All About the People: Quick look at Attendance

Just keep it going, guys.

The Bolts were a bad team for a long time too. They played in a bad stadium (what a coincidence!) with bad ownership and a team that was overpaid and under-delivered. Even when they moved over to the Ice Palace (I still don’t like to call it the forum), attendance was still only about 10,000 a night. As the Bolts turned their fortunes around, attendance rose, but it did so slowly.

Using the Lightning as an example, in the 2000-2001 season they finished with a record of 24-52-6 (24-47-6-5 with the revised records after they started tracking OTLs separate) and had an average attendance of 14,906, good for 5th worst in the league. The next year they improved to 27-40-11-4 and attendance jumped to 15,722, now 20th in the league. In the following year they broke through and made the playoffs with 95 points, and attendance jumped again to 16,545, now 16th in the league. The following year, they won the cup. Even then, attendance was still below sellout capacity. They averaged 17,820, good for 12th. Ever since they won the cup, attendance has been high; even with the worst record in the league last year, they still averaged 18,692, good for eighth.

The reality is, as dominating as the Rays are right now, 2 months of a season is not going to erase 10 years of the Hit Show, 10 years of Heart and Hustle, 10 years of Watch It Happen, or 10 years of bullpen meltdowns, terrible starting pitching, inadequate offense and Vince Namoli. And personally, I still believe that one specific team, the 2000 squad really turned off all but the most hardcore of baseball fans in this area, because that team was a team of quitters. It personally took me four years to get over that.

The turnaround the Rays have exhibited thus far this season is nothing short of miraculous, and I have a feeling most casual fans are still looking at this team and thinking it’s too good to be true. It may be, but if they keep up this trend, I’d be surprised if the Rays are still drawing 10,000 a game in late August. At the same time, I’d be just as surprised if this team was drawing 35,000 against Kansas City on a weekday as well.

The Tampa Bay area has seen far too much futility in their sports teams; the Bucs were bad for a very long time, so were the Bolts, so were the Rays, The Bucs got lucky; they rolled out a brand new stadium and brand new uniforms with a team that had a completely different attitude then this area has ever seen from a sports team, and as a result their attendance spiked right away. The USF Bulls never were a horrible football team, so they had no lost fanbase to win back. The Rays don’t have that luxury. Like the Lightning, The Rays have to win back fans that gave up on them. They have to win transplant fans who refused to root for a team as bad as they were, and both of those take a long time to do.

Twenty-five thousand a game is a lofty goal for a team that has never shown any signs of ever winning anything. I personally think the Rays can reach that goal, but either they’ll have to win the World Series this year, or they’ll have to make the playoffs this year, than show this area that it wasn’t a fluke by doing it again next year. The Marlins have already demonstrated that you simply can’t buy or fluke this area into a championship and expect people to show up.

Here we go.. now the national media is jumping on the attendance angle, leading off the game recap no less. So much for playing up the “feel good” Rays.

By FRED GOODALL, AP Sports Writer
26 minutes ago

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP)—Another win, another dismal crowd for the Tampa Bay Rays.

Despite being off to the best start in franchise history and beginning the day tied with the Chicago Cubs for the best record in major leagues, Tampa Bay drew an announced crowd of 10,927.

The first two games of the series drew 12,174 and 10,511, and the Rays are last in the AL with an average of 17,938, third-lowest in the majors.

There was also mention of Baldelli getting some spring training at-bats.

Tampa Bay OF Rocco Baldelli (mitochondrial disorder), who is eligible to come off the 60-day disabled list on Thursday, may be close to getting some at-bats in extended spring training games

Im a Twins fan, but have been coming here since last year when I was stumbling around for Rays info. Anyway, I thought I would add my 2 cents

The Twins after 1992 became mediocre, then by the late 90’s they were downright BAD. The loss of Kirby Puckett, busted prospects (Scott Stohoviak!), terrible pitchers (Scott Kilingbeck!, Scott Aldred…oy the list names is just brutal), the owners wanted to leave town to the Raliegh/Durham area because they wanted a new Stadium, and other things ..its all added up. The Twins went from 2,000,000 fans in 1993 to just clearing 1,000,000 tickets sold in 2000 (I bet only 600,000 people actually showed up to these games because the attendance numbers go by tickets sold rather than people showing up)

i gotta admit, I miss those days. You show up to the ballpark and have whole sections to yourself and your friend. you could hear the outfielders chat with each other, you could hear the umps call balls and strike from far away center field. but the team..yeah terrible (one year there was like 5 catchers that started for the team)

But then, in 2001, things started to look up. the team got off to a hot start (18-6 in April), yet people we still not showing up for games. But the team kept winning, and slowly the weekend attendance picked up. The team kept winning, and more fans showed up. the final tally, 1.7 mi fans!

That was 2001, in 2007 attendance was almost 2.3 mil.

the moral, keep winning the fans will show. I know i’ll be cheering for ya (unless the Twins and Rays meet in the playoffs)

That’s what I payed for seats on the fourth level. $30 OF seats. Thank God I got some of my Aunt and Uncle’s tix for remaining games because A. they’re free and B. they are good.