Tampa Bay Baseball Attendance - April 13, 2014

Tampa Bay baseball attendance for Sunday, April 13, 2014:

Tampa Yankees:

• Team Home Game #: 6
• Attendance: 1,130
• Starting Pitcher: Manny Banuelos
• Opponent: Daytona Cubs
• Opponent Starting Pitcher: Ben Wells
• Avg Attendance to Date: 1,634
• Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 1,488
• Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 1,244
• Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 1,130
• Promotions (if any): Seniors Eat Free
• Other Factors (conflicting events, etc): Tampa Bay Blues Festival - Vinoy Park, St. Petersburg. Hockey: Tampa Bay Lightning (attendance: 18,506)

Dunedin Blue Jays:

• Team Home Game #: 5
• Attendance: 617
• Starting Pitcher: Kramer Chaplin
• Opponent: Brevard County Manatees
• Opponent Starting Pitcher: Hobbs Johnson
• Avg Attendance to Date: 1,078
• Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 899
• Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 617
• Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 617
• Promotions (if any): None

No other area games.

Tampa Bay Baseball Attendance - April 12, 2014

Tampa Bay baseball attendance for Saturday, April 12, 2014:

Tampa Yankees:

• Team Home Game #: 5
• Attendance: 2,060
• Starting Pitcher: Dan Camarena
• Opponent: Daytona Cubs
• Opponent Starting Pitcher: Rob Zastryzny
• Avg Attendance to Date: 1,735.2
• Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 1,667.5
• Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 2,060
• Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 1,709
• Promotions (if any): Pink Out Night
• Other Factors (conflicting events, etc): Tampa Bay Blues Festival - Vinoy Park, St. Petersburg. Comedy: Side Splitters - Jim Norton.

Dunedin Blue Jays:

• Team Home Game #: 4
• Attendance: 1,271
• Starting Pitcher: Daniel Norris
• Opponent: Brevard County Manatees
• Opponent Starting Pitcher: Jorge Lopez
• Avg Attendance to Date: 1,193.75
• Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 1,039.5
• Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 1,067.5
• Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 1,271
• Promotions (if any): Bark in the Park

No other area games.

Tampa Bay Baseball Attendance - April 11, 2014

Tampa Bay baseball attendance for Friday, April 11, 2014:

Tampa Yankees:

• Team Home Game #: 4


• Attendance: 1,275


• Starting Pitcher: Rafael De Paula


• Opponent: Daytona Cubs


• Opponent Starting Pitcher: Yao-Lin Wang


• Avg Attendance to Date: 1,654


• Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 1,275


• Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 1,672.5


• Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 1,275


• Promotions (if any): Social Media Friday


• Other Factors (conflicting events, etc): Tampa Bay Lightning hockey (attendance: 18,686). Concerts: Bullstock 2014 (University of South Florida free concert - Panic! At the Disco, etc). Tampa Bay Blues Festival - Vinoy Park, St. Petersburg. Comedy: Side Splitters - Jim Norton.

Dunedin Blue Jays:

• Team Home Game #: 3


• Attendance: 808


• Starting Pitcher: Jesse Hernandez


• Opponent: Brevard County Manatees


• Opponent Starting Pitcher: Jed Bradley


• Avg Attendance to Date: 1,168


• Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 808


• Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 808


• Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 808


• Promotions (if any): Buy one, get one free Margaritas

No other area games.

Star Wars Night coming to a park not so far, far away

I am a huge Star Wars fan, so please pardon my excitement here.

Three teams in the Tampa Bay area will be hosting Star Wars Nights this season. Three times this year Tampa Bay area Star Wars fans will be able to celebrate the majesty that is Star Wars while seeing the spectacle that is baseball.

This year's area Star Wars Night promotions are scheduled on:

• Saturday, April 19th - Clearwater Threshers
• Saturday, June 28th - Tampa Yankees
• Saturday, July 19th - Bradenton Marauders

The Clearwater Threshers are the first team to release a commercial for their Star Wars Night promotion and it is quite the ad.



 That none have scheduled one for Sunday, May 4th is a little odd, as that is considered "Star Wars Day". My guess is that the Tampa Bay Squad of the 501st Legion - the officially chartered folks that dress up as Star Wars characters - have other engagements that day. I am not sure how many of the area minor league teams have had Star Wars Nights in the past. The Rays had a Star Wars Night in 2012 and 2013. These games drew 20,908 and 23,835, respectively.

