Attendance Analysis (Pt. 5): The Power of Success

Facts: The Rays once drew 2.5 million fans in a season (1998). And despite the economy, attendance at Rays games has risen each of the past four seasons and the 2009 attendance was 64.2% higher than the year before Stuart Sternberg and Co., took control of the team. With a good start we should see another rise this year.

Either you come to the games, or you don’t.

When the Rays were in the ALCS and World Series, the economy wasn’t the best. In fact, the economy was in the middle of a downward spiral. The location was not a problem. The stadium had no real issues. Further more, Yankees and Red Sox fans have had no problems with attending the games at the Trop.

In 2002, I remember sitting at a very empty stadium looking around and counted the number of fans. I counted 321 fans in the sixth inning. The popular reason that year was that the Rays were not winning and if the Devil Rays were not winning, why would someone want to attend a game to watch a bunch of loser play baseball?

In 2006 the popular sentiment was that the Devil Rays didn’t spend the money. How may times would here some (fill in your favorite derogatory adjective here) clog up the local radio airwaves with a “I will attend the D-Rays games when the ownerships starts spending money. You can’t win unless you spend money.”

In Tampa, we have the Bucs and Lightning. Both the Bolts and Bucs didn’t perform well last year. The Bucs this year still had sell-out but there are reports that up to 20,000 tickets that are being bought up by ownership to prevent a local television black-out. Currently, the Lightning ranked 24th out of 30 teams in attendance . Now, is it the location of the St. Pete Times Forum? Is the lack of “nightlife” that surrounds Raymond James Stadium? So, is the grass truly greener in Tampa?

I truly praise current Rays ownership for not getting too frustrated. The Rays ownership have done everything right to get the product of Tampa Bay baseball out and about and the public has responded by giving a plethora of excuses. If the Rays had as many people show up as frequently as they give excuses, the Rays would sell-out every night.

The startling truth is, the Tampa Bay area is a baseball area, but not a Tampa Bay Rays baseball area… at least not yet. The attendance will increase little by little as winning becomes and more expect, no matter where the stadium is located.

The same people that use the excuse to I’m not driving over the bridge (7 miles) drive just as far for other things such as going shopping and going to the beach etc, etc,. The economy affects everyone young and old but it’s still a $10 ticket and less than a 6 pack. If you want to go you will or will not without the BS excuses

We don’t need to have it filled up all overnight, but the numbers can’t keep being propped up by 4 teams and be horrid for the other 12 otherwise 2016 is the final year in TB I figure.

The Spring Training argument needs to go away. Arizona is also a ST state, yet the D-backs draw and they were a ’98 expansion team also(granted with a better past, but still).

The biggest problem is that when Baseball starts not like the other sports in FL 1/3 of the population goes North and the rest of the retired people have already invested 50 – 60 years in on their home team and with Satellite and cable Co. having sport packages. It’s hard to convert them and some of the ones you do convert change their shirts to their old team when they visit. Now that leaves us with the young working people that are trying to support families and can’t make it to week-day games. But with that all said we should still be getting more fans to the Park. By the way we are Full season ticket holders and drive 72 miles each way to all the games and bring 6 of us so I practice what I preach and suggest we all grab a friend and bring them to the games.