Tampa Bay Baseball Attendance Report - July 30, 2015

Tampa Bay baseball attendance for Thursday, July 30, 2015:

Total Attendance: 0

Dunedin Blue Jays:

• Team Home Game #: 51
• Attendance: 0 (POSTPONED - Rain)
• Opponent: Palm Beach Cardinals

No other games scheduled.

Sports Business Journal discusses Rays use of USF students

It seems the Rays are using students from the USF Sports MBA program like they do relief pitchers from the Durham Bulls - as low-cost talent who can be cycled in and out while they are cheap.

According to a recent article in the Sports Business Journal, the Rays are among many Tampa Bay area sports and entertainment venues capitalizing on a partnership with the USF Sports MBA program.

(Definitely worth the read. The whole program spawned from Lightning owner Jeff Vinik. I've written before about Vinik's ability to find the best and brightest people to work for him.)

While the article discusses USF Sports MBA candidates employed by the Lightning, Hard Rock Casino, and other Tampa Bay venues, the part about the Rays was particularly interesting.

Last year, two of them, Jessica Kitzmiller and Zack Lee, were assigned a project together: to pull data attached to Rays ticket buyers and analyze it to determine how they were using flex packs. Lee looked primarily at game selection to determine what beyond the obvious factors, such as opponent and day of week, influenced their selection. Kitzmiller studied demos, creating customer profiles based on gender, age and preference, along with a heat map that showed where buyers came from.

This year, they will return to the franchise — Lee to continue working on member services and ticketing, and Kitzmiller to focus on social media, where she also spent a chunk of time last year.

The Rays have been open that they created the Flex Packs to know their customers better. They want to know trends in buying, games, and in-park usage, where users come from and who they are. It is all part of "creating a better relationship", which then drives customized communications and promotions that hopefully goes beyond the initial Flex Pack and into a long-term or lifelong fan association with the team. And once they have the fan as a consistent buyer, they just have to maintain the relationship. Meanwhile, they then reach out to other demographics and parts of the potential pool to hook more new fans, hoping to turn them into lifelong fans as well.

Lather, rinse, repeat.

But it is still interesting to get a little insight how the Rays analyze the data. Given their data, the Rays know who is coming only for games versus the Yankees, Orioles, or any other opponent. They also want to know the beer preference of 35-50 year old women from Brandon. Which they can find if those women use their flex pack at Tropicana Field.

Fortunately for the Rays, like young relief pitching, young sports business talent will always be cheap. According to the article, the sports MBA field is

pumping out graduates into an industry already overrun by résumés; an industry that has no established path to entry, like the management training program of the broader corporate world; an industry that generally hasn’t shown a willingness to pay more for an MBA

While USF is doing what it can to get willing students experience, the ability to get bright minds on the cheap is great news for a team that tries to capitalize on competitive advantages ("The Extra 2%") wherever it can.

(Disclaimer: I am a (non-sports) MBA candidate at USF. To my knowledge, I haven't crossed paths with the Sports MBA Department outside of meeting a few sports marketing students.)

Tampa Bay Baseball Attendance Report - July 29, 2015

Tampa Bay baseball attendance for Wednesday, July 29, 2015:

Total Attendance: 29,209

Tampa Bay Rays:

• Team Home Game #: 54
• Attendance: 28,057
• Starting Pitcher: Chris Archer
• Opponent: Detroit Tigers
• Opponent Starting Pitcher: Justin Verlander
• Avg Attendance to Date: 15,289
• Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 19,244
• Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 14,575
• Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 17,321
• Promotions (if any): Park and Recreation Day
• Other local events: Dave Matthews Band Concert (Amphitheater)

Bradenton Marauders:

• Team Home Game #: 55
• Attendance: 1,152
• Starting Pitcher: Frank Duncan
• Opponent: Clearwater Threshers
• Opponent Starting Pitcher: Brandon Leibrant
• Avg Attendance to Date: 1,553
• Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 1,045
• Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 952
• Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 1,481
• Promotions (if any): Marauders Fan Appreciation Day

No other games scheduled

Monthly Baseball Attendance Trends in Tampa Bay by Team 2007-2014

In Monday's post, we looked at the total monthly attendance trend of Minor League Baseball in Tampa Bay and compared it to the monthly attendance trends of the Tampa Bay Rays.

We found that attendance trends for Minor League Baseball and Major League Baseball in Tampa Bay are very different. While the amount of fans is definitely different, it is interesting to see when fans go to Minor League Baseball and when fans go to Rays games. Granted, these might not even be the same fans, but tracking the behavior of each fanbase is interesting.

Among the conclusions of the last post:

• May is bad for the Rays, but very good for Minor League baseball.
• June is a bad month for both the Rays and Minor League Baseball.
• July is the best month for baseball attendance overall in the Tampa Bay area.
• The beginning and end of the season draw similarly.

But one of the biggest admitted problems with the last post was that I grouped all the Minor League teams together. We can almost safely assume fans of each team don't often go to many games of the other Minor League teams. The only usual exception might be fans of the Dunedin Blue Jays going to Clearwater and vice versa, due to those teams' proximity to each other.

So are all the Minor League teams the same? Do they all follow the same average monthly trends?

Here are the monthly trends for each team in the Tampa Bay area since 2007, starting with the Rays.

Since 2007, Rays attendance has followed this pattern from highest to lowest:

1. July
2. April
3. August
4. September/October
5. June
6. May

Here are the monthly attendance trends for the Clearwater Threshers:

Since 2007, Threshers attendance has followed this pattern from highest to lowest:

1. May / July (tie)
2. April
3. August/Sept
4. June

Here are the monthly attendance trends for the Tampa Yankees:

Since 2007, Tampa Yankees attendance has followed this pattern from highest to lowest:

1. May
2. July
3. April
4. June
5. August/Sept

Here are the monthly attendance trends for the Dunedin Blue Jays:

Since 2007, Dunedin Blue Jays attendance has followed this pattern from highest to lowest:

1. April
2. July
3. August/Sept
4. May / June (tie)

Here are the monthly attendance trends for the Bradenton Marauders:

Since 2010, Bradenton Marauders attendance has followed this pattern from highest to lowest:

1. July
2. August/Sept
3. June
4. May
5. April

The following chart depicts each team and their average monthly attendance pattern:

This chart shows us that the Minor League teams all have different monthly attendance trends. While the Clearwater Threshers and Tampa Yankees are similar, the Dunedin Blue Jays and Bradenton Marauders are unique. And no Minor League team's attendance trend is similar to the Rays.

This graph depicts the previous chart:

One consistent we see through each team is July. July is either the first, tied for first, or the second highest drawing month for every baseball team playing in the Tampa Bay area.

There is also something else interesting: the two highest drawing teams - the Threshers and Yankees - have their highest attendance in May. So they are driving the trend we saw in the last post when we concluded May was a good month for Minor League teams while a bad month for the Rays. This is curious, although we might never find out if any fans are opting to see the Yankees and Threshers in May instead of visiting Tropicana Field.

However, weather might play a role in this attendance phenomenon. In May in the Tampa Bay area, the high temperature is usually in the mid-80s and the lows are in the mid-60s. When baseball games start in the early evening, the temperature is usually in the 70s. According to weatherspark.com, temperature is in the "comfortable to warm" bracket. According to usclimatedata.com, May is one of the least rainiest months in Tampa Bay. So the combination of nice weather and little chance of rain may be the reason more fans see the Threshers and Yankees in May than any other month.

Which might be a good reason for the Rays to look at a retractable dome if/when they build a new stadium, wherever it may be.

But as for the present, there is still a lot to study. I will be breaking each team's attendace down even more in the coming weeks, devoting entire posts to the monthly averages of each Minor League team in Tampa Bay. Then we will dive into per day averages.

I'm not sure what we will come up with, but it should give us more insight into the patterns, trends, and anomalies of baseball ticket buying behavior in the Tampa Bay area.

