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What about a Rays Booster Club

Sure it sounds high school or college-y, but a thought about how to do our part next season, by forming a booster club to benefit Rays baseball. Adults willing to put in time and a little money after work to promote the team, and organize trips to the stadium, and generally hype up the team to ensure the 09 season has asses in seats.

What do you think about doing such a thing? I'm sure that if fans took the initiative to organize on their own and reach some grassroots success, we could get some help from the team in organizing promotions and make it succeed. I just basically want to do everything humanly possible to make sure next year we help put this "Rays 'fans' dont show up" issue to bed.

What say you?

0 recs  |  Comment 31 comments

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I've got 100 bucks for this idea

I don’t live in the area, but this would be cool.

by rglass44 on Sep 16, 2008 5:01 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

I have nickle and a smile, that got my grandma pretty far in the 40s!

The line it is drawn/The curse it is cast/The slow one now/Will later be fast/ As the present now/Will later be past/The order is/Rapidly fadin'./And the first one now/Will later be last/For the times they are a-changin'..- Bob Dylan

by thebaddancingraysfan on Sep 16, 2008 5:22 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

well it would take some planning in the off season

im pretty much in the same boat as rglass. we’d just have to ponder it when this year is done. but i thought about it on the way home as i had to sit and listen to the big dog on 680 talk about how the rays get no respect in the area and of course ron and ian hyping on this issue. Maybe dear leader can use his tangential connection to the team to make some suggestions.

I thought, for example, how cool it would be to hire some party buses to ship in college students from USF and UT on college nights. More watch parties in Tampa (not BFE like rich herrera does) for away games, maybe get some charity related stuff to plaster rays logos gear etc all over. theres lots of ideas. a bunch of people with a hundo could easily help finance several things and get the attention of the (D)RO.

by HAHAHA OH WOW on Sep 16, 2008 5:33 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

I'd be down

Brad Ziegler had a scoreless inning streak. Brad Ziegler had not met BJ Upton.

by P Brady on Sep 16, 2008 6:25 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

I'd be game too

more to rent party busses for people to head down and tailgate and go to games, not just to ship students there.

I’m live in South Tampa now but I’m from Wisconsin and we taigate like football games there. Would be cool to get two busses full a few times per year to head down and maybe smaller outings on other nights.

Rays 2009 Slogan: "Come back with your shield or on it"

by PriceMultiCyYoungs on Sep 16, 2008 7:43 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

"we tailgate like football games"

in reference to tailgating at Brewer games

Rays 2009 Slogan: "Come back with your shield or on it"

by PriceMultiCyYoungs on Sep 16, 2008 7:43 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

i tailgated last year

before a red sox and rays game with one of my coworkers, i was suprised no one else was tail gating with us but it was overall a great expereince.

by Underdogs on Sep 16, 2008 11:25 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Something that needs to be considered:

I think this is a great idea, and more power to the people interested in doing it. With that said, you’d really need to consider how to structure this booster club since there are tax issues involved as well. I think that it’s a great idea, and the team should definitely have one, but the difficulty is in how you set it up and make it manageable.

by Patrick L. Kennedy on Sep 16, 2008 10:16 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

believe it or not me and gomessweetgomes = lawyer

organizing a basic nonprofit shouldn’t be particularly difficult.

by HAHAHA OH WOW on Sep 17, 2008 8:27 AM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

That's great

Obviously you’d have some knowledge with which to base the booster club on, and you certainly have the time, but I know from my experience screwing around with school booster clubs that it is a complicated process fraught with paperwork and specific accounting rules. I don’t doubt that you can set it up given your law experience, it would just seem to me that it would take a lot of effort. Might it be more advantageous to operate outside the realm of an official nonprofit to avoid some of the complexities? I guess it all depends on the scale of what you plan.

by Patrick L. Kennedy on Sep 18, 2008 4:24 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

I still would like to have some kind of DRB game next year

A game with my DRB brethren would be awesome. As long as someone other than my lazy ass organized it.

by steve-o1285 on Sep 17, 2008 12:09 AM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Issue 1: names and licensing

Obviously i dont think a Rays Booster Club could be called “Rays Booster Club” because of the rays name and licensing issue. I might write the front office about this nebulous idea and ask them what names they think might fly that would get the point across.

by HAHAHA OH WOW on Sep 17, 2008 8:34 AM EDT reply actions   0 recs

How about....

“The Please Sign A Right Fielder So we Never Have To See Guys Like Hinske Or Gomes In The Field Again Club”

by steve-o1285 on Sep 17, 2008 8:47 AM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Or...

“T.P.S.A.R.F.S.W.N.H.T.S.G.L.H.O.G.I.T.F.A.C.” for short. We could put it on T-shirts, and it would wrap all the way around from front to back.

by rayweaver on Sep 17, 2008 9:50 AM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Rays booster club

I’m in. We could network transportation from the various parts of the bay area for rides to the games to save gas and build new friendhips as well as many other benefits. I live in eastern HIllsborough county and many times I drive over by myself with 6 empty seats in my car.

by rayalan on Sep 17, 2008 11:46 AM EDT reply actions   0 recs

I fired off a letter to the Rays legal counsel

asking what would be permissible name wise and to advise me of any licensing or other related issues.

I thought about it while sitting in traffic on the way to work. Organizing rides and busing in people would be a great thing for certain. Also i know its possible to get group discounts on tix so it might also be a way to save a few bux on the whole affair. Anyways lets see what their attorney says about name use and go from there.

by HAHAHA OH WOW on Sep 17, 2008 12:06 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

I'd like to hear more about this once it begins to take shape

Depending on how this is set up and built upon, I could be willing to pitch in some time and/or cash.

by kericr on Sep 17, 2008 2:51 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

well right now its a nebulous idea, but im putting it out to you guys since

if you’re willing to put in some sweat equity, you have a say as to what you think we should do. Anyways lets see what comes back from the Ray’s attorney first. I’m hoping to get a response some time next week, knowing how attorneys operate. I might be apt to fire one off to the owners too to get their input.

by HAHAHA OH WOW on Sep 17, 2008 4:17 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

basic easy thought 1: Rays Rideshare Hotline

just a thought, that if members were willing to ferry fans from other parts of town or from H’borough, we could put together a Rideshare hotline (just buy a cell phone or hell even a voicemail account) and coordinate carpools. anyways, mull on it for a while and i will bump this as events warrant.

by HAHAHA OH WOW on Sep 17, 2008 4:24 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

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