Stadium/Ticket Tidbits

by R.J. Anderson on Dec 6, 2008 1:27 PM EST

I'm sick and it's finals weekend, that means I'm digging through my inbox for every link that's been passed along since the start of December. Here's one we didn't post:

A new stadium is essential to the long-term viability of the team in this area, said Michael Kalt, senior vice president of development and business affairs for the Rays, in a presentation. The Rays rank near the bottom of Major League Baseball in attendance and in the bottom half in economic indicators such as household income and local corporations.

While Kalt didn’t disclose exactly how many season tickets the Rays sell, he said the team had about 15,000 in 1998, its inaugural season. Numbers have decreased since then to where the Rays have less than half as many as the next lowest team in the majors, he said. Two-thirds of the season ticket holders live in Pinellas County.

Yikes! I would assume the second lowest is the Florida Marlins, who had approximately 10,000 last season. That puts the Rays at x < 5,000, which is um, pitiful. Of course, that is assuming both assumptions are right. Either way, let's hope the economy doesn't derail expectations of increased amounts of season ticket holders.

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Seriously RJ, feel better.

Finals + sickness = suck. Seriously, rest, and good luck on both endeavors. :-)

Jon Garland, pleasepleaseplease accept arbitration. Your mad iNNiNgZ eAtEr sKiLLz will be greater exemplified in next year's free agent class. kthxbai.

by Blicks on Dec 6, 2008 1:57 PM EST reply actions

Get thru the week and enjoy the rest of the month

Those are some depressing numbers

by Jason Collette on Dec 6, 2008 2:00 PM EST reply actions

On the bright side...

…It’s quite encouraging that the Rays have out-attendanced the Marlins the last two years despite considerably worse season-ticket figures.

by kericr on Dec 6, 2008 3:58 PM EST reply actions

This is pretty encouraging.

If season ticket counts were to jump up to even 12-13k total, you would only need a small walk up crowd to be over 20k on a consistent basis, and 25-30k crowds would become much more commonplace.

by twenty5psi on Dec 7, 2008 1:37 AM EST reply actions

not surprising based on how Namoli treated season ticket holders

I was one of the many inaugural season ticket holders who did not renew for the second year. Namoli burnt just about every bridge he had with businesses in the community and not surprisingly season ticket sales have suffered as a result. the new ownership is doing a better job, but they have a lot of work to do.

by Devil Ray on Dec 7, 2008 1:29 PM EST reply actions