Tampa Bay Baseball Attendance Report - July 28, 2015

Tampa Bay baseball attendance for Tuesday, July 28, 2015:

Total Attendance: 18,064

Tampa Bay Rays:

• Team Home Game #: 53
• Attendance: 16,326
• Starting Pitcher: Jake Odorizzi
• Opponent: Detroit Tigers
• Opponent Starting Pitcher: David Price
• Avg Attendance to Date: 15,048
• Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 14,837
• Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 12,178
• Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 15,422
• Promotions (if any): None
• Other local events: None

Bradenton Marauders:

• Team Home Game #: 53 / 54
• Attendance: 1,738
• Starting Pitcher: Clay Holmes / Luis Heredia
• Opponent: Clearwater Threshers
• Opponent Starting Pitcher: Victor Arano / Yacksel Rios
• Avg Attendance to Date: 1,560
• Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 1,010
• Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 975
• Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 950 / 1,119
• Promotions (if any): 2-for-1 tickets

No other games scheduled

Hardball Times discusses Florida State League attendance

I am a longtime reader of The Hardball Times. A few years ago, I wrote a piece for them on the career of Florida State baseball coach Mike Martin. They are one of the best in-depth baseball publications on the web. Highly recommended.

Yesterday, The Hardball Times posted an interesting piece on the Florida State League entitled "Blame it on the Rain". The article, written by Chris Gigley, focused predominantly on the difference between the FSL and other leagues across the US - especially in regards to attendance.

According to Gigley,

it’s one of the truly unique minor leagues in baseball, home to lonely outposts such as Roger Dean Stadium that offer the most relaxed, laid-back fan experiences you can find in baseball. Parking is free or cheap. No crowds clog aisles and concourses. No long lines snake from concession and souvenir stands. Seat assignments are optional. Sit wherever you want. There’s always plenty of room.

This was also an interesting comment:

all but four (Fort Myers, Brevard County, Charlotte and Daytona) of the 12 FSL teams, the Cardinals and Hammerheads are owned by their parent organizations, which aren’t really worried about attendance and fan atmosphere. They’re more interested in player development,

While this might be true in many cases, I think the Clearwater Threshers are an exception. They are consistently the best drawing team in the Florida State League. They put on post-game concerts that nearly par the Rays' concert series and their mascot won Minor League Baseball Mascot of the Year. But overall, yes, Florida State League attendance is not the main focus of these teams and facilities.

Gigley continues:

But those crowds are pretty small, even compared to the two other High-A leagues. Last year, the average game in the California League drew 2,359 fans. The Carolina League packed them in even more, with an average crowd of 3,811. The Florida State League’s big ballparks, on the other hand, welcomed an average crowd of just 1,593.

I really liked Gigley's inference that market saturation is a problem, even if he didn't state it directly.

That feeling is especially acute at Hammerheads home games. Despite having its parent club just a couple hours south, Jupiter is one of the lowest draws in the league, averaging fewer than 1,000 fans through its first 39 games this year. (Mike) Bauer (GM of Roger Dean Stadium) said part of it has to do with two teams diluting the product.

“When we had one team, we averaged around 1,600 fans,” he said.

Gigley then tries to connect the Major League teams in Florida and their attendance issues. He quotes Bauer again, who cites other venues and demographics as a problem. Unfortunately, neither Gigley nor Bauer make the connection that maybe the Minor League teams and their Spring Training predecessors could be saturating the market and hurting the Rays and Marlins. I've often said on this site that the Tampa Bay area doesn't have to economic capacity (even with tourists) to support one Major League team, four Minor League teams, and all the other sports the region hosts. South Florida could have the same problem.

Maybe Florida has too much baseball.

Economics and personal platforms aside, given his tour of the Florida State League, Gigley did a great job capturing the league's uniqueness. Definitely worth the read.

Blame it on the Rain - The Hardball Times

Tampa Bay Baseball Attendance Report - July 27, 2015

Tampa Bay baseball attendance for Monday, July 27, 2015:

Total Attendance: 13,348

Tampa Bay Rays:

• Team Home Game #: 52
• Attendance: 13,348
• Starting Pitcher: Nathan Karns
• Opponent: Detroit Tigers
• Opponent Starting Pitcher: Anibal Sanchez
• Avg Attendance to Date: 15,023
• Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 13,348
• Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 13,965
• Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 14,039
• Promotions (if any): None
• Other local events: None

Clearwater Threshers:

• Team Home Game #: 54
• Attendance: POSTPONED (Rain)

No other games scheduled

Introductory Exploration of Monthly Baseball Attendance trends in TampaBay

Now that I have charted and graphed attendance for each professional baseball team in the Tampa Bay area in each season since 2007, I can start putting the data together and doing 2nd or even 3rd level analysis. This means looking at the data from different angles and in different combinations to see if any trends, patterns, or anomalies appear.

This first analysis looks at trends in average attendance per month. By doing this, I will attempt to answer the following questions:

• Is there a difference between baseball attendance in each month?
• What months draw better? What months draw worse?
• Is the pattern of better months and worse months the same for both the Rays and the four Minor League teams in the Tampa Bay area? Do they follow different patterns?
• What can we learn about fan ticket purchasing behavior by looking at trends in average monthly attendance?

I have posted this before, but here are the Rays monthly attendance patterns from 2007 to 2014. In seasons where the Rays played regular season games in October (2009 and 2012), I have combined those games in September attendance.

(1= Highest drawing month of the year / 6= Lowest drawing month of the year)

Since 2007, Rays monthly average attendance has varied. But averaging the entire range, attendance follows this pattern from highest to lowest:

1. July
2. April
3. August
4. September/October
5. June
6. May

July is the greatest average drawing month for the Tampa Bay Rays. There are several reasons why this might be the case, from opponents to the cliched "kids are out of school" idea. There is also the impact of the Rays Summer Concert Series. April is heavily influenced by Opening Day, and August and September are usually dependent on team performance - if the Rays are in the playoff hunt, attendance is usually higher, if not, then attendance stays at May and June levels.

Here are the total monthly attendance patterns for the four Minor League Baseball teams in Tampa Bay from 2007 to 2014 - the Tampa Yankees, Clearwater Threshers, Bradenton Marauders, and Dunedin Blue Jays. We are taking all four teams together, although we can probably safely assume they draw from at least three different fanbases, with Dunedin and Clearwater having probable overlaps. In seasons where teams played regular season games in the first week of September, I have combined those games in August attendance.

Minor League attendance monthly patterns have not varied as much as Rays attendance. This might be because winning and player recognition means less to Minor League Baseball attendees than it does to Major League Baseball attendees. So Minor League fans are more likely to follow the same attendance pattern year by year.

Averaging the entire range, Tampa Bay Minor League Baseball average attendance follows this pattern from highest to lowest:

1. May
2. July
3. Aug/Sept
4. April
5. June

The following graph plots the Rays and the Minor League average patterns.

This graph gives us some interesting insight. Here are a few key facts we can derive:

• May is bad for the Rays, but very good for Minor League baseball.
• June is a bad month for both the Rays and Minor League Baseball.
• July is the best month for baseball attendance overall in the Tampa Bay area.
• The beginning and end of the season draw similarly.

Does this tell us anything about fan behavior?

Possibly. It shows us Tampa Bay area baseball ticket buyers prefer Minor League Baseball in May and July. Our next step will be looking at those two months for promotions and attractions. Are attendance numbers skewered because of a certain promotion? We have talked before about the effect of fireworks, so 4th of July games may be a big part of July's average attendance. The Rays don't play many July 4th games due to their dome. What if we took away July 4th?

While Opening Day is a big deal for the Rays, it is not for Minor League attendance. What if we took away Opening Day?

I would be curious to see how other Major and Minor League teams trend. Are Tampa Bay ticket buyers unique in their behavior? If so, why? Might the dome of Tropicana Field be a deterrent in the "cooler" months of April and September? Might fans opt for the 72 degrees of Tropicana Field during the dog days of summer?

