Wednesday, May 31, 2017

Tampa Bay Baseball Attendance Report - May 30, 2017

Tampa Bay baseball attendance for Tuesday, May 30, 2017:

Total Attendance: 5,243

Tampa Yankees:
  • Team Home Game #: 25
  • Attendance: 880
  • Starting Pitcher: Zack Littel
  • Opponent: Charlotte Stone Crabs
  • Opponent Starting Pitcher: Genesis Cabrera
  • Avg Attendance to Date: 1,262
  • Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 1,000
  • Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 806
  • Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 993
  • Promotions (if any): BOGO Burger Tuesday

Clearwater Threshers:
  • Team Home Game #: 24
  • Attendance: 4,070
  • Starting Pitcher: Cole Irwin
  • Opponent: Florida Fire Frogs
  • Opponent Starting Pitcher: Ricardo Sanchez
  • Avg Attendance to Date: 3,136
  • Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 3,901
  • Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 4,090
  • Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 2,696
  • Promotions (if any): $1 Dollar Tuesdays

Dunedin Blue Jays:
  • Team Home Game #: 25
  • Attendance: 293
  • Starting Pitcher: Jordan Romero
  • Opponent: Jupiter Hammerheads
  • Opponent Starting Pitcher: Scott Squier
  • Avg Attendance to Date: 549
  • Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 293
  • Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 653
  • Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 323
  • Promotions (if any): None

No other local games scheduled.

Tuesday, May 30, 2017

Tampa Bay Baseball Attendance Report - May 29, 2017

Tampa Bay baseball attendance for Monday, May 29, 2017:

Total Attendance: 0

No local games scheduled.

Monday, May 29, 2017

Tampa Bay Baseball Attendance Report - May 28, 2017

Tampa Bay baseball attendance for Sunday, May 28, 2017:

Total Attendance: 0

No local games scheduled.

Sunday, May 28, 2017

Tampa Bay Baseball Attendance Report - May 27, 2017

Tampa Bay baseball attendance for Saturday, May 27, 2017:

Total Attendance: 0

No local games scheduled.

Saturday, May 27, 2017

Deadspin's Barry Petchesky figures out fan behavior

Last week, Deadspin writer/editor Barry Petchesky wrote an article about the attendance problems of the Ottawa Senators. According to Petchesky, the Senators failed to sell-out an NHL playoff game because of the following reasons:
  • stadium is far from the center of population
  • stadium is nowhere near downtown
  • expensive tickets
  • disliked owner
The entire article is a good defense of a maligned fanbase. In one of the best paragraphs, Petchesky writes,
I’d also urge everyone to stop thinking of fandom as something quantifiable, or of attendance as any sort of effective measure. If a fan does not want to pay to attend a game, that fan is 100 percent not at fault—there are no obligations here, or for any fan of any team at any time. If a company isn’t providing a product or service that fans are willing to pay for, the failing is on the company and its executives—the NHL and Melnyk, here—and it’s up to them to figure out where they went wrong.
Sounds familiar, right? Outside of expensive tickets, much of the article could also be a defense of the Tampa Bay Rays fanbase.

But there is one BIG concern.

In September 2013, Petchesky wrote an article on Deadspin criticizing Rays fans for not going to Tropicana Field to see a winning team.
The Rays are one of the great baseball tragedies of the free agency era. A team that somehow manages to stay competitive year after year despite financial restraints, and a fan base that doesn't reward them.
Then there is this amazing quote:
there's no evidence to suggest that outdated and inconvenient Tropicana Field is what's keeping the fans away
There is a common tactic in political "conversation" - I use that term lightly now, as it is rarely a conversation anymore - where people accuse others of being flip-floppers on issues and point to contradicting statements in order to bash or cast someone negatively.

"He used to be for taxes, now he is against taxes. He is a hypocrite! Booo!"

I am not trying to do that here. Maybe Petchesky has read this website or others like it that discuss the real problems behind getting people to stadiums. Maybe he has learned since his 2013 article on Rays fans.

From the limited reading I have done, it seems the Rays have many of the same problems the Ottawa Senators do. The stadium is far away from downtown, the people don't live near the stadium, and the owner is not particularly liked.

It would be unfair for me to bash Petchesky now that he is correct about fan behavior. This is a good thing and I encourage him to keep this in mind whenever he writes about other fanbases, such as the Rays, the Marlins, the Indians, the A's, or other teams in other sports.

Every fanbase and team relationship is different. Some teams have been around for 100 years, have generational loyalty, have great downtown stadiums, have great owners, have waiting lists for season tickets, and many other qualifiers that make for a great business.

If however, Petchesky thinks his defense of fanbases only applies to Ottawa and not to the Rays or any other struggling sports business, then we have to look at why he has a pro-Ottawa fan bias. Because these situations are the same.

Tampa Bay Baseball Attendance Report - May 26, 2017

Tampa Bay baseball attendance for Friday, May 26, 2017:

Total Attendance: 0

No local games scheduled.

Friday, May 26, 2017

Tampa Bay Baseball Attendance Report - May 25, 2017

Tampa Bay baseball attendance for Thursday, May 25, 2017:

Total Attendance: 10,867

Tampa Bay Rays:
  • Team Home Game #: 29
  • Attendance: 9,459
  • Starting Pitcher: Matt Andriese
  • Opponent: Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
  • Opponent Starting Pitcher: Daniel Wright
  • Avg Attendance to Date: 14,718
  • Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 10,174
  • Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 10,972
  • Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 13,859
  • Promotions (if any): Senior Discount Thursday

Bradenton Marauders:
  • Team Home Game #: 23
  • Attendance: 1,025
  • Starting Pitcher: Pedro Vasquez
  • Opponent: St Lucie Mets
  • Opponent Starting Pitcher: Nabil Crismatt
  • Avg Attendance to Date: 1,434
  • Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 891
  • Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 881
  • Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 809
  • Promotions (if any): Thirsty Thursday

Dunedin Blue Jays:
  • Team Home Game #: 23 / 24
  • Attendance: 383
  • Starting Pitcher: JA Happ / Conor Fisk
  • Opponent: Fort Myers Miracle
  • Opponent Starting Pitcher: Brady Anderson / Lewis Thorpe
  • Avg Attendance to Date: 560
  • Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 417
  • Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 555
  • Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 343
  • Promotions (if any): Thirsty Thursday

No other local games scheduled.

Thursday, May 25, 2017

Tampa Bay Baseball Attendance Report - May 24, 2017

Tampa Bay baseball attendance for Wednesday, May 24, 2017:

Total Attendance: 12,411

Tampa Bay Rays:
  • Team Home Game #: 28
  • Attendance: 9,975
  • Starting Pitcher: Erasmo Ramirez
  • Opponent: Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
  • Opponent Starting Pitcher: Ricky Nolasco
  • Avg Attendance to Date: 14,906
  • Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 10,412
  • Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 11,319
  • Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 14,796
  • Promotions (if any): App Wednesday

Bradenton Marauders:
  • Team Home Game #: 21
  • Attendance: 2,436
  • Starting Pitcher: Gage Hinsz
  • Opponent: St Lucie Mets
  • Opponent Starting Pitcher: Chris Flexen
  • Avg Attendance to Date: 1,453
  • Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 872
  • Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 1,246
  • Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 1,641
  • Promotions (if any): Education Day

Dunedin Blue Jays:
  • Team Home Game #: 23
  • Attendance: POSTPONED
  • Opponent: Fort Myers Miracle

No other local games scheduled.

