Tampa Bay Baseball Attendance Report - May 14, 2016

Tampa Bay baseball attendance for Saturday, May 14, 2016:

Total Attendance: 30,814

Tampa Bay Rays:

• Team Home Game #: 20
• Attendance: 28,158
• Starting Pitcher: Matt Andriese
• Opponent: Oakland A's
• Opponent Starting Pitcher: Kendall Graveman
• Avg Attendance to Date: 16,757
• Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 21,381
• Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 24,519
• Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 28,158
• Promotions (if any): Rays Fedora giveaway
• Other events: Tampa Bay Rowdies soccer @ Al Lang Field (Attendance: 6,702)

Tampa Yankees:

• Team Home Game #: 22
• Attendance: 1,886
• Starting Pitcher: Josh Rogers
• