Tampa Attendance

[Patrick425]

I really would like to root for this underdog team, but I'm having a hard time considering the people who live in Tampa don't seem to care. They had about 12,600 at the game last night.

[adamb100]

I dont know when the last time this page was updated but heres an ESPN ranking all the teams by fan attendance this season:

 

Attendance figures

[bucks2281]

This has always baffled me.

 

The Buccaneers haven't failed to sellout since they built their new stadium in the late 90s. At one point, the Lightning sold out season after season (an impressive feat -- considering there are 41 home dates in the NHL and the general popularity of hockey in Florida). It's the same way in Miami -- the Dolphins and Heat haven't had problems selling out lately. I don't really have a guess as to why. Could it be the condition of the ballpark? Or is it because Tropicana Field is in a weird part of town?

 

Unimpressive to say the least. You have to wonder if the park will be dominated by road team fans during the postseason. It could be quite ugly and embarassing for the Rays.

[holybannana]

They definitely don't have the world's best fans.

 

The problem with Florida it seems is that it is full of transplants. So many people, especially old people, move there. They don't have a connection with the team and they don't care about them. they're able to follow their team via many sources and mediums.

 

I've heard Yankee games down there are just full of retired New Yorkers. Bill Simmons wrote an article about going to a game there (Boston of course) and laughed in amusement at the fact it was almost all Bo-Sox fans.

 

I really can't figure out why they can't get 30k to watch that team though. They're an excellent, exciting and refreshing young team that is blowing the lid off the league. I suppose native people just don't care about baseball much and the transplants have their own teams.

[lcbj68c]

I lived 20 minutes from Tropicana Field for over 10 years. But it's not just baseball. They are bandwagon everything and if they aren't bandwagon, they just simply don't care too much as is the case with the Rays. If the Bucs are 0-2 to start the season, the bars are empty on Sunday afternoon. A majority of people are transplants and already have a home team to watch. Couple that with being able to golf every day till 8:30-9:00 at night in the summer/early fall, fishing and other attractions and the Rays simply aren't a very big draw. Miami isn't much better.

 

Bucks2281 made a great point about the location of Tropicana Field. The geography of the land gives the metropolitan residents of Tampa a tough time in getting to the stadium. You have to get to the St. Pete peninsula and the options are equally as bad, either take the long congested rush hours bridges or drive all the way around and still hit traffic upon getting to the stadium area. It makes for arriving at the ballpark late or at the last minute.

 

Another reason is the amount of corporate events and suites options. Walk-up attendance can only account for so much? 3,000 maybe? The Brewers have done well with their group sales and it is the reason why attendance has done reasonably well even before the 2007 season. With so many other options for businesses and corporations to provide things for their clients (Buccaneers, Busch Gardens, Tampa Bay Lightning, TPC Golf Outings, etc) , these things take away from Rays ticket sales. It could come around, but unlikely.

[crewcrazy]

I remember reading somewhere that while the Rays still haven't drawn well at the Trop, they have one of the highest local TV ratings in baseball, right up there with the Brewers. It seems like most fans would rather follow the team on TV than have to watch a game in that dump, and I can't really blame them. I would think (and hope) that this would change during the playoffs, though.

[Kurt]

I'll say this every chance I get.

 

GET MLB OUT OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA.

 

They have proven time and time again that they don't deserve a team.

 

The marlins could not even sell out playoff games the last time the owners decided to buy a world series.

[Invader3K]

I'll say this every chance I get.

 

GET MLB OUT OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA.

 

They have proven time and time again that they don't deserve a team.

 

The marlins could not even sell out playoff games the last time the owners decided to buy a world series.

I do think at least one of the teams should move. It is clear that there is not enough enthusiasm for baseball in Florida to barely support one team, let alone two. The place was Braves territory for years, and as has been pointed out, is full of transplants with no connection to the Marlins or Rays. Yet, MLB seems hell bent on proving the doubters wrong, so each team will be getting a new stadium. Down the road we will talk about the playoff contending Marlins drawing 15,000 on a Saturday night at their new stadium, instead of 10,000 like they would have at their current location.