From here, we are going to dive into each individual Minor League team to see if one team is driving the trend more than any other. Again, this is the total of 4 teams in 3 different areas of Tampa Bay - Clearwater and Dunedin are close enough to group together.

We can also look at whether the Rays performance on the field has any effect on Minor League attendance. When the Rays are in contention, do less people go to Minor League games in August? Or does Minor League season end before Rays fans get excited?

All this research does is show us possible relationships. Although we can't specifically say this specific fan bought tickets to this specific game for this specific reason, we can start to make assumptions based on the overall behavior of 2.8 million possible ticket buyers.

Tampa Bay Baseball Attendance Report - July 26, 2015

Tampa Bay baseball attendance for Sunday, July 26, 2015:

Total Attendance: 20,017

Tampa Bay Rays:

• Team Home Game #: 51
• Attendance: 18,613
• Starting Pitcher: Matt Moore
• Opponent: Baltimore Orioles
• Opponent Starting Pitcher: Wei-Yin Chen
• Avg Attendance to Date: 15,056
• Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 19,883
• Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 18,513
• Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 17,141
• Promotions (if any): FSU Day / Christmas in July
• Other local events: None

Clearwater Threshers:

• Team Home Game #: 53
• Attendance: 1,404
• Starting Pitcher: David Whitehead
• Opponent: Bradenton Marauders
• Opponent Starting Pitcher: Cody Dickson
• Avg Attendance to Date: 2,815
• Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 2,443
• Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 1,556
• Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 1,873
• Promotions (if any): Brunch at the Park

No other games scheduled

Tampa Bay Baseball Attendance Report - July 25, 2015

Tampa Bay baseball attendance for Saturday, July 25, 2015:

Total Attendance: 27,917

Tampa Bay Rays:

• Team Home Game #: 50
• Attendance: 24,327
• Starting Pitcher: Erasmo Ramirez
• Opponent: Baltimore Orioles
• Opponent Starting Pitcher: Miguel Gonzalez
• Avg Attendance to Date: 14,985
• Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 20,136
• Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 20,460
• Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 14,954
• Promotions (if any): Kasey Musgraves post-game concert
• Other local events: Tampa Bay Rowdies home game (Al Lang Stadium) Attendance: not announced

Clearwater Threshers:

• Team Home Game #: 51 / 52
• Attendance: 3,590
• Starting Pitcher: Ricardo Pinto / Mat Imhof
• Opponent: Jupiter Hammerheads
• Opponent Starting Pitcher: Jose Adames / Drew Steckenrider
• Avg Attendance to Date: 2,844
• Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 2,286
• Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 4,205
• Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 4,266
• Promotions (if any): Fireworks

Bradenton Marauders:

• Team Home Game #: 51
• Attendance: 936
• Starting Pitcher: Felipe Gonzalez
• Opponent: Dunedin Blue Jays
• Opponent Starting Pitcher: Murphy Smith
• Avg Attendance to Date: 1,557
• Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 957
• Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 2,201
• Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 2,156
• Promotions (if any): Military Appreciation Night

Bradenton Marauders:

• Team Home Game #: 52
• Attendance: CANCELLED
• Opponent: Dunedin Blue Jays

No other games scheduled

Tampa Bay Baseball Attendance Report - July 24, 2015

Tampa Bay baseball attendance for Friday, July 24, 2015:

Total Attendance: 17,838

Tampa Bay Rays:

• Team Home Game #: 49
• Attendance: 17,838
• Starting Pitcher: Chris Archer
• Opponent: Baltimore Orioles
• Opponent Starting Pitcher: Chris Tillman
• Avg Attendance to Date: 14,794
• Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 19,089
• Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 14,701
• Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 16,344
• Promotions (if any): None
• Other local events: None

Clearwater Threshers:

• Team Home Game #: 51
• Attendance: POSTPONED (Rain)

Bradenton Marauders:

• Team Home Game #: 51
• Attendance: POSTPONED (Rain)

No other games scheduled

Tampa Bay Baseball Attendance Report - July 23, 2015

Tampa Bay baseball attendance for Thursday, July 23, 2015:

Total Attendance: 4,280

Tampa Yankees:

• Team Home Game #: 50
• Attendance: 1,290
• Starting Pitcher: Jordan Montgomery
• Opponent: Fort Myers Miracle
• Opponent Starting Pitcher: Mat Batts
• Avg Attendance to Date: 1,595
• Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 1,269
• Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 1,166
• Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 1,422
• Promotions (if any): Throwback Thursday
• Other local events: None

Clearwater Threshers:

• Team Home Game #: 50
• Attendance: 1,793
• Starting Pitcher: Brandon Leibrant
• Opponent: Jupiter Hammerheads
• Opponent Starting Pitcher: Jarlin Garcia
• Avg Attendance to Date: 2,828
• Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 1,634
• Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 2,227
• Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 3,251
• Promotions (if any): Thirsty Thursday

Bradenton Marauders:

• Team Home Game #: 50
• Attendance: 1,197
• Starting Pitcher: Frank Duncan
• Opponent: Dunedin Blue Jays
• Opponent Starting Pitcher: Jairo Labourt
• Avg Attendance to Date: 1,569
• Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 968
• Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 920
• Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 1,528
• Promotions (if any): Thirsty Thursday

No other games scheduled

Tampa Bay Baseball Attendance Report - July 22, 2015

Tampa Bay baseball attendance for Wednesday, July 22, 2015:

Total Attendance: 3,469

Tampa Yankees:

• Team Home Game #: 49
• Attendance: 1,255
• Starting Pitcher: Cale Coshow
• Opponent: Fort Myers Miracle
• Opponent Starting Pitcher: Ryan Eades
• Avg Attendance to Date: 1,602
• Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 1,262
• Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 2,092
• Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 1,617
• Promotions (if any): Kids Eat Free Wednesday
• Other local events: None

Clearwater Threshers:

• Team Home Game #: 49
• Attendance: 1,475
• Starting Pitcher: Victor Arano
• Opponent: Jupiter Hammerheads
• Opponent Starting Pitcher: Miguel De Pozo
• Avg Attendance to Date: 2,851
• Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 1,475
• Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 2,172
• Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 2,237
• Promotions (if any): Silver Sharks Club

Bradenton Marauders:

• Team Home Game #: 49
• Attendance: 739
• Starting Pitcher: Luis Heredia
• Opponent: Dunedin Blue Jays
• Opponent Starting Pitcher: Jeremy Gabryszwski
• Avg Attendance to Date: 1,577
• Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 739
• Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 932
• Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 1,050
• Promotions (if any): Marauders Fan Appreciation Day

No other games scheduled

Tampa Bay Times explores Rays post game concert effects

There was an excellent article on the Tampa Bay Times website yesterday detailing the Rays post-game concert series. Not only did writer Jay Cridlin dive into the marketing philosophy behind the concert series, but he also looked at the effect of concerts on attendance. Few sports writers even get into the level of analysis Cridlin did.

According to Cridin, concerts used to draw better than they currently do.

In 2008, concert games drew, on average, around 10,300 more fans than the average weekend non-concert game. In 2014, it was just 210 extra fans. This year, average attendance for concert games is actually lower than it was for weekend home games before the concert series began.

I've looked at concerts before. In this 2014 post, I posted a few charts that showed how concert dates compared with non-concert dates. Great to see Cridlin's research jiving with mine.

Another conclusion Cridlin came to:

Concert crowds in 2015 are about 44 percent smaller than those in 2008. But attendance, Thomas said, is only one indicator of the series' success. It also generates goodwill among fans, and is one of the reasons the Rays consistently rank high on fan experience surveys.

There is no doubt the Rays concert series is a key part of the team's overall market strategy. As Cridlin points out, concerts are usually geared to specific demographics to get more of those fans to a game. Hence the Latino performer for Latin night or the 70s band on 70s night. The Rays typically like to center an entire promotional theme around the performer.