Wednesday, May 24, 2017

Tampa Bay Baseball Attendance Report - May 23, 2017

Tampa Bay baseball attendance for Tuesday, May 23, 2017:

Total Attendance: 9,920

Tampa Bay Rays:
  • Team Home Game #: 27
  • Attendance: 9,014
  • Starting Pitcher: Alex Cobb
  • Opponent: Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
  • Opponent Starting Pitcher: Matt Shoemaker
  • Avg Attendance to Date: 15,089
  • Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 10,631
  • Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 13,641
  • Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 13,625
  • Promotions (if any): $2 kids Tuesday

Bradenton Marauders:
  • Team Home Game #: 20
  • Attendance: 567
  • Starting Pitcher: Dario Agrazal
  • Opponent: St Lucie Mets
  • Opponent Starting Pitcher: Marcus Molina
  • Avg Attendance to Date: 1,448
  • Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 621
  • Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 630
  • Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 1,034
  • Promotions (if any): None

Dunedin Blue Jays:
  • Team Home Game #: 22
  • Attendance: 339
  • Starting Pitcher: Ryan Borucki
  • Opponent: Fort Myers Miracle
  • Opponent Starting Pitcher: Lachlan Wells
  • Avg Attendance to Date: 568
  • Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 424
  • Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 743
  • Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 353
  • Promotions (if any): None

No other local games scheduled.

Tuesday, May 23, 2017

Tampa Bay Baseball Attendance Report - May 22, 2017

Tampa Bay baseball attendance for Monday, May 22, 2017:

Total Attendance: 13,194

Tampa Bay Rays:
  • Team Home Game #: 26
  • Attendance: 12,249
  • Starting Pitcher: Jake Odorizzi
  • Opponent: Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
  • Opponent Starting Pitcher: JC Ramirez
  • Avg Attendance to Date: 15,323
  • Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 15,323
  • Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 12,537
  • Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 13,666
  • Promotions (if any): Salute to Service Monday

Bradenton Marauders:
  • Team Home Game #: 20
  • Attendance: 621
  • Starting Pitcher: Taylor Hearn
  • Opponent: St Lucie Mets
  • Opponent Starting Pitcher: Marcus Molina
  • Avg Attendance to Date: 1,448
  • Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 621
  • Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 630
  • Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 1,034
  • Promotions (if any): None

Dunedin Blue Jays:
  • Team Home Game #: 21
  • Attendance: 324
  • Starting Pitcher: TJ Zeuch
  • Opponent: Fort Myers Miracle
  • Opponent Starting Pitcher: David Fischer
  • Avg Attendance to Date: 579
  • Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 445
  • Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 347
  • Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 811
  • Promotions (if any): None

No other local games scheduled.

Monday, May 22, 2017

Tampa Bay Baseball Attendance Report - May 21, 2017

Tampa Bay baseball attendance for Sunday, May 21, 2017:

Total Attendance: 21,966

Tampa Bay Rays:
  • Team Home Game #: 25
  • Attendance: 20,873
  • Starting Pitcher: Chris Archer
  • Opponent: New York Yankees
  • Opponent Starting Pitcher: CC Sabathia
  • Avg Attendance to Date: 15,446
  • Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 21,338
  • Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 19,574
  • Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 17,969
  • Promotions (if any): Super Rays Comic Book

Tampa Yankees:
  • Team Home Game #: 24
  • Attendance: 1,093
  • Starting Pitcher: Josh Rogers
  • Opponent: Daytona Tortugas
  • Opponent Starting Pitcher: Vladimir Gutierrez
  • Avg Attendance to Date: 1,279
  • Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 1,586
  • Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 1,078
  • Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 2,029
  • Promotions (if any): Funday Sunday

No other local games scheduled.

Sunday, May 21, 2017

Tampa Bay Baseball Attendance Report - May 20, 2017

Tampa Bay baseball attendance for Saturday, May 20, 2017:

Total Attendance: 30,673

Tampa Bay Rays:
  • Team Home Game #: 24
  • Attendance: 22,864
  • Starting Pitcher: Matt Andriese
  • Opponent: New York Yankees
  • Opponent Starting Pitcher: Masahiro Tanaka
  • Avg Attendance to Date: 15,220
  • Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 21,432
  • Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 18,436
  • Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 14,593
  • Promotions (if any): Hawaiian shirt giveaway

Clearwater Threshers:
  • Team Home Game #: 21 (conclusion) / 22
  • Attendance: 2,824 / 5,118
  • Starting Pitcher: Blake Quinn / Edgar Garcia
  • Opponent: Lakeland Flying Tigers
  • Opponent Starting Pitcher: Beau Borrows / Sandy Baez
  • Avg Attendance to Date: 3,091
  • Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 3,971
  • Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 2,971 (Fri) / 4,721 (Sat)
  • Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 3,053 (Quinn) / 5,118 (Garcia)
  • Promotions (if any): Fireworks

Tampa Yankees:
  • Team Home Game #: 22 / 23
  • Attendance: 2,691
  • Starting Pitcher: Albert Abreau / Erik Swanson
  • Opponent: Daytona Tortugas
  • Opponent Starting Pitcher: Jose Lopez / Jake Paulson
  • Avg Attendance to Date: 1,288
  • Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 1,710
  • Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 1,819
  • Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 1,782 (Abreau) / 1,477
  • Promotions (if any): Gold Together Night / Salute to Service

No other local games scheduled.

Saturday, May 20, 2017

Tampa Bay Baseball Attendance Report - May 19, 2017

Tampa Bay baseball attendance for Friday, May 19, 2017:

Total Attendance: 21,146

Tampa Bay Rays:
  • Team Home Game #: 23
  • Attendance: 21,146
  • Starting Pitcher: Erasmo Ramirez
  • Opponent: New York Yankees
  • Opponent Starting Pitcher: Luis Severino
  • Avg Attendance to Date: 14,887
  • Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 21,072
  • Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 16,033
  • Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 17,206
  • Promotions (if any): $5 drafts and $7.11 tickets

Clearwater Threshers:
  • Team Home Game #: 21
  • Attendance: POSTPONED (Rain)
  • Opponent: Lakeland Flying Tigers

Tampa Yankees:
  • Team Home Game #: 22
  • Attendance: RAINED OUT
  • Opponent: Daytona Tortugas

No other local games scheduled.

Friday, May 19, 2017

An interview with Tampa Bay Rays President Brian Auld - Part 2



On May 5, 2017, I had the opportunity to chat with Brian Auld, President of the Tampa Bay Rays. Our conversation in the administrative offices of Tropicana Field lasted nearly 40 minutes as the Rays prepared to play the Blue Jays. At the time, the team record was 15-15. Many thanks to Brian and Razi Amador Fink for their time.

(This is Part 2 of the interview. Part 1 is here.)

Are you seeing younger fans becoming Rays fans?

Brian Auld: Well, we put every kid in tee-ball in a Rays jersey. That is one of our community programs. We want them to say they are on the Rays and to be proud of it. And we are on television every night and we are the local team. You go to games here and you might see Dad and Mom in the other team’s gear and kids in the Rays gear. I don’t think the parents are fighting it. I think they get it. I’ve even see a good number of kids who got their parents to change. I think that will really help. And as that strong affinity grows, when you have that $200 and you are trying to figure out where to spend it, I think you are more likely to spend it on your big league team.

That’s our long term plan. It can be frustrating on a daily basis. We do wish we had more revenue so we can compete more aggressively with the other teams in our division. But again, when I think about all we have done in the last 10 years, it has been significant. We have made a ton of progress. And I think ahead 10 years and I really think we will be in a different place and this conversation will be a thing of the past.

Ten years might not be long for a team, but for an individual, ten years is a long time. Are you expecting to be here in 10 years?

It is a thought that crossed my mind. Stu came in as a very young owner and he is 12 years older than he was then. We all want to build that ballpark. We all want to win that World Series and we all want 30,000 people to come in every night. We all want the same type of feeling that rippled through Tampa Bay in 2008 to happen again. It’s hard. You can’t expect it every year. There are 29 other teams gunning just as hard as you are. That’s what’s great about sports.

So it’s crucial we take a long term perspective. But we certainly want things to happen in our lifetime.

If you could compare Tampa Bay to any other size market, which do you look at? On my website, I have used Pittsburgh, is this correct?

I think Pittsburgh is an apt comparison. We look at the Ohio markets as well – Cleveland and Cincinnati. Nowhere is exactly like anywhere else and the Florida markets have a lot of unique things about them, many of which make our job harder. We want fans to be living and dying with us. We want that passion. I think we are generating it. But I understand people want to go to the beach. But the summer is not the most beautiful time to be outdoors. That’s a disadvantage compared to the guys in Toronto, Boston, and New York. But I wouldn’t trade places with those guys at all.