So if you see someone totally geeking out in Clearwater, Tampa, and Bradenton at Star Wars Night, say hi. That's probably me.

Tampa Bay Baseball Attendance - April 10, 2014

Tampa Bay baseball attendance for Thursday, April 10, 2014:

Tampa Yankees:

• Team Home Game #: 3


• Attendance: 1,913


• Starting Pitcher: Eric Wooten


• Opponent: Clearwater Threshers


• Opponent Starting Pitcher: Jon Prosinski


• Avg Attendance to Date: 1,780.33


• Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 1,913


• Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 1,913


• Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 1,991.5


• Promotions (if any): University of South Florida Day


• Other Factors (conflicting events, etc): Tampa Bay Lightning hockey (attendance: 19,204)

Bradenton Marauders:

• Team Home Game #: 5


• Attendance: 1,208


• Starting Pitcher: Chad Kuhl


• Opponent: Palm Beach Miracle


• Opponent Starting Pitcher: Mike Mayers


• Avg Attendance to Date: 1,170.6


• Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 931


• Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 1,208


• Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 1,208


• Promotions (if any): Thirsty Thursday

No other area games.

Attendance Review: 2010 Tampa Yankees

Welcome to our 4th attendance review post on the Tampa Yankees, minor league affiliate of the New York Yankees.

Background:

The Tampa Yankees began play in 1994. After two seasons playing at the University of South Florida, the Tampa Yankees moved to Legends Field, a stadium built across the street from Raymond James Stadium, home of the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Legends Field was renamed Steinbrenner Field in 2008.

Tampa Yankees 2010:


Home Games: 69

Total attendance: 99,736 (up 7.62% from 2009: 92,671)

Average: 1,534.4 (up from 2009: 1,519.2)

Highest attended game: 5,519 on Saturday, May 22nd vs Palm Beach

Lowest attended game: 739 on Wednesday, September 1st vs Brevard County

Low point of average attendance: April 16, Game 3 (1,413)

Double headers: 3 (Apr 19, Aug 15, Aug 22)

Cancellations: 1 (Aug 17 vs Daytona)

Notable rehab assignments: None

Other notable appearances: None

Breakdown:

(red highlight = below annual average of 1,534)

By Month:

The following graph depicts the average attendance by month.

By Day:

The following graph depicts the average attendance by day of the week.

By Opponent:

By Starting Pitcher:

Tampa Bay Baseball Attendance - April 9th, 2014

Tampa Bay baseball attendance for Wednesday, April 9, 2014:

Clearwater Threshers:

• Team Home Game #: 4


• Attendance: 1,856


• Starting Pitcher: Ethan Stewart


• Opponent: Tampa Yankees


• Opponent Starting Pitcher: Dietrich Enns


• Avg Attendance to Date: 2,809.5


• Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 2,417


• Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 1,856


• Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 3,025.5


• Promotions (if any): Career Fair, Happy Hour


• Other Factors (conflicting events, etc): None

Bradenton Marauders:

• Team Home Game #: 4


• Attendance: 735


• Starting Pitcher: Jeff Locke


• Opponent: Palm Beach Miracle


• Opponent Starting Pitcher: Marco Gonzalez


• Avg Attendance to Date: 1,161


• Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 792.5


• Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 735


• Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 735


• Promotions (if any): None

No other area games.

Tampa Bay is Rays Country according to Facebook and Wall Street Journal

This slipped my radar last week, but the Wall Street Journal posted an interesting map of what baseball team has the most Facebook "likes" per US county.

Check it out here: Baseball Season Is Here. Who's Your Team?

According to the map, the area from Citrus County in the north to Charlotte County in the south to Okechobee County in the east is "Rays Country", where the Rays Facebook page has the most "likes" than any other team. "Rays Country" also includes Levy, Gilchrist, Alachua, and Leon counties. (Alachua and Leon possibly because of the Tampa Bay area college students at UF and FSU.)

The rest of Florida is dominated by the Braves in the north, the Yankees along the east coast, and the Marlins in the south.

While there is no doubt the Yankees are the most popular team in the nation, Wall Street Journal writer Darren Everson makes an error explaining the Yankees popularity in Florida. In the article, as well as in an online video, Everson claims the Yankees are popular in Florida because "the Yankees have had their spring training in Florida for years".

