Archive for the 'Attendance' Category

Nov 08

Rays Change Start Time For Weeknight Games

Attendance Cork Gaines 7 Comments »

If you ask ten people why the Rays struggle with attendance, you will get 20 different answers. And there is a good chance they will all be right. And one of those reasons was the Rays decision to move weeknight games to 6:40pm.

However, that experiment is now history. According to the Rays, they have now moved start times back to 7:10 pm. This will impact all Monday through Friday games, except for 12 afternoon games.

The Rays originally moved the start time for their games in response to fan polling that showed fans wanted to get home earlier on school nights. But apparently the Rays forgot to ask if those fans would still go to the games if they started earlier.

Nov 04

Rays Ad Spending Has Fallen 33% Since 2009

Attendance, Jonah Keri Cork Gaines 7 Comments »

In a column by Michael Sasso of the Tampa Tribune, he addresses the issue of whether or not the Rays are doing enough to help attendance. This is something we have addressed on this site in recent weeks.

One of the biggest issues has been advertising, and what some fans and media personalities have perceived as a lack of effort on the part of the Rays.

According to Sasso, their fears may be true…

“…data suggests the Rays cut their ad spending by 33 percent over the past two years. In 2009, the team spent an estimated $761,000 on TV, radio, print, billboard and online ads, Kantar found. That fell to $508,000 in 2010. The team’s advertising rose slightly in the first half of 2011 over the first half of 2010…Most teams also cut their ad spending by 14 percent to 40 percent. But the data show the Rays spent less on advertising last year than everyone except the Royals (see chart). The Rays declined to comment on Kantar’s data.”

That’s kind of amazing considering the number of teams that can sell out their ballparks without any advertising at all. Sasso does add that there is debate as to how much advertising impacts ticket sales.

Jonah Keri, who authored the book “The Extra 2%” about the rise of the Rays, has a different take on why the Rays attendance is so bad.

“I just think this is the 30th worst market out of 30 markets.”

We guess that chapter will be in the paperback edition.

Nov 04

Tampa Is The ‘Brokest’ Pro-Sports City In America

Attendance Cork Gaines 3 Comments »

“Of the cities in this country that host professional sports teams, none is more broke than Tampa, Florida. And this could go a long way towards explaining attendance woes for Tampa Bay sports teams.” [BUSINESS INSIDER]

 

Oct 28

Are The Rays Intentionally Sabotaging Attendance?

Attendance, Bill Foster, Stuart Sternberg Cork Gaines 16 Comments »

In a recent letter to Stuart Sternberg, our very own Jordi Scrubbings expressed concern that the Rays are not doing enough to get fans to the ballpark. And now comes word that mayor Bill Foster may have accused the Rays of intentionally sabotaging attendance to better their position for a new stadium.

In a piece penned by David DeCamp and Michael Van Sickler of the St. Pete Times, the Pinellas County Commission Chairwoman recalled a conversation she had with Mayor Foster:

” ‘I believe that they are deliberately trying to hurt the team financially by not promoting it adequately,’” Latvala recalled Foster telling her.

Foster denied this allegation calling it “stupid” and “ludicrous.” However, he does acknowledge telling the Chairwoman that “he’s not seeing enough marketing by the Rays.”

But are the Rays intentionally sabotaging attendance? Probably not. But there is also evidence that they could be doing more to help.

Remember, a year ago we heard from Howard Bryant that Bud Selig “instructed Rays management not to make significant financial investments in the area until attendance indicators improve.” Marketing of the team would be one form of “investment in the area.”

This doesn’t mean the Rays are sabotaging attendance, but there are some that believe Major League Baseball has done this before. In another column by Bryant (a must read for any Rays fan), Bryant says MLB may have done the same thing with the Montreal Expos.

Talk to the people in Montreal who witnessed a careful succession of curious decisions that led to the depression and ultimate relocation of the Expos to Washington. Listen to the stories of how ownership did not market the club, how the team went as far as not providing street signage and directions to the ballpark in English as a way of discouraging attendance — an indirect strategy designed to facilitate a departure from town.

With the Rays, there is strange ticket pricing at Tropicana Field such as walk-up surcharges, complex tiered pricing, and stories of season-ticket holders being priced out of their seats despite a lack of demand.

