Tampa Bay Rays owner says current business model untenable

[Deberg_1990]

The Rangers sent the Rays home Tuesday afternoon -- not that many Tampa Bay area fans were in attendance to see it.

After selling out Game 3 to the tune of 32,828 fans, only 28,299 showed up for what turned out to be Texas' ALDS-clinching 4-3 victory.

"We replicated last year and our numbers were down," Tampa Bay owner Stuart Sternberg said. "The (television) ratings were down. The rubber has got to hit the road at some point. We're four years into winning. We're getting to the point where we don't control our own destiny. This is untenable as a model."

Tampa Bay has reached the playoffs three times in the past four years, including two AL East titles and a World Series appearance in 2008. But despite the success, declining attendance has become an ongoing trend at the domed Tropicana Field, where the Rays play their home games.

"When I came in here in '05 and '06, I saw the stars, and I was confident that we could put a winning product on the field -- and I was told by you guys and others that all we needed was a winning team," said Sternberg, who assumed principle control of the franchise in 2005. "Well, we won. We won. We won. And we won. And it didn't do it."

Last September, Rays star third baseman Evan Longoria pleaded with fans to raise attendance and support the team.

"We've been playing great baseball all year. Since I've been here in (2006), the fans have wanted a good baseball team. They've wanted to watch a contender," Longoria told reporters at the time. "And for us to play good baseball for three years now, and for us to be in a spot to clinch again and go to the playoffs, we're all confused as to why it's only 15,000 to 20,000 in the building."

Sternberg's criticism comes after the Rays reached the postseason despite an epic offseason purge that chopped the team's 2010 payroll of $71.9 million to $ 41.9 on Opening Day this season, the second-lowest in baseball.

Local civic leaders are currently exploring options for a new stadium, but the effort is in the preliminary phases.

"You can look at us and potentially Oakland as the only teams in that respect," Sternberg said, referring to the only team who drew fewer fans than Tampa this season, the Oakland A's. "And Oakland by hook and crook will have a situation clearer well before we will, and we will be the last man standing. Or in this case, lying down."

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/70...odel-untenable

[DaKCMan AP]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

Is there a major American city with a worse economy than Detroit? Nevertheless, those fans have no problem supporting that team.

Whereas the fans of KC don't deserve a team as shitty as the Chiefs, the fans of Tampa don't deserve a team as good as the Rays.

Yeah, but what else is there to do in Detroit and how many people move there from out of state?

[BigRedChief]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

Is there a major American city with a worse economy than Detroit? Nevertheless, those fans have no problem supporting that team.

Whereas the fans of KC don't deserve a team as shitty as the Chiefs, the fans of Tampa don't deserve a team as good as the Rays.

I'm new here but I'm probably not a lot different from most. I'm going to the beach on Saturday morning, Afternoon watching the Red Bull Flugtag, going out on a date after that. Chiefs football game on Sunday and a different beach in the afternoon.

[Mama Hip Rockets]

The Rays have the worst fans in baseball. Tampa Bay doesn't deserve that team.

[Al Bundy]

Originally Posted by CosmicPal

Geezit, most of you are ignorant tools. Seriously.

The Rays had a tough time selling tickets for a number of reasons:

1. Most people didn't realize they were actually in the playoff race until the last minute.

2. The location of the Trop is just plain awful. It's nearly an hour drive for anyone who actually lives in Tampa. Imagine if the Royals put an ugly domed stadium in Topeka and you can picture what the Trop is like for those who live in Tampa.

3. The game itself was changed to a Tuesday afternoon game at the very last minute so most everyone had to change plans on the fly. Not a good thing to do on a Tuesday.

4. The economy stinks in Florida, and most particularly in Tampa where the unemployment rate is still in the double digits.

5. Sunshine, beaches, golf, fishing, boating, warm, tropical weather, etc. Florida rocks when it comes to things to do, so they would much rather spend the day at the beach or the golf course, and then go home and watch the game on the TV instead of piling everyone in the car and spending $500 on tickets, gas, food, and drinks for a family of four.

6. Oh, and I was at the Bucs game Monday night- it was sold out. Not everyone hangs out in their seats however. I've been to a couple of games now and it looks to me like people like to party around the pirate ship. We left our seats and hung out down there during the second half of the game.

7. It is a damn shame the Rays can't sell tickets. There is talk they are going to build a stadium in downtown Tampa, right off the water, which would be sweet. I think if they were to do just that, then they'd sell a lot more tickets.

8. Lastly, much like Denver was full of transients, so is the Tampa area. Almost everyone I meet is from NY, or Boston, or Philly, or Virginia. There's actually quite a few people I've met from the KC area too. But, NYers and Bostonians seem to flock her like it's nothing.

All good reason for the Rays... but the people there not supporting the Bucs for the reasons I stated are questionable.

[Mama Hip Rockets]

Originally Posted by alnorth

The Rays main problem is probably the location of the ballpark. It is in St. Petersburg, which is a pain in the ass for anyone in Tampa to get to, and St. Petersburg isn't anywhere close to big enough to support the team, itself. At first I didn't buy the argument, thinking "come on, if its in the area, how hard could it be to drive?"

Go ahead and look up St. Petersburg on a map, see where that is in relation to Tampa, and you'll understand. Go ahead, if you don't know the geography, take a look right now and come back to this thread. The location is utterly horrid.

Okay, according to google maps, it is 25.7 miles from Tampa Bay to Tropicana Field. Not a valid excuse. Have you ever been to Chicago? New York? Los Angeles? Do you know how long it takes to get around in cities like that?

