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98.7 drive to keep the Rays in Tampa Bay area

raccoonradio

raccoonradio

http://www.talkers.com/2013/09/10/tuesday-september-10-2013/

>>Losing a Major League Baseball franchise would be a blow to CBS Radio’s drive to build a successful sports talk station in the market. But MLB commissioner Bud Selig has stated the league is not happy with the support the market is giving the Tampa Bay Rays in terms of attendance despite the club fielding successful teams...So WHFS-FM “98.7 The Fan” is launching “Save Tampa Bay Baseball,” a multi-tiered campaign to help keep the Rays in the region.
 
The Rays will not only be in the area, but in St. Petersburg, longer than 98.7 The Fan will be on the air.

Sorry.... couldn't resist. It was the first thing I thought of when I saw the article this morning.
 
While I am sure this is business related move by CBS this is a real issue to many. I firmly believe that Tampa Bay has about two years to come up with some sort of reasonable plan to build a new stadium in order to keep the Rays here. If there is no real movement in that time I firmly believe that MLB will start proceedings to move the team to another city. Charlotte and Nashville are top contenders for relocation.

I am not advocating the building a new stadium or anything particular else here but just stating the cold hard facts. I have no doubt that CBS has some very real concerns for the future.
 
The Rays aren't going anywhere soon, except maybe Tampa. Charlotte and Nashville don't have major-league ready stadiums and won't for at least 3-5 years so it's not even a bargaining chip.

As for the "Save the Rays" campaign, I personally believe it's an attempt by Rich Herrera to remain relevant in the market. When the Rays inevitably stay here with a new stadium deal in a few years, Rich can claim he "saved" the Rays.
 
swfl said:
While I am sure this is business related move by CBS this is a real issue to many. I firmly believe that Tampa Bay has about two years to come up with some sort of reasonable plan to build a new stadium in order to keep the Rays here. If there is no real movement in that time I firmly believe that MLB will start proceedings to move the team to another city. Charlotte and Nashville are top contenders for relocation.

I am not advocating the building a new stadium or anything particular else here but just stating the cold hard facts. I have no doubt that CBS has some very real concerns for the future.
Click to expand...

Why not remove the dome roof of Tropicana Field and convert it to an outdoor stadium? The innards of the stadium could be largely left intact. Replace the fake grass with real grass. Give the concourse & concession areas more of a "baseball" feel. Doesn't seem like rocket science to me.

Having never been there, I am unfamiliar with what surrounds the stadium. What surroundings, structures, etc. would fans sitting behind home plate looking into the outfield see if the roof were removed?

The Rays aren't going anywhere soon, except maybe Tampa. Charlotte and Nashville don't have major-league ready stadiums and won't for at least 3-5 years so it's not even a bargaining chip.
Click to expand...

Ummm...the stadiums do not necessarily need to be built beforehand. Usually, funding is lined up, and once that happens, a move can be announced. There would probably be a lame duck season or two in St. Pete under such a scenario.

If the team moves to Charlotte or Nashville, hopefully the dang NFL stadiums in those cities aren't retrofitted to accommodate baseball.

I absolutely hate the set-up in Oakland whenever I see their games on TV (which isn't very often). In my view, that is the second worst venue in MLB, behind Tropicana.
 
As much as I love the city of Nashville, the plans for a new baseball stadium just unveiled there are for a minor league facility, and Nashville would be the smallest mark in MLB-- a backwards step MLB won't take.

Charlotte is similar in size to Tampa Bay but there doesn't seem to be much momentum (at least at the government level) to get that ball rolling.

I still think all the noise you hear locally is the usual MLB saber rattling (and living here long enough to see practically every MLB team threaten to move here prior to the Rays I'm familiar with that noise). I still think this is an attempt by Rich to "save" what will inevitably be saved, and it's an attempt by CBS to play nice with the Rays while waiting for their broadcast rights to come up again in a few years.

Whether or not 98.7 is still airing sports then is another issue...
 
>>Why not remove the dome roof of Tropicana Field and convert it to an outdoor stadium?<<

The issue is not the domed stadium. The issue is the location of the stadium, and MLB/Sternberg's obsession with moving to the "center of the metropolitan area," Tampa. The new stadium that they would/will wring out of the Hillsborough County taxpayers will be a retractable dome, think Camden Yards with a lid. Unless it is determined that humidity is not an issue anymore, the lid will be closed most game days, so the skyline view will largely be the same as in Tropicana field now. (Removing the roof from Tropicana Field would have homeplate looking out over lowrise buildings around Ferg's Sportsbar on Central Avenue, if my sense of direction is correct).

The Rays are not leaving St. Petersburg until 2027 UNLESS MLB/Sternberg put a decent amount of money on the table to buy out the Tropicana Field lease/contract. Contracts mean things, and MLB owners each sign a lot of multi-million dollar contracts every season with players. Players expect the owners to live up to the deals they sign. St Petersburg should expect no less.

>>There would probably be a lame duck season or two in St. Pete under such a scenario.<<

If I recall correctly, when the Giants were briefly seriously coming to Tampa Bay, WFLA carried the games from San Francisco. In the unlikely event the Rays did move to Charlotte or Nashville, with lame-duck seasons in St. Petersburg, would that mean WBT or WLAC would start carrying the games? An affiliate station on the Rays Radio Network would have greater power than the flagship.
 
Although some Tampa politicians have indicated they would be supportive of a stadium move to Tampa, I do not think there is any voter inclination to support construction of a new stadium (unless, perhaps, the Rays assume a big portion of the cost). I just don't see any major bond or tax issue getting support from voters. Such resistance is probably not a party or ideology thing - it's just the holdover from the recession and perhaps the need for tax dollars to be used on infrastructure. I'm not suggesting that is right or wrong, but just making an observation.
 
I don't think, much other then improving the look and feel of the trop, needs to be done. It's great rain or shine to sit in a comfy 75 degree-ish or so ball park. I don't go to the Buc's because it's too damn hot, it costs too much for a good seat, beer cost to much, and it's damn hot.

It's almost as expensive to go to the Ray's but I have an easier time handing my money over since I won't go home with sweat soaked clothing.

Getting in and out from a traffic standpoint isn't bad, it could be better but a lot of other places have much worse traffic, and parking situations. The suites don't have a great view but the suite I usually end up in isn't the greatest.


The changes that I see pertinent to a phenomenal experience at the trop would be to improve the bathrooms, freshen the interior, make the corporate experience better, and my biggest complaint, put in a sound system for the DJ stuff. The PA they use for the DJ stuff isn't meant to play music it's actually supposed to cancel it on the field.
 
I for one strongly favor an air conditioned, domed stadium... So many times I have been to the Trop enjoying the game, when there is rain, thunder and lightning outside... Didn't the Bucs just have a lightning delay of over an hour ?? Imagine how many delays we would have during the summer, in the lightning capitol of the country... Any changes have to include a domed stadium...
 
Re:

Excellent point about the lightning, but I absolutely hate the aesthetics of the dome top. It looks hideous.

The reason the traffic isn't bad? Hardly anyone goes to the games!

Once a CBS station goes Sports, it stays Sports. 105.3 in Dallas has had horrendous ratings for six or seven straight years.

I question the aptitude of CBS's strategic decision makers. These are the same people who missed the gaping hole for a second CHR/Pop station (94.1 should've went CHR/Pop and "Play" should've never happened.)
 
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