Targeting a specific demographic can yield desirable dividends. So while boomer acts like Hall and Oates and Earth, Wind and Fire are always safe bets, the team has also gone after rappers (Ludacris, Nelly), Latin stars (Gilberto Santa Rosa, Tito Nieves), pop singers (Carly Rae Jepsen, Adam Lambert) and DJs (Afrojack, Calvin Harris).

(I am still waiting for death metal night - given so many of those bands started in Tampa. But I digress.)

Of course, the Rays aren't the only team doing post-game concerts these days. The Clearwater Threshers got in on the action last year and drew well for Coolio, O-Town, and Jaime Lynn Spears. This year the Threshers feature Naughty by Nature, The Black Honkeys, and a Dave Matthews Tribute Band.

While the Rays go through Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater to help with their booking, do the Threshers use different promoters? What caused the Threshers to go the post-game concert route?

Personally, I would also like to see more local bands opening for these post-game concerts. While the Threshers had local rapper Infinite Skillz open for Naughty by Nature, I have yet to hear of the Rays using a local opening act. That would be a great way to connect with the local music community as well as provide great exposure for Tampa Bay music.

But those are conversations for other days.

For today, definitely check out Jay Cridlin's piece on the Rays post-game concert series. Highly recommended.

(Disclaimer: A few years ago, I freelanced for the Tampa Bay Times music blog and Jay Cridlin was my editor.)

Tampa Bay Baseball Attendance Report - July 21, 2015

Tampa Bay baseball attendance for Tuesday, July 21, 2015:

Total Attendance: 863

Dunedin Blue Jays:

• Team Home Game #: 50
• Attendance: 863
• Starting Pitcher: Sean Reid-Foley
• Opponent: Daytona Tortugas
• Opponent Starting Pitcher: Sal Romano
• Avg Attendance to Date: 859
• Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 568
• Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 1,181
• Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 822
• Promotions (if any): Camp Day
• Other local events: Sam Smith Concert (Amalie Arena)

No other local games scheduled.

Tampa Bay Baseball Attendance Report - July 20, 2015

Tampa Bay baseball attendance for Monday, July 20, 2015:

Total Attendance: 474

Dunedin Blue Jays:

• Team Home Game #: 49
• Attendance: 474
• Starting Pitcher: Conner Greene
• Opponent: Daytona Tortugas
• Opponent Starting Pitcher: Nick Groutt
• Avg Attendance to Date: 859
• Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 509
• Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 530
• Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 474
• Promotions (if any): None
• Other local events: None

No other local games scheduled.

Tampa Bay Baseball Attendance Report - July 19, 2015

Tampa Bay baseball attendance for Saturday, July 19, 2015:

Total Attendance: 448

Dunedin Blue Jays:

• Team Home Game #: 48
• Attendance: 448
• Starting Pitcher: Murphy Smith
• Opponent: Daytona Tortugas
• Opponent Starting Pitcher: Jonathon Crawford
• Avg Attendance to Date: 867
• Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 518
• Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 496
• Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 586
• Promotions (if any): None
• Other local events: None

No other local games scheduled.

Interviewed again by Bluebird Banter

Last year, I had the pleasure of answering a few questions from Blue Jays blog Bluebird Banter. Tom Dakers of their site runs a feature called "View from the other side", where he talks to bloggers from teams the Blue Jays are about to play.

With the Jays and Rays kicking off the second half of the season, Tom again sent me a few questions on the Rays attendance, the Tampa Bay market, some of the factors influencing attendance, and how the Dunedin Blue Jays are faring attendance-wise.

Please check out the interview. I like to think it turned out pretty good.

View From The Other Side: Rays questions for Michael Lortz of the Tampa Bay Baseball Market blog (Bluebird Banter)

Tampa Bay Baseball Attendance Report - July 18, 2015

Tampa Bay baseball attendance for Saturday, July 18, 2015:

Total Attendance: 6,968

Tampa Yankees:

• Team Home Game #: 48
• Attendance: 2,253
• Starting Pitcher: Jordan Montgomery
• Opponent: Charlotte Stone Crabs
• Opponent Starting Pitcher: Brett Honeywell
• Avg Attendance to Date: 1,610
• Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 1,571
• Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 2,575
• Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 1,466
• Promotions (if any): Christmas in July Toy Run
• Other local events: Kid Rock Concert - Amphitheater

Clearwater Threshers:

• Team Home Game #: 48
• Attendance: 3,361
• Starting Pitcher: Brandon Leibrant
• Opponent: Palm Beach Cardinals
• Opponent Starting Pitcher: Corey Littrell
• Avg Attendance to Date: 2,882
• Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 3,316
• Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 4,308
• Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 3,494
• Promotions (if any): Scout Night

Bradenton Marauders:

• Team Home Game #: 48
• Attendance: 1,354
• Starting Pitcher: Frank Duncan
• Opponent: Lakeland Flying Tigers
• Opponent Starting Pitcher: Locke St John
• Avg Attendance to Date: 1,594
• Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 1,139
• Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 2,411
• Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 1,583
• Promotions (if any): Star Wars Night

No other games scheduled

Rays increase marketing to military, give free tickets

I don't mind being wrong.

As a matter of fact, if the end result is a positive, I am all for being wrong.

A few days ago, I said the Tampa Bay Rays should write off MacDill Air Force Base and not increase marketing efforts to military personnel. I said they shouldn't decrease efforts, but not bother increasing them as military members probably won't grow to be long-term fans.

Yesterday, the Rays not only increased their marketing effort to military, but also to veterans and retirees throughout the Tampa Bay area. They not only didn't listen to my suggestion, they flipped it on its head, gave it a piledriver, tombstoned it, then nuked it back to the stone age.

For the final 33 home games of the 2015 season, the Tampa Bay Rays are offering free tickets to military, veteran, and retired military personnel. According to The Tampa Tribune,

Some 180,000 veterans live in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties, according to local veterans services offices. Another 94,000 live in Pasco and Manatee counties.

That's a lot of people.

(By the way, I am quoted in that article.)

As I mentioned in my post earlier this week, the Tampa Bay area is one of the biggest metro/military areas with Major League Baseball in the US, in a group with Washington DC, Baltimore, and San Diego. According to LinkedIn, military professions are one of Tampa Bay's employment fields.

While this is a great promotion and the Rays should be lauded for it as much as possible both from a public relations and a business perspective, there are two points I want to bring up.

1) The verification process is through ID.me. ID.me is a government-approved online identity service. From their website:

ID.me is one of three companies, along with Verizon and Symantec, certified by the U.S. federal government to enable citizens to access sensitive personal information, including medical records, from federal agencies. To achieve this certification, ID.me had to prove adherence rigorous set of technical, privacy, and policy controls to an independent auditor.

While they sound legit, I'm absolutely paranoid about stuff like this. There are so many security breaches these days that having to sign up for another program - even for free tickets - seems risky. Although you can get an Rays Honor Pass through a paper application.

2) It will be interesting to see how this affects fandom. While active duty military personnel are still beholden to orders and may only stay at MacDill AFB for a few years, the Rays gesture could win the hearts and minds of retirees and veterans in the Tampa Bay area, some of whom are Rays fans and some of whom are not. Some might use the Honor Pass often, some might only use it to see the Rays play their favorite team.

Overall, this is a brilliant campaign. The Rays will get nothing but good press and goodwill for this, as they should. It may even increase attendance, which would be nice.

