Bleacher Report: Marlins' and Rays' Embarrassing Selloffs Show MLB Can't Survive in Florida

[25 Nuggets]

13 minutes ago, beardbr said:

Tampa's stadium is in St. Pete.  They lose out on a lot of Orlando fans, as it adds an hour or so to the drive.  If they would move the stadium to the east side of Tampa, it could increase attendance.  As it is, it's a pain to get to games.

The new stadium will be built in Ybor City, provided funding. But I can't see the city doing that after Tropicana Field.

https://www.draysbay.com/2018/2/9/16994954/tampa-bay-rays-new-stadium-site-announcement-ybor-city

[DrungoHazewood]

Baltimore first had a Major League-ish team in 1872.  They've had a team called the Orioles every year since 1882, with the exceptions of 1900 and 1915.

In 1995 Tampa supported the A ball Yankees with 2500 vacationing New Yorkers a game, and in 1990 Miami's contribution the baseball landscape was memories of Jim Palmer's brief stopover there in 1964 and the independent Miracle that paved the way for the St. Paul Saints.

You can't invent history out of almost nothing.  And a sports team without history is kind of an empty shell.  The more I think about it, the more I'm convinced baseball did it all wrong with a number of expansion teams.  The ones that really worked were the ones with history built in, fanbases clamoring for baseball.  The Mets were largely the old Giants and Dodgers fans.  Kansas City had a long string of MLB and minor league and Negro League teams.  Denver had strong support for a AAA team for years.  The West Coast teams were largely reincarnations of PCL teams going back sometimes to the 1800s.  They'd have been better off giving Buffalo and Louisville teams instead of Tampa and Miami.  At least the fans would have cared.

[Teddy OBP]

3 hours ago, beardbr said:

Tampa's stadium is in St. Pete.  They lose out on a lot of Orlando fans, as it adds an hour or so to the drive.  If they would move the stadium to the east side of Tampa, it could increase attendance.  As it is, it's a pain to get to games.

That extra drive does suck...especially in traffic since there's only one way in and out.  I do love the area near the water in St. Pete close to the Trop though.

[jamalshw]

3 hours ago, beardbr said:

Tampa's stadium is in St. Pete.  They lose out on a lot of Orlando fans, as it adds an hour or so to the drive.  If they would move the stadium to the east side of Tampa, it could increase attendance.  As it is, it's a pain to get to games.

I'm excited about the potential move to Ybor City. I live in the Orlando area and will go to far more games if the move happens. I believe the team will do much better there (though I still think they'll under-perform compared to the market size).

[Can_of_corn]

 

[Rene88]

21 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

 

Hey Corn-you live in the area, right? What is going on with the site near Ybor City? I thought there were talking about building something there, no?

[Can_of_corn]

2 minutes ago, Rene88 said:

Hey Corn-you live in the area, right? What is going on with the site near Ybor City? I thought there were talking about building something there, no?

My guess is that the Rays can't come up with the private funding required.

I'd ask Dick but he's retired.  Side fact, I had no idea he was married to one of the cashiers.

 

[SteveA]

On 2/26/2018 at 9:26 AM, DrungoHazewood said:

Baltimore first had a Major League-ish team in 1872.  They've had a team called the Orioles every year since 1882, with the exceptions of 1900 and 1915.

In 1995 Tampa supported the A ball Yankees with 2500 vacationing New Yorkers a game, and in 1990 Miami's contribution the baseball landscape was memories of Jim Palmer's brief stopover there in 1964 and the independent Miracle that paved the way for the St. Paul Saints.

You can't invent history out of almost nothing.  And a sports team without history is kind of an empty shell.  The more I think about it, the more I'm convinced baseball did it all wrong with a number of expansion teams.  The ones that really worked were the ones with history built in, fanbases clamoring for baseball.  The Mets were largely the old Giants and Dodgers fans.  Kansas City had a long string of MLB and minor league and Negro League teams.  Denver had strong support for a AAA team for years.  The West Coast teams were largely reincarnations of PCL teams going back sometimes to the 1800s.  They'd have been better off giving Buffalo and Louisville teams instead of Tampa and Miami.  At least the fans would have cared.

Seems like Tampa has taken to hockey pretty well, though.   So they invented something out of nothing there.

[mdbdotcom]

17 minutes ago, Rene88 said:

Hey Corn-you live in the area, right? What is going on with the site near Ybor City? I thought there were talking about building something there, no?

Under the terms of the agreement the Rays signed with the city of St. Petersburg, giving them permission to look outside of Pinellas County for a site, the Rays have to tell the city by the end of the year whether or not they intend to leave the trop early or stay through the lease. They won't have answers on most of the funding questions over the next three weeks, so they had to opt to stay at the Trop through the term of the lease. 

It will be interesting to see if Ybor City remains an option and what the Rays end up doing. The way downtown St. Pete has been growing, the Trop is certainly not the highest and best use for that site anymore. 

I live in St. Pete and used to go to the Trop when the O's were in town, but I dislike the fan experience at the Trop so much that I watch the games on TV instead. 

[VaBird1]

26 minutes ago, SteveA said:

Seems like Tampa has taken to hockey pretty well, though.   So they invented something out of nothing there.

They hired someone to create a fan base when the team was new and they apparently did a good job.

[Can_of_corn]

1 minute ago, VaBird1 said:

They hired someone to create a fan base when the team was new and they apparently did a good job.

It helps that they have built a solid franchise and have a very good team.

[atomic]

On 2/25/2018 at 6:48 PM, Can_of_corn said:

The Yankees have their Spring Training home in Tampa and Tampa is very proud of that fact.  The local radio stations give away tickets to Yankee Spring Training games.

Let me stop and think about who we currently have at work.

Three Red Sox fans.

Three Yankee fans.

Two Oriole fans.

One Pirates fan.

One Mets fan.

One Rockies fan.

One Rays fan.

You have a job? I always thought you retired and moved to Florida.

[DrungoHazewood]

42 minutes ago, VaBird1 said:

They hired someone to create a fan base when the team was new and they apparently did a good job.

How do you create a fanbase independently of success and history?  I don't think it's possible.

[Rene88]

1 hour ago, mdbdotcom said:

Under the terms of the agreement the Rays signed with the city of St. Petersburg, giving them permission to look outside of Pinellas County for a site, the Rays have to tell the city by the end of the year whether or not they intend to leave the trop early or stay through the lease. They won't have answers on most of the funding questions over the next three weeks, so they had to opt to stay at the Trop through the term of the lease. 

It will be interesting to see if Ybor City remains an option and what the Rays end up doing. The way downtown St. Pete has been growing, the Trop is certainly not the highest and best use for that site anymore. 

I live in St. Pete and used to go to the Trop when the O's were in town, but I dislike the fan experience at the Trop so much that I watch the games on TV instead. 

I want to get down your way soon. The Ybor City area would be terrific for baseball imo!!! (Close to Columbia Reataurant too)

[Can_of_corn]

2 minutes ago, Rene88 said:

I want to get down your way soon. The Ybor City area would be terrific for baseball imo!!! (Close to Columbia Reataurant too)

I enjoyed the Paella.