as the tampa fans as they are just as spread out in this area, but they show up regardless.).

There in is the problem... commitment level just isn't quite there as a whole on the fan base to where the owners can see this as profitable long term.

[Triple B]

And yes next year will be pivotal for the Rays.  If they do move the stadium please dont do it by Ray Jay, that is a cluster**** as it is.  They should put it by the Port or the fairgrounds like mentioned.

Based on the reasons for moving, only one that makes sense of those two, is downtown. You want to talk cluster****. Try heading to the fairgrounds on I-4 from the west on a weekday, and God forbid there's a concert the same night at the Ford Amphitheater. ... Plus, the KKK's 10,000 sq ft flag is out there to embarrass this area even more than small baseball crowds.

He is one of the 27 people at the Nationals games this year...you see it can always be worse.

Hold up there... The Nats had 22k last night, dwarfing the Rays crowd .... Must have been Karl Rove Bobblehead Night.

[Bruce Blingstein]

place is really empty tonight. 

looking like the new Marlins and Braves fans when they were in the race