But at the same time, the Rays may have the most extensive promotional schedule in Major League Baseball with giveaways and post-game concerts. And the team is still one of the most affordable in all of pro sports.

Like many things involving the Rays, you can probably find evidence on both sides of the issue if you look hard enough. So we will let you guys draw your own conclusions. But if the Rays are making decisions that hurt attendance, it means they are either incompetent or conniving. And it is hard to believe the Rays are ever incompetent.

Oct 10

In Letter To Fans, Sternberg Says Team Is Committed To Finding Solutions

Attendance, Stuart Sternberg Cork Gaines 39 Comments »

Rays owner Stuart Sternberg made comments in the locker room following the Rays elimination from the playoffs in which he suggested that the Rays are being held back by the lack of ticket sales, and indicated that if things don’t improve, the team would either move or be contracted.

Today, Sternberg addressed those comments and the ensuing criticisms in an email sent to season ticket holders (thanks to those of you that forwarded the letter).

In the letter, which can be read below, Sternberg doesn’t back down from his comments, saying it would be “disingenuous” to suggest everything is fine with the team. However, he does want it known that he is not complaining or blaming the fans.

Sternberg adds that the organization is “committed to doing all that [they] can to find solutions.”

We can quibble over whether the Rays are truly doing everything they can. But the lack of effort by the Rays to open any dialogue whatsoever with the city of St. Pete on the stadium issue seems to contradict this notion. At least that is the appearance on the surface.

As fans, we just want to know that Rays want to stay in the area. The rest is just details. But when there is no dialogue between the two sides, and the only word we hear on the issue all season  is “vaporize,” it is hard for us to be in an understanding mood. Read the rest of this entry »

Oct 08

Rays Had Higher Local TV Ratings In First Round Than Rangers And Diamondbacks

Attendance, Research is your friend Cork Gaines 9 Comments »

When Maury Brown wrote his piece earier this week saying Rays fans don’t deserve the team, two of his biggest criticisms were that nobody was watching on television (even though he didn’t know where Rays ranked in Major League Baseball in local TV ratings) and that nobody was jumping on the bandwagon during the exciting end-of-the-season run.

Well, a report in The Dallas Morning News suggests otherwise. While the exact ratings aren’t given, Barry Horn reports that the Rays drew a higher local TV rating during the series than the Rangers.

Of the eight hometown markets involved in the AL Division Series and NLDS, D-FW ranked seventh through the four games it took the Rangers to eliminate the Rays. Only Phoenix’s interest in the Arizona Diamondbacks kept the Rangers from the basement.

So we should expect a story from Brown criticizing Rangers and Diamondbacks fans in 3…2…1…GO!

*looks at watch puzzled*

Nothing?

Oct 05

With Corpse Still Warm, Sternberg Blames Loss On Attendance, Suggests Team Could “Vaporize”

Attendance, Stuart Sternberg Cork Gaines 115 Comments »

*Deep Breath*

The last couple of days were a whirlwind for the Rays and their fans. In the span of about 24 hours, the team went from tied 1-1 with the Rangers and coming home, to eliminated from the playoffs. And while we knew Stuart Sternberg and Mayor Bill Foster were tabling their discussion of a new stadium until after the season, we didn’t think that meant five minutes after the final out…

“I am frustrated this year…We’ve replicated last year [on the field] and our attendance numbers were down 15 percent and our ratings were down. The rubber has got to meet the road at some point here…This is untenable as a model going forward…When I came in here in ’05 and ’06, I saw the stars, and I was confident that we could put a winning product on the field — and I was told by you guys and others that all we needed was a winning team…Well, we won. We won. We won. And we won. And it didn’t do it.”

He’s frustrated. That is understandable. Still, it seems like a strange time to point that out after selling more than 63,000 tickets to a pair of afternoon games on short notice. After all, it is not like fans were making plans to attend playoff games two weeks ago.

But then Sternberg took it a step further. He suggests that the Rays might have done better in the playoffs if attendance was better…

“When you’re sitting here at this point and you lost by a run, you know another X dollars might have changed things…Three or five million wouldn’t have changed things necessarily but 15 to 30 might have. That’s where we were. And for the foreseeable future that’s what we’ve got.”

We can all have that same discussion we always have about whether or not the Rays are really making money, and whether or not Sternberg should be spending more money. We are not sure that is important right now.

Rather, this all just sounds like typical Read the rest of this entry »

Sep 27

Here Come The Attendance Jokes, And We Love It!

Attendance Cork Gaines 27 Comments »

Did you hear the joke about how four fans walked into The Trop to watch a Rays game and nobody else was there! Oh, that one kills us every time! Or how about the joke about the Rays latest giveaway promotion: a foul ball for every fan! That one always makes us ell-oh-ell.

According to a large portion of the national media, there were about 12 people at The Trop last night to watch the Rays beat the Yankees and grab a share of the Wild Card lead.

And all we can do is yawn.

Rays attendance is bad. No doubt about it. And if you ask Read the rest of this entry »

Sep 23

The Continued Struggle for the Soul of the Florida Sports Fan

Attendance, Fans do silly things, Feed your mind, Minor League Affiliates, New York Yankees, Season Ticket Sales, Statistical projection, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Tampa Bay Rays, Tampa vs St Pete, The Trop, Things that make us giddy, Things that shine a little less, TV Ratings, We are mad as hell, We need more Cowbell, Your thoughts please Jordi Scrubbings 12 Comments »

Jordi Scrubbings is back with his take on Rays attendance…

Last year, I wrote an article for this site entitled “The Battle for the Passion of the Florida Sports Fan”. In that article, I explored how the Rays were at the short end of a fight to get attention in a rapidly expanding Florida sports scene.

This year I have continued to track attendance and viewing trends. I have saved almost every post I can find from this site, other Rays sites, Bucs sites, Florida Minor League Baseball sites, and anywhere else that talks about the comings and goings of Florida sports fans.

Before I begin to dissect the year in attendance trends, I first want to share an interesting tidbit I recently discovered.

Did you know that in 2010 the Rays drew 95% of the combined attendance total of the Bulls, Gators, Hurricanes, and Seminoles last year?

Attendance of every 2010 home game of Florida State University, University of Florida, University of Miami, University of Central Florida, and the University of South Florida at their respective stadiums was 2,087,026. This number excludes only UF’s bowl game in Tampa and the UF vs. Georgia game in Jacksonville, as they were not true “home” games.

According to Baseball-Reference, the 2010 Rays drew 1,864,999 people to Tropicana Field in 2010. And another 112,854 during the playoffs. That’s 1,977,853 people and a 95% correlation. Which means almost the same amount of people that went to Rays games last year went to see a game at one of the five major college football programs in Florida.

There is no doubt Florida is still a college football state.

A lot of people would point to the above statistic and say it should be Exhibit A why the Rays should move from Florida – they can’t possibly compete in the Florida sports culture landscape. Baseball will regarded as a novelty especially as the University of South Florida grows in popularity and prominence and Florida State gets back on track, loses to Oklahoma withstanding.

I, of course, disagree.

Last year I argued that there was an oversaturation of Read the rest of this entry »

Sep 13

Sternberg Wants To Keep Band Together, Calls Friedman His “Partner”

Andrew Friedman, Attendance, Joe Maddon, Payroll, Stuart Sternberg Cork Gaines 5 Comments »

Stuart Sternberg made the trip to Camden Yards last night where he partook in some Boog’s BBQ (for a few minutes we thought he said “booze” which left us puzzled). He also held court with the media and spoke about this “wonderfully improbable” season, and some other off-the-field topics.

But among the numerous quotes, there was one that caught our attention (more highlights below; via Marc Topkin)…

On Andrew Friedman’s future:

“Andrew is a partner here, he’s a partner of mine. And he treats this organization even better than I possibly can. There’s nothing to report on [possibility he will become a GM with Cubs or Astros]… We’ve been at it now, it’ll be six years, and it doesn’t feel like six years, and I would think we would keep the band together another six years.”

The attendance and payrolls quotes below are really nothing new. But maybe the most telling quote was Sternberg calling Friedman a “partner.”

Does World B. Friedman have equity in the team? He is not listed among the Rays twenty partners. If not, is Sternberg suggesting that Friedman will have equity in the team in the future?

Sternberg is a very Read the rest of this entry »

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