Tampa Bay Baseball Attendance Report - July 17, 2015

Tampa Bay baseball attendance for Friday, July 17, 2015:

Total Attendance: 6,979

Tampa Yankees:

• Team Home Game #: 47
• Attendance: 1,632
• Starting Pitcher: Rookie Davis
• Opponent: Charlotte Stone Crabs
• Opponent Starting Pitcher: Hunter Wood
• Avg Attendance to Date: 1,595
• Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 1,343
• Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 1,650
• Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 1,411
• Promotions (if any): Social Media Friday
• Other local events: None

Clearwater Threshers:

• Team Home Game #: 47
• Attendance: 4,014
• Starting Pitcher: Victor Arano
• Opponent: Palm Beach Cardinals
• Opponent Starting Pitcher: Luke Weaver
• Avg Attendance to Date: 2,871
• Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 3,301
• Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 4,399
• Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 2,364
• Promotions (if any): Post-game concert: Naughty by Nature

Bradenton Marauders:

• Team Home Game #: 47
• Attendance: 1,333
• Starting Pitcher: Luis Heredia
• Opponent: Lakeland Flying Tigers
• Opponent Starting Pitcher: Kevin Ziomek
• Avg Attendance to Date: 1,599
• Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 1,068
• Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 2,170
• Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 1,089
• Promotions (if any): Free t-shirt Friday

No other games scheduled

Tampa Bay Baseball Attendance Report - July 16, 2015

Tampa Bay baseball attendance for Thursday, July 16, 2015:

Total Attendance: 4,127

Tampa Yankees:

• Team Home Game #: 46
• Attendance: 1,476
• Starting Pitcher: Cale Coshow
• Opponent: Charlotte Stone Crabs
• Opponent Starting Pitcher: German Marquez
• Avg Attendance to Date: 1,594
• Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 1,199
• Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 1,145
• Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 1,690
• Promotions (if any): Throwback Thursday
• Other local events: Ariana Grande Concert (Amalie Arena)

Clearwater Threshers:

• Team Home Game #: 46
• Attendance: 1,701
• Starting Pitcher: David Whitehead
• Opponent: Palm Beach Cardinals
• Opponent Starting Pitcher: Daniel Poncedeleon
• Avg Attendance to Date: 2,844
• Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 2,945
• Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 2,289
• Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 1,925
• Promotions (if any): Thirsty Thursday

Bradenton Marauders:

• Team Home Game #: 46
• Attendance: 950
• Starting Pitcher: Clay Holmes
• Opponent: Lakeland Flying Tigers
• Opponent Starting Pitcher: Brennan Smith
• Avg Attendance to Date: 1,605
• Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 935
• Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 881
• Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 950
• Promotions (if any): Thirsty Thursday

No other games scheduled

MLB Commissioner Agrees With This Website

The MLB All-Star break usually provides a welcome respite for daily writers and other folks who cover the game. Like many of the players, they can kick their feet up and enjoy a few days off.

Unless of course you have audience with the Commissioner of Major League Baseball, which Tampa Bay Times Rays beat writer Marc Topkin had Tuesday.

As he did with the Steinbrenners earlier in the week, Topkin again asked the wrong questions. Maybe I should give Topkin the benefit of the doubt this time. Maybe someone else asked the wrong questions.

Someone asked the Commissioner about the status of the Rays, to which the Commissioner answered:

Manfred also said it is clear to MLB that the Tampa Bay market "absolutely" is viable and that the Rays' attendance issues — a major-league-low average of 14,730 — are "facility-related," specifically the location of Tropicana Field.

NO KIDDING.

Anyone who reads this site, or anyone who has followed the situation at all over the last five years, knows the market is viable. Why wouldn't it be?

Tampa Bay is the 18th largest metropolitan area in the county.

Out of the top 23 metro areas listed there, only one, Riverside-San Bernadino-Ontario CA doesn't have Major League Baseball. And that area is just east of Los Angeles, an area with two teams.

According to Nielsen, Tampa Bay is the 13th largest television market in the US. The top 17 all have Major League Baseball.

So why would anyone think Tampa Bay doesn't have the potential to host Major League Baseball?

Oh yeah, attendance.

Attendance is only a small subset of the entire fanbase. You cannot judge total support based on attendance. Just as you can't judge total revenue based on attendance.

Yes, Tampa Bay is stretched thin. But so is Pittsburgh, Kansas City, Denver, Minneapolis, and Phoenix.

Yet, of those teams, none have the baseball market saturation the Rays have. None have four minor leagues within 30 minutes of their home stadium. And only Phoenix residents also spend money on Spring Training. But, Phoenix has 1.5 million more people.

Instead of asking the same questions like clockwork every year, why doesn't someone ask the Commissioner what he will do to help the Rays ensure market success. The best way to ensure market success is to ensure 100% of market share - to ensure a monopoly.

So far, in 2015, as of 7/15/2015:

• Total Tampa Bay area Spring Training attendance: 474,578
• Tampa Bay area Minor League attendance: 297,717
• Non-Rays total: 772,295
• Tampa Bay Rays attendance: 707,082
• Rays % of total attendance as of 7/15: 48%

Even if we assume 50% of Spring Training fans are tourists who would not visit if not for Spring Training:

• 237,289 + 297,717 = 535,006
• Rays % of modified attendance = 58%

42% of all baseball tickets bought by locals in the Tampa Bay area have been games other than the Tampa Bay Rays.

That is nowhere close to owning the market.

Yes. the location of the stadium and the condition of the stadium is a problem. But it is only part of the problem. A part that is out of the Commissioner's hands. What is in his hands, however, is that there is a small market team not being given the chance to succeed due to market saturation. Next year, ask the Commissioner what he would to fix that.

Tampa Bay Baseball Attendance Report - July 15, 2015

Tampa Bay baseball attendance for Wednesday, July 15, 2015:

Total Attendance: 6,031

Tampa Yankees:

• Team Home Game #: 45
• Attendance: 922
• Starting Pitcher: Gabriel Encinas
• Opponent: Charlotte Stone Crabs
• Opponent Starting Pitcher: Taylor Guerreri
• Avg Attendance to Date: 1,597
• Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 922
• Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 2,231
• Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 1220
• Promotions (if any): Kids Eat Free
• Other local events: None

Clearwater Threshers:

• Team Home Game #: 45
• Attendance: 4,189
• Starting Pitcher: Matt Imhof
• Opponent: Palm Beach Cardinals
• Opponent Starting Pitcher: Nick Petree
• Avg Attendance to Date: 2,871
• Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 4,189
• Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 2,259
• Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 4,379
• Promotions (if any): Silver Sharks Club

Bradenton Marauders:

• Team Home Game #: 45
• Attendance: 920
• Starting Pitcher: Cody Dickson
• Opponent: Lakeland Flying Tigers
• Opponent Starting Pitcher: Trent Szkutnik
• Avg Attendance to Date: 1,620
• Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 920
• Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 953
• Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 1,005
• Promotions (if any): Fan Appreciation Day

No other games scheduled

Examining the Rays relationship with MacDill Air Force Base

Before last Saturday's game, the Rays held a ceremony dedicating a seat at Tropicana Field to missing Prisoners of War/Missing in Action (POW/MIA) military members. This tribute to the troops was attended by several Rays personnel and military members from MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa.

The seat dedication made me wonder about the Rays relationship with MacDill Air Force Base and the military in general. Can more be done, should less be done, or is the relationship exactly what it should be?

According to Wikipedia, MacDill AFB is located approximately 4 miles from downtown Tampa, making it one of the closest bases to a metropolitan center in the US. The base is approximately 19 miles from Tropicana Field, making it also one of the closest military bases to a Major League ballpark

Again according to Wikipedia, 14,000 people work on MacDill Air Force Base. I am not sure if this only military personnel, or includes government personnel and contractors, of which there are thousands on the base. According to Tampa Bay Partnership.com, there are 4,000 civilians working on the base – again, not sure if this is part of the 14,000 or not.

According to an October 2014 study on LinkedIn, “Military” is the biggest individual skill for Tampa-St. Pete LinkedIn users.

Other baseball areas with a high amount of military LinkedIn users include:

• Washington, DC – 2nd biggest skill
• Baltimore – 2nd biggest skill
• San Diego – 3rd biggest skill

(Note: in this measurement, the Top Skill Category includes all career paths in the field. LinkedIn does not sub-categorize "Military" as it does other corporate career paths such as Real Estate or Finance.)

According to SunCoastEmployers.com, in 2011, MacDill Air Force was the second biggest employer in Hillsborough Country, behind only the county school district.

There is a big difference, however, between the school district employees and MacDill AFB workers: school district employees are scattered throughout the county while those on MacDill AFB are in one general area, one that even with the worst traffic, is less than an hour away from Tropicana Field.

