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MLB Playoffs -- Tampa Rays low attendance

At Citixens Bank Park in Philly they have reverse ATMs so if you only have cash you put ithe cash into an ATM and you are issued a prepaid debit card to use when purchasing food and drink.
I've seen these in a few NFL and NBA stadiums as well. There were a number of changes that many teams made during or following the pandemic and this was one of them. They were trying to do everything possible to eliminate handing things off from one person to another or touching stuff. They eliminated the paper programs they used to hand out as people arrived for games, stopped issuing paper tickets except in certain instances so most everyone was expected to use an app or something like Apple Wallet to scan "virtual tickets" when entering, all concessions inside went cashless, so one either needed a credit/debit card, or later, to purchase one of the "reverse ATM" cards you're referring to, with the idea that people could load those up using cash or preferably their bank accounts, and if they had any balance left when they departed the stadium or arena, those would act like standard debit cards elsewhere so they could spend the rest.

Fans who liked to collect game and concert tickets and programs got shafted, but the teams got to realize some additional cost savings - They saved money by no longer printing programs or paper tickets. They saved time and effort in not having to deal with cash sales. It also streamlined the concession experience, as now fans could use a touchscreen and place their own orders, scan their own credit/debit cards to pay and got a receipt with a number on it. In some parks they could also use an app on their phones to order and pay... Now they didn't need cashiers, only staff to churn out the orders, yell out the numbers obnoxiously loud when orders are ready, and assist the occasional customer with an issue with the ordering system.
 
Maybe they'd have better luck in Orlando. People go to Raiders games in Vegas, especially from away, and Orlando is also a tourist city.
 
Maybe they'd have better luck in Orlando. People go to Raiders games in Vegas, especially from away, and Orlando is also a tourist city.
Orlando does have minor league soccer and the NBA's Orlando Magic, so maybe... That said, they'd need to develop a local fan base IMO as most tourists are there only to see Mickey or one of the other handfuls of theme parks.
 
Maybe they'd have better luck in Orlando.
Orlando does have minor league soccer and the NBA's Orlando Magic, so maybe... That said, they'd need to develop a local fan base IMO as most tourists are there only to see Mickey or one of the other handfuls of theme parks.
An effort to bring MLB to Orlando is already underway: Bringing Major League Baseball to Orlando | Orlando Dreamers

I don’t think Montreal is an option. It would require a new stadium, and the political and economic climate in Quebec is not favorable for that to happen.

A new stadium next to The Trop is going to have the same attendance issues once the new car smell wears off.

BTW Orlando also has ECHL hockey (Solar Bears.)
 
Here's an opinion piece about the new stadium in Tampa:


The writer believes the stadium isn't the problem.
He's most likely correct. Very few people showed up for the last 2 playoff games this week. Not much passion for the franchise there...
 
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.
Actually, no. It will have a fixed roof, but there'll be windows along the sides of the structure for a less claustrophobic experience. The plan has been well publicized. Here, most recently:

 
Speaking of the Rays, and all the other wild card series participants ... All four series ended in two games. A single third game would have been on ABC, which now will go with "The Golden Bachelor" and "Bachelor in Paradise." If another series had gone to a deciding game, that game would have been on ESPN, which will now show a non-Power-Five college football game, Western Kentucky vs. Louisiana Tech. My guess is the "Bachelor" double feature will attract more viewers to ABC than Game 3 of any of the wild card games would have, maybe even more than Tuesday and Wednesday's games did. ESPN, though, should be in its accustomed 0.5 to 1.0 range with its Who Cares Conference college game.
 
They care they would just rather watch on TV. A stadium in Tampa would help vs in St Pete.
I have a Tampa-area friend who has tried to explain the Rays' attendance problem to me for years. It's always been "the traffic ... the bridge ... all the fans live in Tampa ..." and not "the team has no fans." I've never been to Tampa-St. Pete, so I've never gotten it at all. Even if the drive is inconvenient, it's not like St. Pete is some tiny joke of a sister city like, say, West Memphis (pop. 15,000) is to the much larger Memphis. There are over 250,000 people in St. Petersburg proper. What's their problem getting to games? Why is spending an extra hour in traffic such a deal-breaker to Tampa folks who follow the team?

And now, the stadium will be built next to the old one. How does this solve anything? My friend is baffled, too.
 
I have a Tampa-area friend who has tried to explain the Rays' attendance problem to me for years. It's always been "the traffic ... the bridge ... all the fans live in Tampa ..." and not "the team has no fans." I've never been to Tampa-St. Pete, so I've never gotten it at all. Even if the drive is inconvenient, it's not like St. Pete is some tiny joke of a sister city like, say, West Memphis (pop. 15,000) is to the much larger Memphis. There are over 250,000 people in St. Petersburg proper. What's their problem getting to games? Why is spending an extra hour in traffic such a deal-breaker to Tampa folks who follow the team?

And now, the stadium will be built next to the old one. How does this solve anything? My friend is baffled, too.
I have no clue either.

Why can’t they build a new stadium near the Bucs and Yankees facility.
 
I think most eyes will be on Thursday Night Football, as they were last week.
Bears vs Commanders? Talk about America's Game of the Weak! It could only be worse if the Giants or Panthers were playing.
 
Correction on my previous post about ABC and ESPN. A single series decider would have been on ESPN. A second one, on ABC. I had it the other way around, even after hearing the arrangement explained on one of yesterday's telecasts.
 
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