The other thing I would say about Tampa Bay – more so than any other sports market – is that it is still growing, still rising, and still emerging. It is changing every day – physically changing. It is creating an identity. One of the things I love about being in this position is that we are a big part about crafting the future of Tampa Bay. When we stood for LGBT, I think it sent a message about Tampa Bay to the country in the wake of the Orlando incident. When we went to Cuba, it said something about what we are doing here. I meet with the mayors more than my counterparts in any other market. Partly because it is smaller here, and we are a big fish in a slightly smaller pond. I think that is really cool. I like that. I like that no matter where our ballpark goes, it will dramatically affect everything around it in a way that exceeds what it has done in bigger cities because we are less established and we are coming along right now. And anyone you talk to, any of the business leaders, any of the politicians, they all feel like Tampa Bay is coming into its own right now. So it is a really interesting time for us to be doing what we are trying to do.

There is a great energy here. What is going on at USF-St Pete is interesting. Hopkins coming in, the Innovation District, I think I can throw a baseball and hit nine different breweries. And that’s neat. It’s people who are doing stuff. They are starting things and it is cool things. It is redefining what we are all about. St. Petersburg is a really cool place now. I don’t think I would have said that eight years ago or even five years ago. And I think it is great.

On a personal side, can you talk about your decision to take the job with the Rays years ago? What was the career progression that lead you here?

This is a great job. Who wouldn’t want it? (Laughs.) Well, I have always loved baseball and like anyone who loves the game I would have always jumped at the opportunity to work in the game if it came up. But there are 30 teams. I have people all the time ask me ‘How do I get to where you are?’, and I politely explain that there are 25 times more Major League Baseball players than there are people with my job. People understand how hard it is to be a Major League Baseball players, so then they understand that you have to be 25 times luckier than that. Plus, I keep my job longer. So it is really 50 or 100 times more difficult. There are more US senators than people in my job.

I was aware that if I limited my options to just sports, it would be a rough, rough road. That said, we have people here working for at least $10 an hour – because that’s our minimum wage – people who could be making more money somewhere else, who chose to be in baseball and are running down that track as fast as they can. And I admire them for it.

When I graduated college, I wanted to be a teacher. No baseball team was offering me a senior level position at the time, so the option wasn’t there. I absolutely love teaching. It was a very strong passion of mine. I went to business school with the idea of opening up a charter school and coming out of there was a principal of a public school. Then Matt Silverman called me and said his new boss at Goldman Sachs was thinking about buying the Devil Rays and if his boss did that then Matt would be the team president and he asked if I would be interested in being part of that team. It was too cool to say no to.

I didn’t believe him at first. We were 27 and 28 at the time. I didn’t understand why someone with the means to buy a baseball team would hand the keys over to us and Andrew Friedman as well. But he did and the three of us came down here and had an absolute blast trying to get this business turned around. We worked as hard as we could and so far, so good.

How has the perception of the Rays front office changed among other teams since the days you began here?

I spent my first eight or nine years here very focused on the internal. It was building the mission, creating an “employee-first” culture. We created a great place to work and then told people to do more with less. I think that foundation is important to what we have done here. And it extends to the clubhouse. I think a lot of players want to be here because they feel like we do everything we can for them. Matt was the team president then, so when I got there I was relatively young compared to most of them. We had stopped being the Devil Rays and become the Rays. We were highly respected on the business and baseball side.

I’ll tell you Stu and Matt both think a lot of minds changed after 2008. They were invited to sit a lot more tables. And not everyone has been to a World Series. It is a big deal that we did it and we sustained it for a few years. We won a lot of people over in the room. And that’s a really important room. Going back to the ballpark, we have to convince 29 other teams that building a ballpark here is a good move. Not just for us, but for them. They send a lot of money down here through the revenue sharing program and as the A’s have found out in the most recent CBA (collective bargaining agreement), those payments are not necessarily guaranteed. We certainly cannot build a new ballpark if it means sacrificing revenue sharing. So we are going to need baseball’s blessing and we going to do what we have to to get that. If they think we are on a foolhardy journey and a new ballpark won’t improve revenue, they we might as well stay here in a paid-for ballpark.

Are they sold on Tampa Bay? What is the feeling of other owners and front offices?

There is a healthy skepticism. I think it is warranted. Prior to 2008, I think a lot of folks thought it was the organization. We hadn’t had a lot of winning and we hadn’t done a lot to earn corporate partnerships nor sell season tickets. But that six year run we went on from 2008 to 2013, when we won 90 games five times and made the postseason four times, that was really good. I don’t know how long you have been doing your website, but anyone writing back then thought attendance would jump dramatically and it would have far exceeded what it did. That has given rise to some skepticism.

What I tell everyone in this process is that we need skeptics. You should be challenging everything I say. Our elected officials need to make decisions they feel good about. Don’t trust us or believe in what we are saying. Go find your own numbers and do your own studies on economic development opportunities and whether or not we can be a catalyst and everything else. We are talking about a very big endeavor and a huge public-private partnership. The more people who look at it skeptically, the more people who need to be convinced, the more people with open minds, the better. I don’t want to go forward unless a lot of other smart people have looked at this with their own angles and biases and determined that this is what we should do.

Do you think there has been a shift in awareness of public-private stadium funding? We are now seeing people such as John Oliver analyzing it, as well as several websites and other media. Do you foresee more resistance because the public is more aware?

I think there is more awareness. As I said, I welcome that. I take great pride in how we have done this. It probably has been slower that it could be otherwise. I think with the right political donations, I think we might get a vote through the St Pete City Council a year or two early. That’s never what we wanted to do. If the representatives who were elected to represent St Pete didn’t think that deal was the right deal – I still to this day don’t understand why they didn’t want to let us look on both sides of the bay given the circumstances – but if we couldn’t convince five of the eight of them, we still have a place to play baseball. That’s their job and we welcome that.

Same thing with the public. One thing that I like to tell people is we have to have a conversation about the value of Major League Baseball in Tampa Bay, because it is expensive. What troubles me is the “not one public dollar to stadiums under any circumstances” or even worse the supposition that we can pay for it ourselves but we don’t because we are whatever negative terms people want to use. Then people often point to franchise valuations that exist in magazines but aren’t necessarily real and certainly can’t be monetized.

The best example I have been able to come up with for that is if you are living in your house and it goes from a $100,000 to million dollar house, you still just have your house. The only way to get $900,000 in cash is to sell your house. Then the person who buys your house, they don’t have the $900,000 either. So we can’t access theoretical franchise increases in a way to pay players. It’s not doable. We may be able to borrow a little bit more, and over the years we have done that, and we are able to increase payroll. It’s not as easy as saying Forbes just estimated us at $900 million, so we can pay our players $300 million, because that cash does not exist. And when you look to buying a new ballpark, that money doesn’t exist for that either. We have to finance whatever we put into the new ballpark.  And whatever we put into the ballpark could be used for payroll or other operations of the ballclub. In the event we were able to finance a ballpark – and the most recent ones have billions in the price tag – we would need 85,000 people paying $100 a night to be able to do that. That’s just not how it works.

That’s why our vision has always been for our ballpark to be a public asset and for the community to have a say in how we go about it. We want to meet as many public needs as possible.

What are some of the more unique ideas you have received in regards to the ballpark?

First, whatever we do has to be tied to a transportation plan that can unlock all of Tampa Bay’s potential. My favorite is that we started by saying we wanted to create a baseball experience like no other. Baseball is king. Second, we want to make our ballpark accessible for public use 365 days a year. Why not open the gates and let kids play wiffle ball here in the winter?

As we thought it through, the ideas to make it an accessible place to be 365 days a year are blending with the baseball experience. For example, we need a place where we serve 30,000 people food. What do we do with those kitchens in the other 280 days a year? Could we turn it into a community kitchen? What would that entail? What would it look like? When you start thinking about those things, a community kitchen that can serve fans would be even cooler.