One last fact: according to the Air Force’s personnel demographic webpage, the average Air Force member is a 48-year old white male. That’s baseball’s demographic.

With all these positive signs, maybe the Rays should look at the base as a greater source of potential fans. Perhaps they should increase their marketing efforts on the base.

Currently, the Rays work with the military on several efforts. They often recognize returning and deployed service members and their families, and provide numerous tickets to base organizations.

Maybe the Rays should give more ticket discounts. Maybe they should have more players visit the base. Or maybe organize a shuttle bus or even a ferry from the base to Downtown St Pete and Tropicana Field.

Before they do any of these ideas, however, there are several reasons why the Rays should NOT increase marketing efforts on the base.

While the demographic might look great, the average 48-year old male service member on MacDill AFB is probably not from the Tampa Bay area nor is he staying for very long. Service members are typically stationed at MacDill AFB for a brief time in their military career. And they probably brought their fandom with them from their home of origin. If they are from Texas, they might be longtime Rangers or Astros fans. If they are from Missouri, they might be Cardinals or Royals fans, etc.

Additionally, most military duty orders are for one to three years. Meaning the service member who came from somewhere will be leaving to somewhere else within 36 months. The odds they will be won over by the Rays in this time is slim. They can enjoy themselves, enjoy the experience, but they probably won’t become more than casual fans. Even if they are in the typical baseball demographic.

With the area’s second biggest employer too fluid to establish long-term fans, the Rays should not invest too much of their marketing budget on the MacDill AFB relationship. They should maintain the healthy partnership they have, but understand the reward for their efforts comes more from organizational goodwill than long-term relationships with individual fans. This is the opposite of working with local schools or youth organizations, where building life-long fans is the goal.

14,000 people and their families are a lot to write off. Especially in a small market. If each MacDill AFB worker/employee/service member has one significant other or child, that is nearly 30,000 people. Or 1% of the total metro population of the Tampa Bay area.

In a region with a high percentage of non-native residents, MacDill AFB is perhaps the area with the highest concentration of people who cannot be expected to become long-term, life-long Tampa Bay Rays fans.

That’s the reality.

(Disclaimer: I was a contractor on MacDill AFB from 2006-2011. I had a partial season ticket package and worked with government employees with a full season ticket packages.)

Tampa Bay Baseball Attendance Report - July 14, 2015

Tampa Bay baseball attendance for Tuesday, July 14, 2015:

Total Attendance: 0

Major League Baseball All-Star Break

Marc Topkin asks the Steinbrenner family the wrong questions

There was a very interesting article on the Tampa Bay Times site on Sunday. Rays beat writer Marc Topkin caught up with Hal Steinbrenner, co-owner of the New York Yankees. Topkin talked to Steinbrenner about the Yankees' brand, Steinbrenner community efforts in Tampa, business goals, and thoughts on the Rays.

A few key points:

the family remains feverishly committed to much the same plan: winning championships on the baseball field with the Yankees, expanding its business holdings and footprint globally and maintaining its base of operations, offices and philanthropic efforts in Tampa.

...

They also are involved with multiple charitable causes. Hal serves on the board of the Boys & Girls Club of Tampa Bay, the Tampa-based Special Operations Warrior Foundation and supports police, fire and Gold Shield efforts as well.

...

One of their competitors, of course, is the Rays. And, based on just his personal observation, Hal Steinbrenner said he thinks the market can be viable.

"Look at the location, I think the location of the stadium (in downtown St. Petersburg) has proven to be difficult at times as far as drawing fans," he said. "But the fans here in Tampa are great fans. We see it every March (for spring training), they support our (minor-league) team that is here all summer.

"They're great sports fans, whether it's hockey, whether it's football, whether it's baseball. I hope that continues in the years to come."

But is there enough to support the Rays, who are regularly last in attendance?

"I think it's a great sports town," he said. "They've supported the Bucs, they've supported us, they've supported the Lightning. I would think they would support the Rays. It's certainly a large enough community, correct? And they're big sports fans. So I would hope so."

..

There is no doubt the Yankees have a large presence in Tampa. George Steinbrenner loved Tampa and his family apparently does as well. That's great, if it wasn't the home market of another team.

For a Rays beat writer to ask a team that has a Minor League team in Tampa if the market is big enough for a Major League team is so backwards it defies logic.

Steinbrenner admits the Yankees goal is to expand the brand. The Yankees are all about branding. The Yankees are one of the most popular sports team in the world. That is a huge shadow for the Rays to be operating under. No other team in Major League Baseball has to operate against that, except for maybe the Mets. In the Mets case, however, they can have the support of 25% of New York City and still have several million fans.

Hal Steinbrenner is absolutely WRONG. Tampa Bay is NOT a large enough community.

The Tampa Bay region is not big enough, nor does it have the economic capacity, to support the Rays and the Yankees. Even with Spring Training tourism. Tampa Bay is one of the most financially over-extended sports communities in the US. The City of Tampa and Major League Baseball is doing the Rays a disservice by allowing the Yankees to operate in Tampa.

Steinbrenner claims Tampa fans will support the Rays because they support the Yankees in the Spring and they support the Tampa Yankees. Of course, he would put his teams first, but Topkin should have prioritized this list. He should have asked Steinbrenner if he felt the Yankees were cannibalizing the Rays local potential. The answer question that question is "YES".

In no way should Major League Baseball be second fiddle to Spring Training and Minor League Baseball.

The presence of the Yankees reduces incentive for people to become Rays fans. The Rays already struggle in a state where approximately 30% of residents are from New York. As I mentioned in my demographics post last year, there are over 1 million non-NY born Yankees fans in Florida.

But Topkin is accepting of this. He must also accept the fact that 17% of Hillsborough County are Yankees fans. This number will not drop as long as stories about the Yankees in one of the region's biggest newspapers don't ask the right questions.

I'm not saying Topkin should not mention the good deeds the Yankees are doing - charity is a great thing and is always welcome - but what about asking Steinbrenner about MLB-MiLB Territorial Rule 52?

For a reminder on Rule 52, here a bit from a letter to fans from the owner of the San Jose Giants.

In essence, pursuant to Rule 52, a Major League team wishing to relocate within a 15 mile radius of an existing Minor League club must acquire those rights through a formal notification to the team, (and the applicable Minor League) of their intent to "draft" the territory.

The Major League Club must compensate the Minor League Club for the value of that territory based on a formula. The Major League Club, at their option, can require the Minor League team to relocate or can consent to allow that team to continue operations under present conditions. The amount of compensation due the Minor League Club, (and the league) is impacted significantly by the decision to relocate or to stay but under either option the Major League Club must still compensate all parties in drafting the territory.

Recent examples of these transactions include Miami, Denver and Phoenix. In these cases, the Minor League teams were forced to relocate away from their historic homes. Economics factored heavily in the decision. And these economics represent the second major issue that must be considered regarding staying or relocating the team.

The Miami relocation mentioned was the Orioles and the Yankees moving from the Marlins market in 1992 to other locations in Florida. The Yankees ended up in Tampa.

If the Rays want to move to Tampa, how much would the Yankees charge the Rays? That is what Topkin should have asked. Will the Yankees be a barrier to a Rays move to Tampa (given of course, the Rays get past local politics)?

And have the Yankees looked at sites for possible relocation if the Rays do require them to move? There have been rumors of the Tampa Yankees moving to Ocala or Orlando. Although neither happened, would Yankees operations move there?

The Yankees have no incentive to give up Tampa. The Rays have to know that. If it will be difficult to find a "moving fee" enough for the City of St Pete, the Rays then have to negotiate and pay off a team that does not have the Rays' best interest in mind.

Good luck with that.

There is no way to make an apt comparison between the presence of the Yankees in the Rays market. Perhaps the only comparison would be if Stu Sternberg moved Rays headquarters to Miami and moved Rays spring training to Fort Lauderdale in an effort to sway more of the Florida fanbase for the Rays.

