Tampa Bay Rays owner says current business model 'untenable'

[SammyBirdland]

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."

"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/7061072/tampa-bay-rays-owner-says-current-business-model-untenable

[Austin]

Well, he's got a point. The Rays are doing everything they possibly can to please their fans and they don't even fill the stadium during the playoffs. They could really benefit from relocation. We draw more fans to Camden Yards than they do to Tropicana and that is a shame.

[PrivateO]

If they don't build a new stadium soon, I bet Sternberg moves them. This was a big discussion at the end of "The Extra 2%."

[Can_of_corn]

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/7061072/tampa-bay-rays-owner-says-current-business-model-untenable

They cut payroll from 72 Million to 42 Million, I am quite sure their bottom line was firmly in the black this season.

Well, he's got a point. The Rays are doing everything they possibly can to please their fans and they don't even fill the stadium during the playoffs. They could really benefit from relocation. We draw more fans to Camden Yards than they do to Tropicana and that is a shame.

They could have dropped payroll by say 15 million, instead of 30 but they didn't think they would compete so they went for a larger profit grab this season. A couple decent bats or some more bullpen depth would have helped the team. They also could have drafted Posey a few years ago, but didn't want to spend for him. I think saying they are doing "everything" is an exaggeration.

If they don't build a new stadium soon, I bet Sternberg moves them. This was a big discussion at the end of "The Extra 2%."

http://www.fieldofschemes.com/news/archives/2010/03/4071_st_pete_threate.html

Lease runs through 2027

St. Pete is really prepared to go to court to stop anyone from even talking about a non-St. Pete stadium

[Austin]

They could have dropped payroll by say 15 million, instead of 30 but they didn't think they would compete so they went for a larger profit grab this season. A couple decent bats or some more bullpen depth would have helped the team. They also could have drafted Posey a few years ago, but didn't want to spend for him. I think saying they are doing "everything" is an exaggeration.

I wasn't talking about how they spend, I'm talking about the results on the field. They've been a winner for four seasons in a row and have made the playoffs three times. I consider that doing more than enough to please a fanbase. If the fans in Tampa aren't showing up now, they never will.

[Can_of_corn]

I wasn't talking about how they spend, I'm talking about the results on the field. They've been a winner for four seasons in a row and have made the playoffs three times. I consider that doing more than enough to please a fanbase. If the fans in Tampa aren't showing up now, they never will.

Oh I agree that they won't. The fan base down here is pathetic. The area never should have received a team in the first place. During spring training down here they give away tickets to Yankee spring training games on the radio.

I still say that the Rays' ownership group did some serious profiting with the payroll this season.

[NewMarketSean]

They really need a new stadium in an easily reached part of town. Even then I doubt they'll get great attendance but it'll be better than it is now.

[Can_of_corn]

They really need a new stadium in an easily reached part of town. Even then I doubt they'll get great attendance but it'll be better than it is now.

Bucs have a stadium in Tampa and they hard a rough time selling out for MNF.

[Slappy]

Where does he move them to, though? Nashville? Indianapolis? Vegas? New Orleans? Not a whole lot of prime markets left in baseball.

If he does move them, I'd love to see him move the team up into Jersey and put a 3rd team in the NY metro area. That would in theory help alleviate some of the advantages the Yankees have.

[BaltimoreTerp]

The biggest problem is even though we often consider Tampa and St. Petersburg as "twin cities" like Minneapolis and St. Paul, they are really more like San Francisco and Oakland or Baltimore and Washington. It takes as long to drive from downtown Tampa to Tropicana Field as driving from central DC to Oriole Park. And there is more than one direct way to get from DC to Baltimore; there are two bridges between the Florida cities, or you have to drive around north or south of the bay. Its just like the California Bay Area, only Oakland itself has 50,000 more people than Tampa does, and 150,000 more than St. Petersburg.

So you have a split population, neither center of which is large enough to support a team on its own, and very few ways to get between the two. The stadium in question is in the smaller of the two centers. Add in the terrible first decade of the team, which prevented building the fan base, and there is little reason to hope for success.

[BaltimoreTerp]

Where does he move them to, though? Nashville? Indianapolis? Vegas? New Orleans? Not a whole lot of prime markets left in baseball.

If he does move them, I'd love to see him move the team up into Jersey and put a 3rd team in the NY metro area. That would in theory help alleviate some of the advantages the Yankees have.

Connecticut or Riverside/San Bernardino.

[NewMarketSean]

Contract them.

There are too many teams already. Both teams in FLA shouldn't exist, IMO. And when that happens, contract the Orioles and give us the Rays organization. Give KC or Pittsburgh the Marlins and tell Peter Angelos and the owners who can't be bothered to put a winning product on the field to go F themselves.

[BaltimoreTerp]

Bucs have a stadium in Tampa and they hard a rough time selling out for MNF.

Another interesting comparison:

Tampa has a civic population 50,000 greater than Pittsburgh. But Pittsburgh has a more compact and connected region, with greater civic and cultural identities than Tampa, and its metropolitan region is only 400,000 less than Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater put together (2.4 compared to 2.8 million). So Pittsburgh can support teams in three professional sports (and support them reasonably well for decades) while Tampa Bay can barely hold on to its teams.

[PrivateO]

They cut payroll from 72 Million to 42 Million, I am quite sure their bottom line was firmly in the black this season.

They could have dropped payroll by say 15 million, instead of 30 but they didn't think they would compete so they went for a larger profit grab this season. A couple decent bats or some more bullpen depth would have helped the team. They also could have drafted Posey a few years ago, but didn't want to spend for him. I think saying they are doing "everything" is an exaggeration.

http://www.fieldofschemes.com/news/archives/2010/03/4071_st_pete_threate.html

Lease runs through 2027

Yeah, there's just no way that (if Sternberg wants to move them), this doesn't involve a lawsuit.

Someone mentioned possible cities for relocation if it was possible. Could Portland be an option?

[Can_of_corn]

Yeah, there's just no way that (if Sternberg wants to move them), this doesn't involve a lawsuit.

Someone mentioned possible cities for relocation if it was possible. Could Portland be an option?

I was just reading a piece that stated the Rays might be able to use chapter 11 bankruptcy to get out of the lease. Owed rent is capped in that instance and would only be about 2 1/2 years.

I do, however, find it extremely unlikely that MLB would not do everything in its power to prevent a successful, clearly profitable team from declaring.