Building it in an open and accessible way might make for a different experience. Bellying up the bar to order your food might not be the way we do things in the new place. My favorite idea, and I am not sure if we are going to do anything with this, is that we have been watching sports the same way since the days of the Greeks and the Romans. Long rows of seats. If you are stuck in the middle, it is a horrible seat. So can we not do something like a horseshoe with a table in the middle?

We don’t have to jam 50,000 people into the smallest footprint possible. We have a smaller market. Let’s take advantage of that and have a place where people are more comfortable and it is more conducive to watching baseball and rethink how we put the seats out there. Engineers are mulling this over. I’m sure I am not the first ever to think of this. But it is that kind of thought process that we are bringing to this endeavor.

I think when we get this done, you will see the first in a new generation of ballpark. People forget Tropicana Field was the last of a previous generation.

I think about the energy they must have had to get Tropicana Field built. We mentioned the growth in St. Pete. It is still the smallest city in Major League Baseball. Although it is growing incredibly. I can’t imagine the foresight people had years ago to imagine Major League Baseball here without a team.

Last question, are you optimistic about the rest of the season? Do you think the Rays can compete?

I think so. We’ve played a very tough schedule so far. And we are .500. Without the guy we thought was going to be our starting shortstop. We just got Colby Rasmus back. Mallex Smith, who is supposed to fill some holes for us, he has been hurt for a little while. Some of our bigger names are not having career years. And we are hanging in there. I think if we keep fighting the way we are, you will see a team that is in it for the long haul. It is a fun team to root for. They are not concerned with any of the things we have been talking about. They just want to win ballgames.

Tampa Bay Baseball Attendance Report - May 18, 2017

Tampa Bay baseball attendance for Thursday, May 18, 2017:

Total Attendance: 367

Dunedin Blue Jays:
  • Team Home Game #: 20
  • Attendance: 367
  • Starting Pitcher: Ryan Borucki
  • Opponent: Charlotte Stone Crabs
  • Opponent Starting Pitcher: Genesis Cabrera
  • Avg Attendance to Date: 591
  • Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 748
  • Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 598
  • Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 357
  • Promotions (if any): None

No other local games scheduled.

Thursday, May 18, 2017

An interview with Brian Auld, President of the Tampa Bay Rays - Part 1



On May 5, 2017, I had the opportunity to chat with Brian Auld, President of the Tampa Bay Rays. Our conversation in the administrative offices of Tropicana Field lasted nearly 40 minutes as the Rays prepared to play the Blue Jays. At the time, the team was 15-15. Many thanks to Brian and Razi Amador Fink for their time.

(This is Part 1 of our discussion. Part 2 here.)

Let’s start with the big picture, what is the state of the Rays right now?

Brian Auld: As of yesterday, we were .500. Hopefully tomorrow we will be a game over. So the state of the Rays is good.

Let's get the elephant in the room out of the way. What is new with the stadium situation?

There is nothing brand new. But the good news is that our due diligence process over the last year has lead us to believe there is a greater amount of support for Rays baseball in the Tampa Bay region as a whole than we are currently generating at Tropicana Field. That’s a positive development for us. The other positive is that politicians, elected officials, and business leaders on both sides of the bay, and certainly fans are intent on keeping the Rays in Tampa Bay and we certainly want to stay in Tampa Bay. So I think that when all these minds get together and get creative, we are going to figure out a way to do that.

The difficult part is that it is very difficult. It is a very big challenge. Your blog has documented it as well as anywhere as. The attendance issue that we face is that we are not missing by a few hundred people, we are missing by 10,000 plus. The goal we’ve had is to be at league average, or certainly be league average or above when we are playing good baseball, which I think we are now, and we certainly have in the last 10 years. So those challenges are very real. And figuring out if/when/how we are able to build a ballpark that will allow us to cross that hurdle is a major endeavor. It is something we are taking very seriously, have a lot of sharp people on, and I am optimistic that we will figure something out in the next year or so at least.

Recently, you had a luncheon with the Tampa Chamber. How did that go?

It was great. Our players cracked a bunch of jokes and showed people their human side, which I think is always fun. Matt, Kevin, and I were able to talk a little about how the team is doing. We were also able to address a little of the stadium issues for those people and let them know we want to hear from them. It’s important to us and it’s important to Major League Baseball that people stand up and say ‘We want this team here. We want this team in our community and we are going to fight to keep it and we are going to help the Rays generate the kind of revenue you need to be successful’.

I’ve gone to one of those luncheons before in Tampa and the first question is always ‘Will the stadium be built in Tampa?'. I would assume your St. Pete luncheons get the same question but in reference to St. Pete or Pinellas.

That’s good and it is great that everyone thinks the best place for the ballpark is right next to where they live. And you much prefer that to the opposite – get them out of our town. So that is a common question. Another question I am often asked is ‘What is wrong with Tropicana Field?’ to which my answer is always ‘Nothing.’. We’ve put 30 million dollars into this facility and made it a great place to watch baseball.

However, it is aging. And as you are aware, other than the very old ballparks that have had significant facelifts, Tropicana Field is among the oldest in the entire game. People forget it predates the team by 10-15 years. We have some infrastructure issues that we have to deal with and that are getting more expensive every year – the pipes are starting to wear, things like that. But my main problem with Tropicana Field is that not enough people come to watch Rays baseball here. That’s really it. If we were bringing 30,000 people a night every night, we wouldn’t be talking about how we to explore the entire region to find the optimal site.

On that note, what I’ve seen is that from 2008-2010 you were doing well – selling out games against division opponents – then there was a slight drop, and then after 2013, your average attendance dropped again. Could that have been because of the front office changes? Or is any of because with Jeter, David Ortiz, and others retiring, opposing fanbases aren’t coming out as much?

Certainly 2008-2010 were the high water marks for us. But for a team coming off an incredible World Series run and regarded as one of the best teams in baseball during those years, we didn’t hit nearly where we wanted to be. And those sell-outs were after we closed off 10,000 seats. It is important that we convey that even during that time, we still didn’t reach the league average that we were shooting for. Then we continued to be successful through 2013. The drop-off after that, I think, has been because of team performance, more than I would say Jeter or Ortiz. When the Yankees and Red Sox are good, their fans do show up more. That said, we would rather be on top of them in the standings and bring in our own people regardless. That is not something we want to be dependent on.

We are trying to do everything we can. We have tried a lot of different strategies to bring people in. The concert series, for example, use to be a very good way for us to get to 30,000. I think we brought in comparable acts in latter years and didn’t get anywhere near there. So we’ve asked ourselves is it better to have premium giveaways? What else can we try? We are trying a doubleheader this year – a single gate doubleheader. We are going to continue to be creative, to come up with something that works, and then understand that even though we do something that works for a little while, it may not last.

All of that said, if you go back from 1998 to now, the trend has been overwhelmingly positive. One thing I like to tell people is that since I got involved in the organization under Stu Sternberg’s leadership, the progress we have made in the last 10-12 years has been phenomenal. If we can make this same progress over the next 10-12 years, we won’t be having this conversation. And I believe the region is moving in the right direction. St. Pete is a dramatically different city than it was 10 years ago. The Tampa Bay region has become more of a region – there is a lot more cooperation on both sides of the bay. People are getting used to driving over the bridge a little more than they used to. They are saying nicer things about it to each other. So all of that to me means we are moving in a positive direction, and that, more than anything, is why we want to be here. That’s why we never petitioned the City of St. Petersburg to look outside of Tampa Bay. This is where we want to be.

When you look at some of the other local organizations such as the Lightning, and the involvement Jeff Vinik has in hotels and property, and the Rowdies, and all Bill Edwards is doing, do you feel the Rays are falling behind or having to play catch up because of your location and the political hurdles?

I think the Rays organization and brand is very, very strong. We are really proud of that. I think any non-profit the Rays have worked with feels good about how we have supported them. I think we have found a way to touch everyone in the Tampa Bay region and we are getting better and better at doing that every year. You can’t run around Tampa Bay anymore and not see Rays gear. There was a time when we first got here that we gave free tickets to anyone with a Devil Rays hat on. We’ve come a long, long way and I think we continue to move in a very positive direction.

Jeff Vinik and Bill Edwards have a different vision for what they are trying to do than Stu Sternberg and the Rays do. We just want to run a successful baseball team. We want to compete. We want a team that does right by the community, that fulfills our mission to energize the community through the magic of Rays baseball, but we aren’t looking to subsidize our baseball team with development projects. We want to leave that to developers. Which by the way, Jeff and Bill have either become or learned about or hired the right people to bring into the mix. And that’s great. I think it is tremendous. Especially how Jeff is actively involved in shaping the future of Tampa and Tampa Bay. What he is doing with transportation right now, I am incredibly grateful for. But we try to focus on what we know, which is how to run a baseball team and I think we have done a pretty good job of that.

Do you meet with any of the other local sports owners to discuss overall direction?

Definitely. Stu knows the Glazers well. He knows Jeff well. I know Brian Ford of the Bucs and Steve Griggs of the Lightning. I just had coffee the other day with Rick Baker and talked to him about St. Pete. We all have very cordial relationships. We are competitors, but not in a traditional sense. We all recognize that we are all going to do well together, and we are all going to struggle together. We have the same struggles, so we all try to help each other out. We all get along, we root for each other’s teams. We all want each to do well, because more than any other sports region in the country, we are all tied to what happens here. So goes Tampa Bay, so will go the teams. Right now, things are moving in the right direction.

What about in the market of baseball in Tampa Bay with Spring Training, Minor League Baseball, etc.? I’ve heard you have read some of what I’ve written.

Yeah, you have pointed it out very well. Sometimes it scares me how many options there are.

My premise is that if, for example, a family has $200 in January to spend on baseball for the year, there are a lot of different games they can spend it on.

It doesn’t help us, but it is great for baseball and great for Florida. We believe in that. We love having Spring Training here. Our players love it. They get six more weeks at home. It could be a competitive edge for us. We wish all the Minor League and Spring Training teams around us well.

But, does it make it a little easier when you move down from New York and you have the Tampa Yankees right there to hold on to that allegiance and not come over to the Rays? I think it does and it makes our challenge that much more difficult.

I still think we are going to get your kids, though. I think we are seeing that. One of the things I love talking about is that we are just now seeing the first group of kids whose parents grew up as Rays fans. That’s going to start happening more and more. We think that is what is going to make this franchise take off. We don’t have the generational fanbase they have in other markets. And beyond that, we don’t have a group of people who grew up going to games so they think ‘oh, I’ll just bring my kid out to a game’. That’s coming and it’s going to grow stronger and stronger.



Part 2 of this interview coming soon.

Tampa Bay Baseball Attendance Report - May 17, 2017

Tampa Bay baseball attendance for Wednesday, May 17, 2017:

Total Attendance: 334

Dunedin Blue Jays:
  • Team Home Game #: 19
  • Attendance: 334
  • Starting Pitcher: TJ Zeuch
  • Opponent: Charlotte Stone Crabs
  • Opponent Starting Pitcher: Eduar Lopez
  • Avg Attendance to Date: 603
  • Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 876
  • Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 337
  • Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 933
  • Promotions (if any): None

No other local games scheduled.

Wednesday, May 17, 2017

Tampa Bay Baseball Attendance Report - May 16, 2017

Tampa Bay baseball attendance for Tuesday, May 16, 2017:

Total Attendance: 1,947

Dunedin Blue Jays:
  • Team Home Game #: 18
  • Attendance: 1,947
  • Starting Pitcher: Angel Perdomo
  • Opponent: Charlotte Stone Crabs
  • Opponent Starting Pitcher: Jose De Leon
  • Avg Attendance to Date: 618
  • Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 1,147
  • Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 878
  • Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 888
  • Promotions (if any): Education Day

No other local games scheduled.

Tuesday, May 16, 2017

Tampa Bay Baseball Attendance Report - May 15, 2017

Tampa Bay baseball attendance for Monday, May 15, 2017:

Total Attendance: 347

Dunedin Blue Jays:
  • Team Home Game #: 17
  • Attendance: 347
  • Starting Pitcher: Jordan Romano
  • Opponent: Charlotte Stone Crabs
  • Opponent Starting Pitcher: Michael Santos
  • Avg Attendance to Date: 540
  • Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 347
  • Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 355
  • Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 333
  • Promotions (if any): None

No other local games scheduled.

Monday, May 15, 2017

Tampa Bay Baseball Attendance Report - May 14, 2017

Tampa Bay baseball attendance for Sunday, May 14, 2017:

Total Attendance: 0

No local games scheduled.

Sunday, May 14, 2017

Tampa Bay Baseball Attendance Report - May 13, 2017

Tampa Bay baseball attendance for Saturday, May 13, 2017:

Total Attendance: 6,096

Clearwater Threshers:
  • Team Home Game #: 20
  • Attendance: 3,028
  • Starting Pitcher: Seranthony Dominguez
  • Opponent: Tampa Yankees
  • Opponent Starting Pitcher: Domingo Acevedo
  • Avg Attendance to Date: 2,999
  • Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 2,480
  • Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 4,588
  • Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 2,228
  • Promotions (if any): Motorcycle Night / Fireworks

Bradenton Marauders:
  • Team Home Game #: 19
  • Attendance: 2,495
  • Starting Pitcher: Gage Hinsz
  • Opponent: Palm Beach Cardinals
  • Opponent Starting Pitcher: Conner Jones
  • Avg Attendance to Date: 1,492
  • Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 1,924
  • Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 3,069
  • Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 1,376
  • Promotions (if any): Military Appreciation Night

Dunedin Blue Jays:
  • Team Home Game #: 16
  • Attendance: 573
  • Starting Pitcher: Chris Smith
  • Opponent: Daytona Tortugas
  • Opponent Starting Pitcher: Jose Lopez
  • Avg Attendance to Date: 552
  • Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 656
  • Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 1,100
  • Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 573
  • Promotions (if any): Bark in the Park

No other local games scheduled.

Saturday, May 13, 2017

Tampa Bay Baseball Attendance Report - May 12, 2017

Tampa Bay baseball attendance for Friday, May 12, 2017:

Total Attendance: 5,445

Clearwater Threshers:
  • Team Home Game #: 19
  • Attendance: 2,650
  • Starting Pitcher: Blake Quinn
  • Opponent: Tampa Yankees
  • Opponent Starting Pitcher: Zack Littell
  • Avg Attendance to Date: 2,997
  • Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 2,206
  • Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 3,008
  • Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 3,130
  • Promotions (if any): Cup giveaway, Family Friday

Bradenton Marauders:
  • Team Home Game #: 18
  • Attendance: 2,468
  • Starting Pitcher: Logan Sendelbach
  • Opponent: Palm Beach Cardinals
  • Opponent Starting Pitcher: Ryan Helsley
  • Avg Attendance to Date: 1,436
  • Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 1,639
  • Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 2,230
  • Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 1,794
  • Promotions (if any): Cancer Awareness Night

Dunedin Blue Jays:
  • Team Home Game #: 15
  • Attendance: 327
  • Starting Pitcher: Ryan Borucki
  • Opponent: Daytona Tortugas
  • Opponent Starting Pitcher: Jonathon Crawford
  • Avg Attendance to Date: 551
  • Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 698
  • Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 325
  • Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 354
  • Promotions (if any): Bark in the Park

No other local games scheduled.