There is no way Major League Baseball would approve that.

Instead Topkin asked what Derek Jeter is doing these days.

Tampa Bay Baseball Attendance Report - July 13, 2015

Tampa Bay baseball attendance for Monday, July 13, 2015:

Total Attendance: 583

Dunedin Blue Jays:

• Team Home Game #: 47
• Attendance: 583
• Starting Pitcher: Luis Santos
• Opponent: Jupiter Hammerheads
• Opponent Starting Pitcher: Jorgan Cavanerio
• Avg Attendance to Date: 876
• Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 692
• Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 538
• Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 1,019
• Promotions (if any): None
• Other events: None

No other games scheduled

Interviewed by the Tampa Tribune

It is always a big deal for me when someone wants my opinion. Even though I have been writing about the Tampa Bay baseball market for almost two years and know the ins and outs better than most, I still have a niche audience. So to be quoted is a very good feeling.

Last week, Chris O'Donnell of the Tampa Tribune contacted me to get my opinion on several issues surrounding the Rays mid-season attendance.

The article ran on the front page of the Sunday edition.

Here are some the highlights (otherwise known as "the parts of the article I am mentioned in"):

The success of the Lightning likely drained the wallets of many Tampa Bay area sports fans, said Michael Lortz, freelance market analyst and author of the Tampa Bay Baseball Market blog.

The Tampa Bay Lightning’s Stanley Cup run meant their season didn’t end until June 15. Since then, the Rays’ average attendance has topped 15,000.

That run included a crowd of almost 24,000 for a Saturday game against the Boston Red Sox on June 27, the Rays’ biggest attendance since the opening day sellout.

Lortz said weekday attendance remains the Rays’ biggest challenge. Last month, weekday games averaged crowds of just 11,670.

Boosting those numbers will not be easy.

Most Rays games are televised on Sun Sports, giving fans a chance to watch from the comfort of their sofas. The team also is competing with local minor league baseball teams, including the Tampa Yankees, the Clearwater Threshers, the Dunedin Blue Jays and the Bradenton Marauders.

Combined, those teams draw about 4,000 fans to their home games, Lortz said.

He would like to see the Rays offer more promotions to stir up weekday interest. He cited discounted parking and gifts like the popular bobbleheads.

“There’s no reason parking at the Trop should be $20. That’s more than a ticket,” Lortz said. “To me, that makes no sense.”

The whole article is worth the read. Also quoted is author Peter Golenbock and the owner of Ferg's Sports Bar, Mark Ferguson. Some I agree with, some I don't.

Tampa Bay Baseball Attendance Report - July 12, 2015

Tampa Bay baseball attendance for Sunday, July 12, 2015:

Total Attendance: 16,896

Tampa Bay Rays:

• Team Home Game #: 48
• Attendance: 16,458
• Starting Pitcher: Matt Moore
• Opponent: Houston Astros
• Opponent Starting Pitcher: Lance McCullers
• Avg Attendance to Date: 14,731
• Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 17,355
• Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 18,499
• Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 16,406
• Promotions (if any): None
• Other local events: None

Dunedin Blue Jays:

• Team Home Game #: 46
• Attendance: 438
• Starting Pitcher: Jeff Hoffman
• Opponent: Jupiter Hammerheads
• Opponent Starting Pitcher: Drew Stickenrider
• Avg Attendance to Date: 883
• Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 728
• Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 503
• Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 643
• Promotions (if any): Dog Friendly Weekend

No other games scheduled

Tampa Bay Baseball Attendance Report - July 11, 2015

Tampa Bay baseball attendance for Saturday, July 11, 2015:

Total Attendance: 19,443

Tampa Bay Rays:

• Team Home Game #: 47
• Attendance: 18,479
• Starting Pitcher: Jake Odorizzi
• Opponent: Houston Astros
• Opponent Starting Pitcher: Dallas Kuechel
• Avg Attendance to Date: 14,694
• Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 17,804
• Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 19,907
• Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 15,271
• Promotions (if any): Selfie Stick give away
• Other local events: Tampa Bay Storm - arena football - Amalie Arena (attendance: 15,835)

Dunedin Blue Jays:

• Team Home Game #: 45
• Attendance: 964
• Starting Pitcher: Aaron Sanchez
• Opponent: Jupiter Hammerheads
• Opponent Starting Pitcher: Chipper Smith
• Avg Attendance to Date: 893
• Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 873
• Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 937
• Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 964
• Promotions (if any): Dog Friendly Weekend

No other games scheduled

Tampa Bay Baseball Attendance Report - July 10, 2015

Tampa Bay baseball attendance for Friday, July 10, 2015:

Total Attendance: 17,910

Tampa Bay Rays:

• Team Home Game #: 46
• Attendance: 17,129
• Starting Pitcher: Erasmo Ramirez
• Opponent: Houston Astros
• Opponent Starting Pitcher: Collin McHugh
• Avg Attendance to Date: 14,612
• Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 17,129
• Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 14,252
• Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 13,616
• Promotions (if any): None
• Other local events: Imagine Dragons concert - Amalie Arena

Dunedin Blue Jays:

• Team Home Game #: 44
• Attendance: 781
• Starting Pitcher: Sean Reid-Foley
• Opponent: Jupiter Hammerheads
• Opponent Starting Pitcher: Jose Adames
• Avg Attendance to Date: 891
• Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 781
• Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 1,505
• Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 781
• Promotions (if any): Dog Friendly Weekend

No other games scheduled

Tampa Bay Baseball Attendance Report - July 9, 2015

Tampa Bay baseball attendance for Thursday, July 9, 2015:

Total Attendance: 3,684

Tampa Yankees:

• Team Home Game #: 44
• Attendance: 893
• Starting Pitcher: Cale Coshow
• Opponent: Brevard County Manatees
• Opponent Starting Pitcher: Cy Sneed
• Avg Attendance to Date: 1,614
• Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 1,303
• Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 1,079
• Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 1,743
• Promotions (if any): Throwback Thursdays
• Other local events: None

Clearwater Threshers:

• Team Home Game #: 44
• Attendance: 1,681
• Starting Pitcher: Matt Imhof
• Opponent: Lakeland Flying Tigers
• Opponent Starting Pitcher: Jonathan Maciel
• Avg Attendance to Date: 2,839
• Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 3,057
• Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 2,388
• Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 4,416
• Promotions (if any): Thirsty Thursday

Bradenton Marauders:

• Team Home Game #: 43
• Attendance: 1,110
• Starting Pitcher: Luis Heredia
• Opponent: Palm Beach Cardinals
• Opponent Starting Pitcher: Nick Petree
• Avg Attendance to Date: 1,636
• Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 1,737
• Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 869
• Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 1,055
• Promotions (if any): Thirsty Thursday

No other games scheduled

Tampa Bay Baseball Attendance Report - July 8, 2015

Tampa Bay baseball attendance for Wednesday, July 8, 2015:

Total Attendance: 4,669

Tampa Yankees:

• Team Home Game #: 43
• Attendance: 1,005
• Starting Pitcher: Vincente Campos
• Opponent: Brevard County Manatees
• Opponent Starting Pitcher: Jorge Ortega
• Avg Attendance to Date: 1,632
• Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 1,406
• Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 2,493
• Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 1,005
• Promotions (if any): Kids Eat Free
• Other local events: None

Clearwater Threshers:

• Team Home Game #: 43
• Attendance: 2,017
• Starting Pitcher: Ricardo Pinto
• Opponent: Lakeland Flying Tigers
• Opponent Starting Pitcher: Locke St John
• Avg Attendance to Date: 2,868
• Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 3,332
• Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 1,983
• Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 2,536
• Promotions (if any): Camp Day

Bradenton Marauders:

• Team Home Game #: 42
• Attendance: 1,647
• Starting Pitcher: Jayson Acquino
• Opponent: Palm Beach Cardinals
• Opponent Starting Pitcher: Corey Littrell
• Avg Attendance to Date: 1,648
• Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 1,841
• Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 957
• Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 1,748
• Promotions (if any): Marauders Fan Appreciation Day

