ESPN blogger: Rays need to get out of Tampa Bay

[Apis Bull]

plain in simple its ecomomy tampa has a really bad one, bucs when good use to selll out with ease

i dont think so, the economy is bad everywhere.  Bucs surprised everyone last year, they werent supposed to be good so no one jumped on the bandwagon and when they ended up being ok (record wise, beat no one good) it was too late for the impressionable fans to jump on the wagon.  Another example of playoff important games and tampa fans not knowing or not showing up. 

tampa fanbase (again as a whole) is undefendable.  it wouldnt be talked about or teased by the masses if it wasnt true. 

The economy may be bad everywhere, but it's been shown time and time again that the Tampa Bay area was one of the hardest hit regions in the county by the housing free fall.

[gobulls83]

plain in simple its ecomomy tampa has a really bad one, bucs when good use to selll out with ease

i dont think so, the economy is bad everywhere.  Bucs surprised everyone last year, they werent supposed to be good so no one jumped on the bandwagon and when they ended up being ok (record wise, beat no one good) it was too late for the impressionable fans to jump on the wagon.  Another example of playoff important games and tampa fans not knowing or not showing up. 

tampa fanbase (again as a whole) is undefendable.  it wouldnt be talked about or teased by the masses if it wasnt true. 

The economy may be bad everywhere, but it's been shown time and time again that the Tampa Bay area was one of the hardest hit regions in the county by the housing free fall.

That may be true, but I haven't seen anything that convinced me that the situation in Tampa Bay is SO much worse than, say, St. Louis, Philadelphia or Minneapolis that it can be the whole explanation. Those teams all manage to average sellouts, or close to it, while the Rays manage just half as many people and average close to 50 percent capacity. I don't think that difference can be attributed entirely to any sort of economic climate. St Louis may not have been hit as hard as Tampa, but that doesn't mean it hasn't been experiencing any negative economic trends.

[Apis Bull]

It's not the whole explanation.  However, couple that with relatively young teams (people grew up rooting for different teams), a high transplant population (their favorite teams are in their old hometowns), and the large competition for entertainment dollars, and this is what you get.

Hockey's not doing that well anywhere except in long term, die-hard hockey areas.  Plus, it still is considered a northern sport.  Also, I believe is really hurts having the Rays in St. Pete, no where near the population center of the Tampa Bay area.

[Ruger7mmmag]

What's the #1 thing about real estate?  LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION.

You don't put a pro franchise 40 minutes from the biggest pool of potential customers!  I worked at the Trop during college and that was a HAUL!  In Tampa traffic getting to any night game during the week took 1-1.5 hours just to get down there.  Then one the game is over around 10-11pm, you have a 45 minute ride back.  If you live around the USF area, that means you don't get home, showered and in bed until about 1 am.  Forget about folks who would come from areas further out who consider themselves Tampa residents. 

That's not a recipe for success.  You go to places like Fenway, Wrigley, etc and people can WALK or catch quick public transportation to the games EASILY.  Shoot, with the Rays, it's a mini road trip!

If they did a viability study of putting a stadium where anywhere near the USF campus either close to 275 or to I-75, the Rays would see a HUGE increase in attendance.  No one can skip out on work to go catch a few innings down in St. Pete!  You got to give folks the OPPORTUNITY to catch games under a variety of circumstances.  With the Rays it's a planned deal.  You don't spontaneously think, "I'm board, I'm going to a Rays game" bc the thought of driving down there SUCKS and if you don't leave exactly when you get off at 5 you'll be late.

That little difference of 30 minutes stops alot of people, more than you would imagine. 

[Triple B]

It's not the whole explanation.  However, couple that with relatively young teams (people grew up rooting for different teams), a high transplant population (their favorite teams are in their old hometowns), and the large competition for entertainment dollars, and this is what you get.

And this is the stuff that's been thrown out there that the haters just don't want to acknowledge .... The established cities have generations grown up being fans, Season tickets are lwft in wills and fought over in divorce settlements. It's going to take time before that ingrained passion is here and that adds to the AB's list.

[Bruce Blingstein]

What's the #1 thing about real estate?  LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION.

You don't put a pro franchise 40 minutes from the biggest pool of potential customers!  I worked at the Trop during college and that was a HAUL!  In Tampa traffic getting to any night game during the week took 1-1.5 hours just to get down there.  Then one the game is over around 10-11pm, you have a 45 minute ride back.  If you live around the USF area, that means you don't get home, showered and in bed until about 1 am.  Forget about folks who would come from areas further out who consider themselves Tampa residents. 

That's not a recipe for success.  You go to places like Fenway, Wrigley, etc and people can WALK or catch quick public transportation to the games EASILY.  Shoot, with the Rays, it's a mini road trip!

If they did a viability study of putting a stadium where anywhere near the USF campus either close to 275 or to I-75, the Rays would see a HUGE increase in attendance.  No one can skip out on work to go catch a few innings down in St. Pete!  You got to give folks the OPPORTUNITY to catch games under a variety of circumstances.  With the Rays it's a planned deal.  You don't spontaneously think, "I'm board, I'm going to a Rays game" bc the thought of driving down there ***** and if you don't leave exactly when you get off at 5 you'll be late.

That little difference of 30 minutes stops alot of people, more than you would imagine. 

thats nice, whats the bucs excuse?

[Bruce Blingstein]

It's not the whole explanation.  However, couple that with relatively young teams (people grew up rooting for different teams), a high transplant population (their favorite teams are in their old hometowns), and the large competition for entertainment dollars, and this is what you get.

And this is the stuff that's been thrown out there that the haters just don't want to acknowledge .... The established cities have generations grown up being fans, Season tickets are lwft in wills and fought over in divorce settlements. It's going to take time before that ingrained passion is here and that adds to the AB's list.

thats nice, whats the Bucs excuse?  around since 1979 a 32 year old team and blacked out with a 10-6 record? 

Herm - the big bad hating New Yorker who just doesnt get it.  nothing personal. 

[mikemcp88]

Agree with this though I am pretty sure Detroit has much better attendance and is in worse shape than Tampa

True, but what else is there to spend your entertainment dollars on in Detroit other than sports?

There are 3 casinos in downtown Detroit. Even the poor people go there too. The economy does suck up in Detroit. For some of the Pistons games (30-40 min from downtown), you can buy a ticket for the same price as a long island iced tea at a nice bar.

[Triple B]

It's not the whole explanation.  However, couple that with relatively young teams (people grew up rooting for different teams), a high transplant population (their favorite teams are in their old hometowns), and the large competition for entertainment dollars, and this is what you get.

And this is the stuff that's been thrown out there that the haters just don't want to acknowledge .... The established cities have generations grown up being fans, Season tickets are lwft in wills and fought over in divorce settlements. It's going to take time before that ingrained passion is here and that adds to the AB's list.

thats nice, whats the Bucs excuse?  around since 1979 a 32 year old team and blacked out with a 10-6 record? 

Herm - the big bad hating New Yorker who just doesnt get it.   nothing personal. 

It's 1976 and 35 years is ONE generation, Hermie .... and you still don't get it. The New York teams should be selling out EVERY game EVERY year with the amount of "fans" in the area and the longevity of the teams .... do they?

[Joe]

Trip, that's a stretch. Seattle has been around the same time and never really had an issue filling their venue, much less being 20,000 undercapacity for a 10-6 team.

What about a similar market like Carolina?

The Bucs were drawing 42,000 at the gate last year. Inexcusable.

Sorry, I'll cut the Rays slack, but the Bucs attendance is a fricken joke.