Friday, May 12, 2017

Tampa Bay Baseball Attendance Report - May 11, 2017

Tampa Bay baseball attendance for Thursday, May 11, 2017:

Total Attendance: 12,980

Tampa Bay Rays:
  • Team Home Game #: 22
  • Attendance: 9,340
  • Starting Pitcher: Jake Ordorizzi
  • Opponent: Kansas City Royals
  • Opponent Starting Pitcher: Jason Vargas
  • Avg Attendance to Date: 14,603
  • Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 10,351
  • Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 11,350
  • Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 14,020
  • Promotions (if any): Senior Special Thursday
  • Other local events: None

Clearwater Threshers:
  • Team Home Game #: 18
  • Attendance: 1,761
  • Starting Pitcher: Albert Tirado
  • Opponent: Tampa Yankees
  • Opponent Starting Pitcher: Taylor Widener
  • Avg Attendance to Date: 3,018
  • Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 1,761
  • Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 2,251
  • Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 4,166
  • Promotions (if any): Taps and Tacos Night

Bradenton Marauders:
  • Team Home Game #: 17
  • Attendance: 810
  • Starting Pitcher: Nick Kingham
  • Opponent: Palm Beach Cardinals
  • Opponent Starting Pitcher: Derian Gonzalez
  • Avg Attendance to Date: 1,375
  • Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 810
  • Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 833
  • Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 810
  • Promotions (if any): Thirsty Thursday

Dunedin Blue Jays:
  • Team Home Game #: 14
  • Attendance: 1,069
  • Starting Pitcher: TJ Zeuch
  • Opponent: Daytona Tortugas
  • Opponent Starting Pitcher: Ty Boyles
  • Avg Attendance to Date: 529
  • Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 1,069
  • Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 676
  • Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 1,132
  • Promotions (if any): None

No other local games scheduled.

Thursday, May 11, 2017

Tampa Bay area Minor League Baseball April Attendance Trends 2007-2017

We looked at the Rays April attendance trends last week. This week I want to look at the other four professional baseball teams playing in Tampa Bay. These teams are all members of the Florida State League and play in Spring Training stadiums. Attendance for the Florida State League is never overwhelming, but these teams often have a few games a month that draw very well.

As I have said before, April and May are among the best attended months for Tampa Bay minor league teams. The weather in Tampa Bay is optimal for outside baseball - it is not yet too hot and humid.

Here are the average April attendance for each of the four area Minor League teams from 2007 to 2017. Also listed is the Rays April average and the total amount of Minor League games played in the area that year.




The bottom rows of this chart depict the difference between April 2016 and April 2017. While the Rays and Clearwater Threshers increased, the Yankees, Blue Jays, and Marauders saw significant decreases April over April.

The following graph shows the April average attendance for the four Minor League teams since 2007.




Here we see the Threshers above and beyond the other three teams. The Yankees and Marauders are too far distance-wise from the Threshers for us to estimate any correlation. Florida Auto Exchange Stadium in Dunedin however is only 10 minutes from Clearwater, so it is possible an increase in Threshers attendance could cause a decrease in Blue Jays attendance.

We will now look at each individual team and their April averages since 2007.

Clearwater Threshers

The following graph shows Threshers April attendance since 2007:




Since 2013, Threshers April attendance has increased by over 1,000 fans per game.

Here are the Threshers attendance numbers and percentage increase or decrease since 2007.




Tampa Yankees

The following graph shows the Yankees April average attendance since 2007:




Since 2012, Tampa Yankees April average attendance has declined 810 fans per game. The following are the Yankees attendance numbers and percentage increase or decrease since 2007.




Bradenton Marauders

The following graph shows the Marauders April average attendance since 2010:




Since 2015, Bradenton Marauders April average attendance has declined 540 fans per game, to a similar level they saw in 2012-2014. The following are the Marauders attendance numbers and percentage increase or decrease since 2010.




Dunedin Blue Jays

The following graph shows the Dunedin Blue Jays April average attendance since 2007:




In 2017, the Dunedin Blue Jays had their worst April average attendance since 2007. The following are the Dunedin Blue Jays attendance numbers and percentage increase or decrease since 2007.




Conclusion

Before we judge each team's attendance in 2017 based on April, we have figure where April usually stands in regards to each team's monthly ranking.
  • For the Threshers, April is usually their third busiest month.
  • For the Yankees, April has been their third busiest month.
  • For the Marauders, April is their fourth busiest month.
  • For the Blue Jays, April is typically their 2nd best month for attendance.

We will continue to post Tampa Bay area Minor League attendance trends as the season continues.

Tampa Bay Baseball Attendance Report - May 10, 2017

Tampa Bay baseball attendance for Wednesday, May 10, 2017:

Total Attendance: 17,894

Tampa Bay Rays:
  • Team Home Game #: 21
  • Attendance: 9,320
  • Starting Pitcher: Chris Archer
  • Opponent: Kansas City Royals
  • Opponent Starting Pitcher: Jason Hammel
  • Avg Attendance to Date: 14,853
  • Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 10,689
  • Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 11,655
  • Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 17,388
  • Promotions (if any): App Wednesday
  • Other local events: None

Tampa Yankees:
  • Team Home Game #: 21
  • Attendance: 5,516
  • Starting Pitcher: Josh Rogers
  • Opponent: Dunedin Blue Jays
  • Opponent Starting Pitcher: Angel Perdomo
  • Avg Attendance to Date: 1,218
  • Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 2,303
  • Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 2,355
  • Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 2,263
  • Promotions (if any): School Day

Clearwater Threshers:
  • Team Home Game #: 17
  • Attendance: 3,058
  • Starting Pitcher: Cole Irvin
  • Opponent: Charlotte Stone Crabs
  • Opponent Starting Pitcher: Michael Velasquez
  • Avg Attendance to Date: 3,096
  • Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 2,861
  • Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 2,363
  • Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 2,353
  • Promotions (if any): Education Day

No other local games scheduled.

Wednesday, May 10, 2017

Tampa Bay Baseball Attendance Report - May 9, 2017

Tampa Bay baseball attendance for Tuesday, May 9, 2017:

Total Attendance: 14,622

Tampa Bay Rays:
  • Team Home Game #: 20
  • Attendance: 9,921
  • Starting Pitcher: Matt Andriese
  • Opponent: Kansas City Royals
  • Opponent Starting Pitcher: Chris Young
  • Avg Attendance to Date: 15,130
  • Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 11,373
  • Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 15,184
  • Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 12,938
  • Promotions (if any): $2 kids Tuesday
  • Other local events: None

Tampa Yankees:
  • Team Home Game #: 20
  • Attendance: 676
  • Starting Pitcher: Erik Swanson
  • Opponent: Dunedin Blue Jays
  • Opponent Starting Pitcher: Jordan Romano
  • Avg Attendance to Date: 992
  • Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 697
  • Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 781
  • Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 871
  • Promotions (if any): Bogo Burger Tuesday

Clearwater Threshers:
  • Team Home Game #: 18
  • Attendance: 4,025
  • Starting Pitcher: Franklyn Kilome
  • Opponent: Charlotte Stone Crabs
  • Opponent Starting Pitcher: Alexis Tapia
  • Avg Attendance to Date: 3,099
  • Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 2,762
  • Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 4,097
  • Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 2,624
  • Promotions (if any): $1 ticket Tuesdays

No other local games scheduled.

Tuesday, May 9, 2017

Tampa Bay Baseball Attendance Report - May 8, 2017

Tampa Bay baseball attendance for Monday, May 8, 2017:

Total Attendance: 15,044

Tampa Bay Rays:
  • Team Home Game #: 19
  • Attendance: 12,826
  • Starting Pitcher: Blake Snell
  • Opponent: Kansas City Royals
  • Opponent Starting Pitcher: Nate Karns
  • Avg Attendance to Date: 15,404
  • Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 12,826
  • Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 12,826
  • Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 13,699
  • Promotions (if any): Salute to Service Monday
  • Other local events: None

Tampa Yankees:
  • Team Home Game #: 19
  • Attendance: 719
  • Starting Pitcher: Domingo Acevedo
  • Opponent: Dunedin Blue Jays
  • Opponent Starting Pitcher: Conor Fisk
  • Avg Attendance to Date: 1,010
  • Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 719
  • Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 744
  • Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 780
  • Promotions (if any): $1 hot dog Monday

Clearwater Threshers:
  • Team Home Game #: 17
  • Attendance: 1,499
  • Starting Pitcher: Jose Taveras
  • Opponent: Charlotte Stone Crabs
  • Opponent Starting Pitcher: Blake Bivens
  • Avg Attendance to Date: 3,033
  • Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 1,499
  • Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 1,463
  • Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 2,958
  • Promotions (if any): Feeding Frenzy - BBQ Fest

No other local games scheduled.