I used to live in suburban Chicago, 30 miles from the city, and it took an hour to get there. You don't see jabronis in Chicago complaining that it takes too long to get to the ballpark, or there's too much to do in the city. "Oh man, I gotta eat some Gino's East today and go to the art museum and go to Navy Pier. Too busy to go to the Cubs game today!"

The fact is that the entire state of Florida sucks at watching sports, and the Rays fans are the worst of them all.

[DaKCMan AP]

Originally Posted by thurman merman

Okay, according to google maps, it is 25.7 miles from Tampa Bay to Tropicana Field. Not a valid excuse. Have you ever been to Chicago? New York? Los Angeles? Do you know how long it takes to get around in cities like that?

I used to live in suburban Chicago, 30 miles from the city, and it took an hour to get there. You don't see jabronis in Chicago complaining that it takes too long to get to the ballpark, or there's too much to do in the city. "Oh man, I gotta eat some Gino's East today and go to the art museum and go to Navy Pier. Too busy to go to the Cubs game today!"

The fact is that the entire state of Florida sucks at watching sports, and the Rays fans are the worst of them all.

If you move to Denver are you going to start attending Broncos games on a regular basis?

[Mama Hip Rockets]

Originally Posted by DaKCMan AP

If you move to Denver are you going to start attending Broncos games on a regular basis?

A) Why in the hell would I move to Denver?
B) No. The Broncos are gay.

[DaKCMan AP]

Originally Posted by thurman merman

A) Why in the hell would I move to Denver?
B) No. The Broncos are gay.

Exactly. Many of the people in the TB area are transplants from NY, Boston, Chicago, Ohio, etc. When their teams are in town they go to the games. Look at the attendance difference when the Rays play NYY or BOS. You can't expect people to change allegiance just because they change locations. It's not that Tampa has bad fans or that people in Tampa suck at going to games. People stay fans of the teams they've always been fans of and they attend games when their team is playing.

[Mama Hip Rockets]

Originally Posted by DaKCMan AP

Exactly. Many of the people in the TB area are transplants from NY, Boston, Chicago, Ohio, etc. When their teams are in town they go to the games. Look at the attendance difference when the Rays play NYY or BOS. You can't expect people to change allegiance just because they change locations. It's not that Tampa has bad fans or that people in Tampa suck at going to games. People stay fans of the teams they've always been fans of and they attend games when their team is playing.

A) Every team draws way more fans for Yankees and Red Sox
B) Your analysis seems to support the idea that the Rays should, indeed, move to a city that would actually embrace them.

[ChiefsCountry]

I thought the Rays had a new stadium in the works at new town center site in northern St. Petersburg?

[Al Bundy]

I disagree DaKC, I know several people who are Bucs fans but just quit going to the games and have become fans of other teams. Tampa area fans do suck... and those are my people.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Originally Posted by DaKCMan AP

Yeah, but what else is there to do in Detroit and how many people move there from out of state?

I agree that availability and weather makes a big difference, but at the end of the day, people either support the team or they don't. Teams should be located in places where the fans appreciate them and attend the games, and teams who have loyal fanbases should do everything possible to put an excellent product on the field.

[KC_Connection]

Tampa Bay is one of the reasons I always laugh when somebody tries to tell me the Jays should be moved due to poor attendance. If the Jays were as successful as the Rays right now (and with the way Alex Anthopoulos is running things, that might not be too far away), they'd probably be selling out their 50,000 seat dome again like they were 20 years ago.

Unfortunately, Tampa fans just suck. They've been one of the best teams in baseball for 4 years now and nothing has come out of it.

[Al Bundy]

http://www.sportsmediawatch.com/2011...-game-down-22/

With Peyton Manning still on the sidelines, Monday’s Colts/Buccaneers game was a dud in the overnights for ESPN.

The Week 4 edition of Monday Night Football earned an 8.0 overnight rating on ESPN, down 22% from last year (NE/MIA: 10.3), and down 44% from the 2009 game (GB/MIN: 14.2), in which Brett Favre faced his former team for the first time.

The 8.0 is the lowest overnight for Monday Night Football since Week 6 last year (TEN/JAX: 7.2).

So far this season, four of the five MNF telecasts on ESPN have had declines in overnight ratings compared to last year.

Despite the drop, Monday’s game easily topped Game 3 of the Yankees/Tigers MLB Division Series on TBS (4.8).

Locally, the Colts’ loss earned a combined 35.5 in Indianapolis (24.3 on ESPN, 11.2 on local affiliate) and 21.5 in Tampa-St. Petersburg (11.0 on ESPN, 10.5 on local affiliate).


Another strike against Tampa area fans.

[alnorth]

Originally Posted by thurman merman

Okay, according to google maps, it is 25.7 miles from Tampa Bay to Tropicana Field. Not a valid excuse. Have you ever been to Chicago? New York? Los Angeles? Do you know how long it takes to get around in cities like that?

I used to live in suburban Chicago, 30 miles from the city, and it took an hour to get there. You don't see jabronis in Chicago complaining that it takes too long to get to the ballpark, or there's too much to do in the city. "Oh man, I gotta eat some Gino's East today and go to the art museum and go to Navy Pier. Too busy to go to the Cubs game today!"

The fact is that the entire state of Florida sucks at watching sports, and the Rays fans are the worst of them all.

The problem is not the distance, it is the lack of options to get there. You got one or two bridges across a long stretch of water, and thats it. If there's any traffic at all, which you'd obviously have a lot of going to a baseball game, you are screwed on time. You are either crawling along I-275 or highway 93 or whatever at an agonizing slow pace. 30 miles in KC is not the same as 30 miles partly across an expanse where you have only one bridge, or 30 miles across Los Angeles.