Yet Hillsborough County has more Rays likes than Yankees "likes". It is possible the Yankees have some residual "liking" in Fort Lauderdale (Broward County), where they trained from 1962 to 1995, but they have been in Tampa since 1996. Yankees popularity in Florida is more likely attributable to the amount of New Yorkers who have either found jobs in Florida or retired to Florida. If spring training was a major factor, Lee County, where the Red Sox train, would be red, not black.

As well, Arizona is all maroon for the Arizona Diamondbacks. There is no influence from the Cubs, Giants, Dodgers, or any other popular team that conducts spring training in the state.

A few questions about the survey:

1) Is this survey done every year? It would be interesting to see if any county has changed allegiance over the years. I would think the Rays would like to change Orange County and the Orlando area from Yankees black to Rays yellow.

2) How did the survey account for "buying likes"? It is possible for a page to have false likes, as marketers can "buy" an amount of likes to boost the popularity of the page. Did the Wall Street Journal or the people doing the survey discount any false likes?

Tampa Bay Baseball Attendance - April 8th, 2014

Tampa Bay baseball attendance for Tuesday, April 8, 2014:

Clearwater Threshers:

• Team Home Game #: 3


• Attendance: 2,978


• Starting Pitcher: Colin Kleven


• Opponent: Tampa Yankees


• Opponent Starting Pitcher: Manny Banuelos


• Avg Attendance to Date: 3,127


• Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 3,127


• Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 3,127


• Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 3,127


• Promotions (if any): $1.00 tickets, hot dogs, 12oz draft beers, 16oz soft drinks, popcorn, peanuts, ice cream sandwiches


• Other Factors (conflicting events, etc): Hockey: Tampa Bay Lightning (Attendance: 18,896)

Bradenton Marauders:

• Team Home Game #: 3


• Attendance: 850


• Starting Pitcher: Jason Creasy


• Opponent: Palm Beach Miracle


• Opponent Starting Pitcher: Kyle Helisek


• Avg Attendance to Date: 1,303


• Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 850


• Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 850


• Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 850


• Promotions (if any): 2-for-1 tickets, Baseball Bingo, Kids' Club Night

No other area games.

Tampa Bay Area Spring Training Attendance 2014 Update

A few months ago, we published charts on spring training attendance in the Tampa Bay area since 2005. Yesterday, the Florida Sports Foundation published attendance figures for the 2014 Grapefruit League season.

Since 2008, there have been four teams training in the Tampa Bay area: the Yankees (Tampa), Blue Jays (Dunedin), Phillies (Clearwater), and Pirates (Bradenton).

The current capacities for each team’s stadium are as follows:

• Steinbrenner Field (Yankees): 11,000
• Bright House Field (Phillies): 8,500
• McKechnie Field (Pirates): 8,500
• Florida Auto Exchange Stadium (Blue Jays): 5,521

New for 2014 were improvements to Bradenton's McKechnie Field. These improvements included an outfield bleacher and a boardwalk.

Here are updated charts and graphs of Tampa Bay area Spring Training attendance from 2005-2014. From 2005-2008, this chart includes the Tampa Bay Rays, who trained in St. Petersburg before moving to Port Charlotte.

Tampa Bay Area Overall Spring Training Attendance:

In 2014, Spring Training attendance in the Tampa Bay area went up 2.4%. This is below the overall Grapefruit League gain of 4%. The following chart shows the yearly total averages and percentage increase or decrease of all teams spring training in the Tampa Bay area since 2005.

The following graph breaks out individual team per game attendance.

As depicted, only one team in the Tampa Bay area had an increase in Spring Training attendance.

• Pirates: +21.8%
• Blue Jays: -1.16%
• Yankees: -1.9%
• Phillies: -5.98%

Pirates spring training attendance since 2005:

Blue Jays spring training attendance since 2005:

Yankees spring training attendance since 2005:

Phillies spring training attendance since 2005:

Interestingly, like the difference between Tampa Bay spring training and the rest of Florida, there is a geographic difference in attendance in certain areas of the Arizona Cactus League. According to this article by Ronald J. Hansen of the Arizona Republic, the eastern side of the Cactus League draws more than the western side.

According to Cactus League figures, East Valley and Scottsdale teams have averaged 50 percent more fans, an extra 3,000 people per game, over the past eight years.

Hansen attributes this phenomenon to the notion that the teams in the East Valley are more popular than the teams in the West Valley, despite there being more teams in the West than in the East. According to Hansen, the Eastern side contains the popular Cubs, Giants, and hometown Diamondbacks, while the most marquee team in the west is the Dodgers.