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MLB Playoffs -- Tampa Rays low attendance

they would have sold it out if they were playing the Red Sox or Yankees, all those snow birds grandmas were angry about General Hospital getting pre-empted
 
nomadcowatbk said:
they would have sold it out if they were playing the Red Sox or Yankees, all those snow birds grandmas were angry about General Hospital getting pre-empted
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No doubt that Red Sox or Yankees would have drawn better crowds. That still doesn't excuse the problem that the Rays fan base is tepid toward the franchise. This was a playoff game, not a day game in May...
 
Low attendance at Trop Field isn't a new thing. It's been going on for years:

The Rays drew the fourth-smallest total attendance in 2023 with a little more than 1.4 million fans. Tampa Bay has been in the bottom four of attendance – often the lowest in the league – for more than 10 years.
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The problem is the stadium's location, according to this:

thestadiumreviews.com

Why is the Tampa Bay Rays Attendance so Low

Tropicana Field ranks 2nd to last in attendance in 2019. The primary reason for why their attendance is so low deals with their location. See why.
thestadiumreviews.com thestadiumreviews.com

The team says they want a new stadium in a better location. We've heard that before. That's why some have talked about moving the team to other cities.
 
TheBigA said:
Low attendance at Trop Field isn't a new thing. It's been going on for years:



The problem is the stadium's location, according to this:

thestadiumreviews.com

Why is the Tampa Bay Rays Attendance so Low

Tropicana Field ranks 2nd to last in attendance in 2019. The primary reason for why their attendance is so low deals with their location. See why.
thestadiumreviews.com thestadiumreviews.com

The team says they want a new stadium in a better location. We've heard that before. That's why some have talked about moving the team to other cities.
Click to expand...
The new stadium will be next door to the current one.
 
As others have stated, Tampa (and Miami, also mentioned above) have always been at or near the bottom of MLB attendance numbers, at least for the past several years. While it's true that Miami has a relatively new ballpark, the team has never been great since long before they relocated to Loan Depot, and there is a lot of residual anger toward the city and the former Marlins ownership about how the park was funded that supposedly also keeps many away. The ballpark funding deal in Miami became such a hot button that at least 1 city leader was removed from office before his term was up by the voters because of it.

...and in reference to the Yankees, also mentioned above, even if they were playing Tampa for the early round playoffs it may not increase attendance a great amount - The Yankees' spring training camp is in Tampa, so residents there get to see them play every spring.
 
Mikey Radio said:
The Yankees' spring training camp is in Tampa, so residents there get to see them play every spring.
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Their single A farm team the Tarpons play there during the regular season. It's a very nice stadium, although only 11,000 seats and not covered. But I think the plan for the new Ray's stadium is for it to be uncovered.
 
Mikey Radio said:
As others have stated, Tampa (and Miami, also mentioned above) have always been at or near the bottom of MLB attendance numbers, at least for the past several years. While it's true that Miami has a relatively new ballpark, the team has never been great since long before they relocated to Loan Depot, and there is a lot of residual anger toward the city and the former Marlins ownership about how the park was funded that supposedly also keeps many away. The ballpark funding deal in Miami became such a hot button that at least 1 city leader was removed from office before his term was up by the voters because of it.

...and in reference to the Yankees, also mentioned above, even if they were playing Tampa for the early round playoffs it may not increase attendance a great amount - The Yankees' spring training camp is in Tampa, so residents there get to see them play every spring.
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The Marlins have actually won the World Series twice. 1997 and 2003 beating the Indians and Yankees. They were the Florida Marlins then. That's more titles than many other teams (even though many folks may not remember those championships).

Had the Yankees been playing Tampa (instead of Texas), attendance certainly would have been much better for the games. Lots of New York transplants in Tampa. Game 2 was only slightly better with just over 20,000 in attendance. Tampa started the season red hot and bowed out in lackluster fashion. The combination of a bad ballpark and lukewarm fan base has plagued this franchise their whole existence...
 
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tbolt909 said:
The Marlins have actually won the World Series twice. 1997 and 2003 beating the Indians and Yankees. They were the Florida Marlins then. That's more titles than many other teams (even though many folks may not remember those championships).
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Respectfully, 1997 was 26 years ago, and 2003 20 years. That's ancient history in the minds of many, and the then Florida Marlins promptly sold off most all their good players after that 2003 Series and have never really been great since. The Marlins were also a different team, with a different name, different ownership, different logo and colors and playing in a different stadium back then. As mentioned in my previous post, the funding of their current home, LoanDepot Park, was handled poorly to say the least, to the point where politicians were bounced out of office over it before their terms were over. Fans were told to expect great things if they got a new stadium, and that the team was building up to be great once they moved into the new place. That's never really happened and they're on their 5th manager (including at least one interim) since they relocated there a decade ago.
 
Mikey Radio said:
Respectfully, 1997 was 26 years ago, and 2003 20 years. That's ancient history in the minds of many, and the then Florida Marlins promptly sold off most all their good players after that 2003 Series and have never really been great since. The Marlins were also a different team, with a different name, different ownership, different logo and colors and playing in a different stadium back then. As mentioned in my previous post, the funding of their current home, LoanDepot Park, was handled poorly to say the least, to the point where politicians were bounced out of office over it before their terms were over. Fans were told to expect great things if they got a new stadium, and that the team was building up to be great once they moved into the new place. That's never really happened and they're on their 5th manager (including at least one interim) since they relocated there a decade ago.
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I agree that the franchise has had more bad teams than good. I just pointed out that they have 2 Championships. The Cubs have 1 in the past century. Seattle has never appeared in a World Series. The Washington Nationals somehow managed to beat Houston in a World Series a few years ago, but since leaving Montreal the team has mostly been awful.

From SNL --"Beisbol been berry berry good to me" -- Garrett Morris as Chico Escuela...⚾
 
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tbolt909 said:
A nicer ballpark could help. Tropicana Field is a dark abyss.
The Rays lost game 2 today to Texas and were eliminated.
I still think the franchise would be better off moving to Montreal...
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Early October is football season in Florida, (and hockey preseason in Canada)
 
is there anyway to measure loyalties to other teams when considering a move or expansion team? they follow population growth and potential dollar signs without measuring loyalties to other teams, and the population of Florida isn't real young to begin with
 
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nomadcowatbk said:
is there anyway to measure loyalties to other teams when considering a move or expansion team? they follow population growth and potential dollar signs without measuring loyalties to other teams
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It depends. Part of the case of the Baltimore Orioles to prevent a team moving to nearby DC was to demonstrate the loyalty of DC residents to a baseball team that was 35 miles away. They lost. On the other side, there was a group in DC that was selling season tickets for a team that had not yet moved. They did something similar in Las Vegas and Nashville. Having actual tickets sold for a non-existent team can be pretty convincing. So depending on the league and team, they look at other things besides population growth and potential dollars.
 
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