No other games scheduled

Tampa Bay Baseball Attendance Report - July 7, 2015

Tampa Bay baseball attendance for Tuesday, July 7, 2015:

Total Attendance: 5,511

Tampa Yankees:

• Team Home Game #: 42
• Attendance: 852
• Starting Pitcher: Jordan Montgomery
• Opponent: Brevard County Manatees
• Opponent Starting Pitcher: Javier Salas
• Avg Attendance to Date: 1,675
• Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 1,828
• Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 1,068
• Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 1,072
• Promotions (if any): 2-for-1 Tuesday
• Other local events: None

Clearwater Threshers:

• Team Home Game #: 42
• Attendance: 3,678
• Starting Pitcher: Brandon Leibrant
• Opponent: Lakeland Flying Tigers
• Opponent Starting Pitcher: Kevin Ziomek
• Avg Attendance to Date: 2,890
• Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 3,661
• Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 3,229
• Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 3,521
• Promotions (if any): $1 Tuesday

Bradenton Marauders:

• Team Home Game #: 41
• Attendance: 981
• Starting Pitcher: Tyler Eppler
• Opponent: Palm Beach Cardinals
• Opponent Starting Pitcher: Trey Nielsen
• Avg Attendance to Date: 1,648
• Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 1,880
• Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 866
• Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 1,102
• Promotions (if any): 2-for-1 Tuesdays

No other games scheduled

Dunedin mayor lobbies for Jays to stay

I missed this before the weekend, but it's not really old news, just a few days late.

According to the Tampa Bay Business Journal, Dunedin Mayor Julie Ward Bujalski traveled to Toronto to meet with Blue Jays front office personnel to discuss an extension to the team and the city's spring training relationship.

While no deal was finalized, Bujalski came back from Toronto confident that the baseball team and the only city it has ever trained in during the spring will have things settled by the end of the year, according to a report in the Tampa Bay Times.

Unfortunately, there is a confidentiality agreement between the Blue Jays and the City of Dunedin that prevent any discussing of the negotiations.

Not sure that's in the best interest of taxpayers, but ok.

But with the President of the Florida State League a long-time Dunedin Blue Jays employee, and the mayor wanting the team to stay, it seems more and more likely that Dunedin will keep up the conversation with the Blue Jays.

The Jays remain a top priority for the city, Bujalski said, but her trip to Toronto also served as a means to re-establish a working relationship between the two cities. In an effort to revitalize this connection, Bujalski met with Toronto Mayor John Tory.

Although Dunedin is the only location the Blue Jays have trained in in their nearly 40-year history, there is cause for concern. Unlike other stadia, Florida Auto Exchange Stadium is four miles from the training facilities. That might not seem like much but other stadia, such as the empty Dodgertown and the soon to be empty Space Coast Stadium in Brevard County, are right next to their facilities. And with little space to build in Dunedin, the roomier empty facilities might be alluring.

While there is proof many tourists from Toronto do come to Dunedin for Spring Training, Florida Auto Exchange Stadium only holds 5,509 fans. Since 2005, the Jays have averaged 4,000-5,000 per Spring Training game.

Also of note, the Dunedin Blue Jays are again at the bottom of the Florida State League in attendance and Florida Auto Exchange Stadium is only 21.7 miles from the Tropicana Field, making it the 5th closest Minor League park to a Major League park in the US.

Tampa Bay Baseball Attendance Report - July 6, 2015

Tampa Bay baseball attendance for Monday, July 6, 2015:

Total Attendance: 854

Tampa Yankees:

• Team Home Game #: 41
• Attendance: 854
• Starting Pitcher: Rookie Davis
• Opponent: Daytona Tortugas
• Opponent Starting Pitcher: Nick Routt
• Avg Attendance to Date: 1,697
• Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 1,651
• Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 846
• Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 1,383
• Promotions (if any): Military Monday
• Other local events: None

No other games scheduled

Tampa Bay Rays Attendance Review: June 2015

Welcome to our third monthly review of the Tampa Rays 2015 attendance. This post will look at attendance in games played from June 9, 2015 to June 30, 2015.

• Total June 2015 Tampa Bay Rays home attendance: 231,702
• June 2015 Home Games: 16
• Average attendance per game: 14,481
• Highest attendance: 23,876 on June 27
• Lowest attendance: 10,088 on June 10th
• Average June game time (9 inning games only): 2 hours, 52 minutes
• Highest attended series: 21,115 per game vs Red Sox, June 26-28
• Lowest attended series: 10,828 per game vs Angels, June 9-11
• Competing events:
  
  • Tampa Bay Lightning home games: June 3, 14, 17
  • Tampa Bay Storm home game: June 12
  • Tampa Bay Rowdies: June 6
• Total Tampa Bay Minor League Baseball June attendance: 74,434
• Tampa Bay Minor League attendance per game: 1,378 (54 games)

Since 2007, average June attendance has been 9.6% below the annual average (18,511 vs 20,145). By average, June is the Rays second worst drawing month, only behind May.

Comparing June 2015 with previous years

The following chart compares June 2015 average attendance to average June attendance in recent years.

June 2015 per game average attendance was 1% worse (147 fans per game) than the June 2014 per game average. June 2015 was the worst June per game average since 2007 (13,999 per game). Perhaps the 14,000 level is the bottom threshold, given the current attraction and marketing of the team.

Weekdays vs Weekends

Let's now look at the Rays June attendance on weekdays (Mon-Thurs) and weekends (Fri-Sun). As I have pointed out before, the Rays usually have one of the biggest differences in Major League Baseball in regards to weekday versus weekend attendance.

This graph shows the Rays average weekday attendance in June since 2007.

The first thing we see in this chart is 2008. It sticks out like a sore thumb. But if we look at the chart above, we see the Rays only played 4 weekday games at home in 2008. These games included three highly attended interleague games against the Cubs and one interdivision game against the Red Sox.

After 2008, however, average June weekday attendance has been no higher than 20,000. Since 2011, Rays weekday attendance in June has decreased every year. Weekday attendance in May 2015 was the lowest since averaging 10,695 on June weekdays in 2005.

Despite the decrease, the Rays actually saw an increase in average weekday attendance since May 2015.

• May 2015 weekday average attendance: 10,515
• June 2015 weekday average attendance: 11,670

The following chart shows Rays average weekend attendance in June since 2007.

The following graph depicts the chart:

Finally, some good news. The Rays average June weekend attendance increased over 2,000 fans per game from 2014 to 2015. If we look at the weekend schedule, we can perhaps get an idea why. In 2014, the Rays played three games each versus Seattle and Houston on June weekends. In 2015, their opponents were the White Sox and Red Sox. While the average attendance of the White Sox series was nearly equal to the Mariners series, attendance for the series against the Red Sox was far better than attendance for the 2014 series against the Astros.

However, while attendance did increase on the weekends from 2014 to 2015, the Rays did have their biggest difference in weekend to weekday average June attendance since before 2007. A well-attended Red Sox series on the weekend surely helped, but since 2012, the Red Sox have not been the draw they once were.

Conclusion:

As I predicted, June attendance was better than May attendance. That was sort of a no-brainer, being that hockey season finally ended and after a pay period or two, fans started to have money to spend on baseball. Fortunately for the Rays, since 2007, July has been one of the best months for attendance. A caveat, however: in 2013 and 2014, July's average attendance was not greater than April's. Since this year's April average attendance was 17,545, that might not be a good omen for the Rays marketing team.

Another factor worth watching will be how the Rays marketing and sales changes following the resignation of long-time Vice President and Chief Sales Officer Mark Fernandez. Will there be any changes to processes and procedures with Fernandez's departure?

The Rays still do have VP Marketing and Entertainment Darcy Raymond, VP Sales and Service Brian Richeson, and VP of Strategy and Development Bill Walsh. All of these VPs have been with the team since at least 2007.