Monday, May 8, 2017

Tampa Bay Baseball Attendance Report - May 7, 2017

Tampa Bay baseball attendance for Sunday, May 7, 2017:

Total Attendance: 17,099

Tampa Bay Rays:
  • Team Home Game #: 18
  • Attendance: 15,068
  • Starting Pitcher: Alex Cobb
  • Opponent: Toronto Blue Jays
  • Opponent Starting Pitcher: Joe Biagini
  • Avg Attendance to Date: 15,547
  • Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 14,609
  • Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 19,249
  • Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 15,162
  • Promotions (if any): Batting glove giveaway
  • Other local events:
    • Tampa River Fest

Tampa Yankees:
  • Team Home Game #: 18
  • Attendance: 911
  • Starting Pitcher: Zack Littell
  • Opponent: Charlotte Stone Crabs
  • Opponent Starting Pitcher: Genesis Cabrera
  • Avg Attendance to Date: 1,027
  • Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 1,041
  • Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 1,071
  • Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 1,031
  • Promotions (if any): Kids Funday Sunday

Bradenton Marauders:
  • Team Home Game #: 16
  • Attendance: 1,120
  • Starting Pitcher: Logan Sendelbach
  • Opponent: Dunedin Blue Jays
  • Opponent Starting Pitcher: Ryan Borucki
  • Avg Attendance to Date: 1,411
  • Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 2,053
  • Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 1,039
  • Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 1,120
  • Promotions (if any): Family Fun Sunday

No other local games scheduled.

Sunday, May 7, 2017

Tampa Bay Baseball Attendance Report - May 6, 2017

Tampa Bay baseball attendance for Saturday, May 6, 2017:

Total Attendance: 15,219

Tampa Bay Rays:
  • Team Home Game #: 17
  • Attendance: 12,035
  • Starting Pitcher: Jake Odorizzi
  • Opponent: Toronto Blue Jays
  • Opponent Starting Pitcher: Marco Estrada
  • Avg Attendance to Date: 15,576
  • Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 14,532
  • Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 16,960
  • Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 15,580
  • Promotions (if any): Bubble Blowing Longo
  • Other local events:
    • Tom Petty concert
    • Tampa River Fest

Tampa Yankees:
  • Team Home Game #: 17
  • Attendance: 1,321
  • Starting Pitcher: Taylor Widener
  • Opponent: Charlotte Stone Crabs
  • Opponent Starting Pitcher: Eduar Lopez
  • Avg Attendance to Date: 1,034
  • Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 1,106
  • Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 1,529
  • Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 1,125
  • Promotions (if any): Bark at the Park / Service Member Saturday

Bradenton Marauders:
  • Team Home Game #: 15
  • Attendance: 1863
  • Starting Pitcher: Taylor Hearn
  • Opponent: Dunedin Blue Jays
  • Opponent Starting Pitcher: TJ Zeuch
  • Avg Attendance to Date: 1,430
  • Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 2,520
  • Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 3,259
  • Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 1,137
  • Promotions (if any): Outdoors night and Scout night

No other local games scheduled.

Saturday, May 6, 2017

Tampa Bay Baseball Attendance Report - May 5, 2017

Tampa Bay baseball attendance for Friday, May 5, 2017:

Total Attendance: 16,530

Tampa Bay Rays:
  • Team Home Game #: 16
  • Attendance: 12,461
  • Starting Pitcher: Chris Archer
  • Opponent: Toronto Blue Jays
  • Opponent Starting Pitcher: Francisco Lirano
  • Avg Attendance to Date: 15,797
  • Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 15,032
  • Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 14,328
  • Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 19,405
  • Promotions (if any): $5 beers and $7.11 tickets

Tampa Yankees:
  • Team Home Game #: 15
  • Attendance: 891
  • Starting Pitcher: Josh Rogers
  • Opponent: Charlotte Stone Crabs
  • Opponent Starting Pitcher: Miguel Velasquez
  • Avg Attendance to Date: 1,015
  • Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 891
  • Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 1,032
  • Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 1,179
  • Promotions (if any): Wing Deal Friday

Bradenton Marauders:
  • Team Home Game #: 14
  • Attendance: 3,178
  • Starting Pitcher: Mitch Keller
  • Opponent: Dunedin Blue Jays
  • Opponent Starting Pitcher: Angel Perdomo
  • Avg Attendance to Date: 1,399
  • Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 3,178
  • Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 2,112
  • Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 3,356
  • Promotions (if any): Jimmy Buffet Night

No other local games scheduled.

Friday, May 5, 2017

Tampa Bay Baseball Attendance Report - May 4, 2017

Tampa Bay baseball attendance for Thursday, May 4, 2017:

Total Attendance: 12,439

Tampa Bay Rays:
  • Team Home Game #: 15
  • Attendance: 10,118
  • Starting Pitcher: Matt Andriese
  • Opponent: Miami Marlins
  • Opponent Starting Pitcher: Dan Straily
  • Avg Attendance to Date: 16,019
  • Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 11,201
  • Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 12,021
  • Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 13,693
  • Promotions (if any): None

Clearwater Threshers:
  • Team Home Game #: 14
  • Attendance: 1,354
  • Starting Pitcher: Cole Irvin
  • Opponent: Jupiter Hammerheads
  • Opponent Starting Pitcher: Scott Squier
  • Avg Attendance to Date: 3,151
  • Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 2,055
  • Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 2,414
  • Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 2,039
  • Promotions (if any): Taps and Tacos Night

Bradenton Marauders:
  • Team Home Game #: 13
  • Attendance: 669
  • Starting Pitcher: Pedro Vasquez
  • Opponent: St Lucie Mets
  • Opponent Starting Pitcher: Andrew Church
  • Avg Attendance to Date: 1,263
  • Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 621
  • Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 845
  • Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 737
  • Promotions (if any): Thirsty Thursday

Dunedin Blue Jays:
  • Team Home Game #: 13
  • Attendance: 298
  • Starting Pitcher: Jordan Romano
  • Opponent: Tampa Yankees
  • Opponent Starting Pitcher: Erik Swanson
  • Avg Attendance to Date: 498
  • Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 317
  • Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 479
  • Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 327
  • Promotions (if any): None

No other local games scheduled.

Thursday, May 4, 2017

Tampa Bay Rays April 2017 Attendance Review

Welcome to our first monthly review of the Tampa Rays 2017 attendance. This post will look at attendance in games played from April 2, 2017 to April 23, 2017.
  • Total April 2017 Tampa Bay Rays home attendance: 217,896
  • Average attendance per game: 16,761
  • Highest attendance: 31,042 on April 2nd (Opening Day)
  • Lowest attendance: 12,281 on Wednesday, April 19th
  • Average April game time: 3 hours, 20 minutes
  • Highest attended series: 63,145 vs Yankees, April 2-5
  • Lowest attended series: 41,813 vs Tigers, April 18-20
  • Competing events:
    • April 8: Tampa Bay Rowdies soccer at Al Lang Stadium attendance 7,710
    • April 9: Tampa Bay Lightning home game (Attendance 19,092)
    • April 22: Tampa Bay Rowdies soccer @ Al Lang Stadium (attendance: 5,016)
    • April 22: Tampa Bay Storm arena football @ Amalie Arena (attendance: 9,119)
  • Total Tampa Bay Minor League April attendance: 66,273
  • Tampa Bay Minor League attendance per game: 1,657 (40 games)

Comparing April 2017 with previous years

The following chart compares April 2017 average attendance to other recent years.




The average April 2017 attendance increased 5.7% (907 more fans per game) than the April 2016 per game average. This increase stopped a 5 year decline in average April attendance.