[SeriesFinale]

I think half of Kurt's posts here have something to do with Florida.

 

Personally, I'm disappointed that the Rays are not drawing more, but I do have to say that I'm not shocked that 1) Tampa Bay residents (most of whom are indeed transplants who'll need time to let their past allegiances fall away) aren't flocking to jump on the bandwagon based on 3/4ths of a season of winning baseball after 10 disastrous years in a crummy park and 2) that they didn't have good numbers on a weeknight game after school has began

 

I still believe this market is a sleeping giant, but both teams have been plagued by terrible parks in less-than-ideal locations and awful uncertain ownership (and in the Rays' case, management) from day one.

[moofnelson]

I lived in Tampa in the late 80's and went to a Bucs/Packers game one year. There had to be 25,000 people at the game and about 20,000 were Packer fans. Nobody even talked about the Bucaneers back then. Sure, they sucked, but it was all Tampa had as a major sports franchise. I never considered the city to be a great sports town. In their defense, the stadium looks like the Metrodome's ugly cousin.

[SeriesFinale]

I lived in Tampa in the late 80's and went to a Bucs/Packers game one year. There had to be 25,000 people at the game and about 20,000 were Packer fans. Nobody even talked about the Bucaneers back then. Sure, they sucked, but it was all Tampa had as a major sports franchise. I never considered the city to be a great sports town. In their defense, the stadium looks like the Metrodome's ugly cousin.

I went to all those games then as well but as a Bucs' fan (I remember thinking that Broderick "The Sandman" Thomas was really gonna turn the Bucs D around...uff da). They were in the midst of a 16-year losing season streak and it was indeed dire. Culverhouse might've been the most misguided, cheapest NFL owner of all time.

 

The Glazers get there, a new stadium, and some sustained success, and now there's a sizeable season ticket wait list.

 

The area's no different than anywhere else--the fans are not gonna respond to long constant losing and may be slow coming around at first when the franchise sea change comes. Add in that most people there are from somewhere else and it's a tough row to hoe. But it's possible to have a strong market there.

[dadofandrew]

Attendance follows winning. They should draw well next year.

[owbc]

They are averaging 21,054 per game. Last year they averaged 17,148. That's a very impressive jump.

 

To compare, they have increased their attendance by about 4000 fans/game. The Brewers have only increased their attendance this year by 2500 fans/game. The year before, the Brewers did increase by 6600 fans/game, which is a very impressive number. However, Tampa's increase of 22% is equal to the Brewers' increase of 22% from 2006 to 2007.

 

Also, the Rays have had their highest rated TV games ever this year. They have their first ever advance sellout on a non-opening day.

 

It is being unfair to the Tampa fans to take away from their accomplishment. It takes years and year to build up a fan base. Remember, the 1982 Brewers averaged 24,000 fans/game. The 1982 Montreal Expos averaged 28,000. Granted, this was a different era and those totals ranked 8th and 4th in MLB, but it still is a reminder that it takes many decades to build up a fan base. All the 1990s expansion cities are having similar trouble--it's nothing against the city, it's just that the older generations have other attachments.

[44Fishy]

several good points have been made, but here's a couple things that no one has pointed out

 

1) the economy has really, really hit us hard down here in Tampa. most people are worried about their house being foreclosed on and losing their job, so they aren't spending $ on entertainment, instead they are watching on tv and ratings have spiked

 

2) I made my first trip to Wrigley this weekend and was reminded of how great it is to watch baseball outdoors in decent weather. Watching baseball outdoors in Florida is miserable (most people were astonished that the Rays were even considering building an open-air stadium earlier this year) and watching ball in a fixed dome is sterile and charmless (I don't know how anyone in Minn does it)

 

