What's making news is the low turnout at the last two games, which both had playoff implications. The Monday night game against the Orioles had fewer than 13 thousand fans in attendance. The Tuesday night game, which the Rays won and moved into the playoffs, had fewer than 18 thousand fans show up. After the first game, talk radio was alive with calls from people who said the turnout just showed that this is not a good market for a pro baseball franchise. And one of the most popular radio talk show hosts in Tampa (Jack Harris) said this area won't have a team in 10 years, because it's not a pro baseball town. I was shocked to hear him say that because he is one of this area's biggest promoters.
This all has to be put into perspective, because I believe this a perfect place for a pro baseball franchise. But there are mitigating circumstances for the turnout problem that require patience, understanding and honesty.
First, honesty. The location of Tropicana Field is enemy number one. I understand that St. Petersburg and South Pinellas residents might disagree, but it's the truth. I will use myself as an example. I have been a Tampa Bay Bucs season ticket holder for 26 years. I live in South Tampa. It takes me a stress-free 15 minutes to drive from my home to my parking space near the stadium. To drive to the Trop to the parking lot there takes me 50 minutes to one hour. It's not fun. But there are many more issues at play here.
The economy has kicked fans right in the wallet and the unemployment rate has left tens of thousands of people reeling. They can't afford to go to games, because they don't have jobs. On top of that this area is not home to large corporations that traditionally get behind home town sport franchises. Let's take Cincinnati as an example. It's home to Proctor and Gamble and Fifth Third Bank, just to name two. They get behind the Reds by buying blocks of tickets, sponorships and advertising. And since I have brought up Cincinnati, let me take the argument another step forward.
The Rays have been in existence for 13 years. The Reds played their first game in 1869. Why is that important to point out? It takes years to develop a loyal fan base. In Cincinnati, the Reds are part of that area's fabric and culture. When I was a kid growing up in Cincinnati, if my parents wrote a note to my school stating they were taking me to Opening Day, I was given an excused half- day absence. Schools around town had the same policy, because they understood the meaning of tradition. They understood how important the team was to the community.
Another issue is the population makeup of the Bay Area. Many, many residents here are from different parts of the country and they have yet to develop a sense of loyalty to our home teams. In time, many will turn around and start calling the Rays their team. I know, because it happened to me. But it takes time and that is where patience comes into play.
The low attendance at this week's first two games has been the subject of ridicule here and around the nation. On MSNBC's Morning Joe this morning Mike Barnicle made fun of the Rays' fans, for not showing up at the games. Let us not forget they were Monday and Tuesday night games. Translation: Work nights/School nights. Couple that with the drive time to and from the Trop for many fans - it's an issue.
The bottom line is regardless what some people might have you believe this a major league city, but compared to almost all other cities with baseball teams it's a newbie, and that has to be put into perspective.
Bill Ratliff
Bill,
ReplyDeleteSome time last summer, Jack Harris & Tedd Webb were fielding sports trivia questions on AM Tampa Bay. They were ready to offer Rays tickets to anyone who could answer the next trivia question (and they must have wanted to wrap up that segment and move on to the next one...because Tedd served up an EASY one.
"Who leads the Rays team in home runs?"
I think the answer at the time was Longoria. Regardless, it took about nine callers before they got a correct answer. Jack is right; Tampa Bay is not likely to provide enough support to Major League Baseball and NFL football.
You offered a number of compelling reasons why the Rays attendance has been pitiful but you seemed to overlook the fact that the team on the field is more committed to winning than its executive management. Consequently, the fans have known for some time now that management's self-imposed salary cap means players like Crawford, Pena, Garza, Balfour, Soriano and others will likely be signed with other teams by January. And when Longoria's contract expires, he'll be gone too. Fans are alienated by a team that is committed to cycling out those players whose abilities will bring greater compensation. Executive management has contributed to the alienation by stating that this is the business model and it has no intention of changing it... at least, not while they remain in the Tampa Bay market.
The reason attendance is down, as Bill states is a number of factors. Analysis has shown that taking into account the population available in the area to go, the 1.8 million that went was not that low. I love going there. You can bring food, water, snacks, and only pay for a ticket and parking. It's comfortable and no fear of rain, but the location for me could be better. The drive over there is about 45 minutes and families with kids in Hillsborough County just can't do that during the week. I'd go to more if it was a 15 minute or less drive. But Bill, look at the Bucs attendance; it really depends on more than just location. The economy is killing attendance in all sports. Why would fans want to go see the Rays play a last place team, when they were already assured of making the playoffs, and they could save their money to buy tickets to those games? The love of the Rays was proven when they filled the stadium with free tickets.
ReplyDeleteAnd to Gregg...owners are killing the sport themselves by giving multi-million dollar contracts based on one year where a player may do well. Take Pena, Zobrist, Bartlett, Upton, and a couple others on the team who more than under achieved what was expected of them. Losing Crawford might be devastating to this team. Losing Soriano & Benoit along with Carl...well, I don't even want to think about it.
But we have to remember we're taking about SPORTS; to most of us it's just entertainment. Many of us have other priorities, and with losing jobs, health insurance, houses, and not being able to take are of our families, attending games drops down the list of what we HAVE to do.