As we have stated often, the impact of the Tampa Bay Lightning playoff season on Rays early season attendance is indisputable. This season, the Lightning did not make the playoffs.

Weekdays vs Weekends

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

April 2017 breakdown:
  • Weekday home games: 6
  • Weekend home games: 6
  • Opening Day sold out for the 12th year in a row.

This chart shows the Rays average weekday attendance in April since 2007. I have removed Opening Day attendance from this chart.




Weekday attendance in 2017 increased an average of 2,210 fans per game, giving the Rays their 4th highest weekday April average since 2007. The most likely reason for this is the 19,366 fans the Rays drew on April 4th against the Yankees.

As attendance versus the Yankees has been in decline in the last few seasons, it is highly likely tourists in Tampa in town to see Yankees spring training may have extended their stay for the first series of the regular season. Doing so might still be cheaper than buying tickets to Yankees Stadium.

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




Now the bad news. Rays April average attendance was lower than it has been in 11 years. The Rays two Sunday games in April 2017 averaged 15,444 fans. That should increase.

Conclusion

The Rays had a slight increase in overall attendance in April. That's a good thing. We can attribute some of that increase to the opening series against the Yankees and tourists who stay longer in Tampa Bay, but there was also an April 18th game against Detroit that drew over 16,000 fans.

Although it is a very small sample size, Sunday attendance has to be a concern. The Sunday average in 2016 was slightly over 18,000, and there is no reason not to achieve that again.

The Rays play 16 home games in May, including 3 against the Yankees on May 19-21. We will see how much if any of a bump local Yankees fans will provide to Rays attendance. May is typically the Rays worst attended month. In 2016, however, it was their best.

We will see which way May leans as the days unfold.

Tampa Bay Baseball Attendance Report - May 3, 2017

Tampa Bay baseball attendance for Wednesday, May 3, 2017:

Total Attendance: 14,900

Tampa Bay Rays:
  • Team Home Game #: 14
  • Attendance: 12,285
  • Starting Pitcher: Blake Snell
  • Opponent: Miami Marlins
  • Opponent Starting Pitcher: Adam Conley
  • Avg Attendance to Date: 16,441
  • Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 12,285
  • Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 12,434
  • Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 13,990
  • Promotions (if any): Ballpark Bingo

Clearwater Threshers:
  • Team Home Game #: 13
  • Attendance: 1,668
  • Starting Pitcher: Franklyn Kilome
  • Opponent: Jupiter Hammerheads
  • Opponent Starting Pitcher: Cody Poteet
  • Avg Attendance to Date: 3,301
  • Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 2,289
  • Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 1,668
  • Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 1,923
  • Promotions (if any): Silver Sharks

Bradenton Marauders:
  • Team Home Game #: 12
  • Attendance: 625
  • Starting Pitcher: Dario Agrazal
  • Opponent: St Lucie Mets
  • Opponent Starting Pitcher: Joe Shaw
  • Avg Attendance to Date: 1,312
  • Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 605
  • Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 652
  • Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 999
  • Promotions (if any): Evan Chambers Memorial Night

Dunedin Blue Jays:
  • Team Home Game #: 12
  • Attendance: 322
  • Starting Pitcher: Conor Fisk
  • Opponent: Tampa Yankees
  • Opponent Starting Pitcher: Ian Clarkin
  • Avg Attendance to Date: 505
  • Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 323
  • Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 338
  • Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 323
  • Promotions (if any): None

No other local games scheduled.

Wednesday, May 3, 2017

Tampa Bay Baseball Attendance Report - May 2, 2017

Tampa Bay baseball attendance for Tuesday, May 2, 2017:

Total Attendance: 4,692

Clearwater Threshers
  • Team Home Game #: 12
  • Attendance: 3,772
  • Starting Pitcher: Jose Taveras
  • Opponent: Jupiter Hammerheads
  • Opponent Starting Pitcher: Trevor RIchards
  • Avg Attendance to Date: 3,449
  • Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 2,600
  • Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 4,133
  • Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 3,444
  • Promotions (if any): $1 ticket night

Bradenton Marauders:
  • Team Home Game #: 11
  • Attendance: 588
  • Starting Pitcher: Gage Hinsz
  • Opponent: St Lucie Mets
  • Opponent Starting Pitcher: Nabil Crismatt
  • Avg Attendance to Date: 1,375
  • Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 595
  • Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 597
  • Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 817
  • Promotions (if any): Evan Chambers Memorial Night

Dunedin Blue Jays:
  • Team Home Game #: 11
  • Attendance: 332
  • Starting Pitcher: Ryan Borucki
  • Opponent: Tampa Yankees
  • Opponent Starting Pitcher: Domingo Acevedo
  • Avg Attendance to Date: 521
  • Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 324
  • Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 344
  • Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 367
  • Promotions (if any): None

No other local games scheduled.

Tuesday, May 2, 2017

Tampa Bay Rays Attendance During Tampa Bay Rowdies Games 2010-2016

On this website, I've already looked at Rays attendance during Tampa Bay Lightning, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and USF Football games. Today, I will be looking at Rays attendance on dates that coincide with Tampa Bay Rowdies soccer games.

A lot has been made of the Rowdies recently. The team and the City of St. Petersburg are campaigning to elevate the franchise to Major League Soccer. The #MLS2StPete effort has been ongoing since last year and has a considerable amount of support and money behind it.

I have written on this website that I do not believe the area is big enough nor has enough expendable income for the Rays and a Major League soccer team. Not when sports fans on the other side of the bay already have options such as NFL, NHL, Arena League football, and Minor League baseball. That's a lot of sports for a region that is already economically overstretched.

But are the Rowdies affecting the Rays already? The following chart lists all Rowdies and Rays games played on the same date since the Rowdies resumed play at Steinbrenner Field in 2010.




A few observations:

Rowdies and Rays games often fall on Saturdays. 32 of 39 occurrences were on Saturday. While this makes it easier to compare based on day, it makes it more difficult due to the Rays varying promotional schedule.

12 of the 39 occurrences were on Rays concert series nights. Some concerts drew better than others. Hall and Oates in 2010 were much more popular than Sister Hazel in 2015. Although usually a big draw, I believe the concert series as a whole has lost some of its allure - but that's a post for another day.

3 occurrences were on days the Rays played the Yankees. In 2015 and 2016, this would not be a big deal. But prior to 2015, the Yankees were loaded with marketable stars, most notably Derek Jeter. With 20% of baseball fans in Tampa Bay affiliating with the Yankees, Yankees marketability was once a considerable factor in Rays attendance.

In August 2015, New York fans again swarmed Tropicana Field, but this time it was the New York Mets fans. Although there are far fewer Mets fans than Yankees fans in Tampa Bay, Mets fans made the Mets first visit to Tropicana Field in several years into an event - which means they waited for the day and went en masse, unlike Rays fans, whose support is spread over 81 games.

While there aren't many obvious trends from the above chart, there are two notable trends if pull the data apart a bit. Let's only look at Saturday games (32 of 39 games).




Here is a graph of the above chart.




We see here that while Rays attendance has steadily decreased since 2013 on selected Saturdays, Rowdies attendance has climbed from 3,000 per match to almost 6,000 per match. Since Rays attendance has decreased every day since 2013, it is difficult to attribute the cause on these Saturday to Rowdies soccer, since on 15 of the 32 days the Rays drew more than their Saturday season average.

With little conclusive evidence here, we can't state that Rowdies has had much of an effect on Rays baseball attendance through 2016. There are 8 coinciding dates in 2017, so we will have more data after the close of each team's season.

What I am worried about, however, is the expansion of the Rowdies capacity and interest in St Pete. If the Rowdies move up to Major League Soccer, will there be increased interest and attendance? If Al Lang Stadium is expanded to 18,000 as the Rowdies ownership would like, will fan decisions then affect Rays attendance?

Right now, there are enough hardcore and casual fans to maintain the same levels of attendance at Al Lang and Tropicana Field. But does the market have enough financial capacity to support MLS expansion to St Pete? That is the multi-million dollar question.