3) Tampa Bay population is very spread out (one of the biggest reasons the Olympic commitee passed on us for 2012, it takes forever to get anywhere). There is a large population in Sarasota to the south, Clearwater to the north (there's no easy way to the interstate from Clearwater) and right there in St Pete. But the largest population and highest overall net worth in the area is in Tampa, which is farther away from the stadium and on top of that, most of Tampa's residential areas are built on to the far north and far east sides of Tampa, putting the stadium even farther away and making it nearly impossible for many people to beat the traffic to get to a game unless they cut out of work early. The Bucs and Lightning stadiums are much closer to a bigger # of people with expendable income. Plus Tampa and Sarasota are both separated from St Pete by water. I know it sounds crazy, but crossing a bridge is a huge mental hurdle for some people in determining how far they are willing to commute for an event or even their job.

 

they need a new retractable dome stadium, built in north St Pete, in what is called the Feather Sound area, 1st exit across the bridge from Tampa and closer for the people in Clearwater

[joepepsi]

I'll say this every chance I get.

 

GET MLB OUT OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA.

 

They have proven time and time again that they don't deserve a team.

 

The marlins could not even sell out playoff games the last time the owners decided to buy a world series.

I agree with Kurt. I am sympathetic to 44fishy's points, but in the end MLB in Florida has always been met with a collective "meh".

[SeriesFinale]

A pretty funny, interesting article in today's St. Pete Times.

[logan82]

I don't know how anyone in Minn does it

 

Looking at the attendance, very few in Minnesota do.

[istanbultaye]

Wow. That was actually pretty good local sports journalism.

[Bikeage77]

I don't intend on moving from Milwaukee in the future, and maybe this is a different mindset from those in Florida, but as a Brewers fan, and a fan of baseball in general, you'd think that the number of transplants would see that that there's a very exciting young team in Tampa Bay. That doesn't necissarily mean that the population needs to jump ship of the team they follow regularly, but to see a live game in general would draw attendance. Hell, we all saw it coming that the Rays would someday be a respectful team based on draft picks, but the fact that they're on the brink of September and are beating two of the highest paid and traditioned teams in baseball kinda blows my mind. Some of these retired people that transplanted should really realize that this team is capable of winning the World Series and take note. If I did move to that city, even if the Brewers weren't playing, I'd still be overly excited to see a playoff calaber team. Pretty sad if you ask me. I know Dolphins stadium is a drive for those in Miami, but how far outta the area is Tropacana? There's plenty of people that come from the Fox Valley, Racine/Kenosha, and the Madison area for Brewers games. My mind is just boggled they're attendance isn't higher. Also, I've had a few.

[lcbj68c]

but how far outta the area is Tropacana?

 

Just because of the nature of the peninsula and the bridges, coupled with rush hour traffic, it's not a distance thing, but a time thing. Businessmen who work the 9-5 in downtown, can't get from downtown Tampa to downtown St. Petersburg by 7:00pm, let alone drive east to the Tampa suburbs to pick up your family and then all the way back by 7:00pm. Day games are probably no excuse, but how many games are day games in St. Pete, 15%? Driving 90 minutes from FondDuLac to Milwaukee is a completly different animal than driving 2 hours to make it 30 miles. Nobody likes sitting in 2 hours in traffic to attend a 2.5 hours baseball game. I think the article summed it up pretty well. The stadium location plays a very big role in the attendance.

[mothershipconnection]

In their defense, the stadium looks like the Metrodome's ugly cousin.

 

I've only seen Tropicana from the outside and on TV, but that seems like a fair assessment (except maybe not the horrible seat position?).

 

I lived in MSP for over a year and only lived 10-15 minutes from the dome. I've never lived that close to a major league team and you'd think that as a huge baseball fan I'd be there all the time, but I went ONCE in a year+ and that was because my friend came to town for the Brewers series. That place sucks and I'd rather watch a game on my 42" plasma from my couch with a $7 six-pack and 75-cent bag of popcorn.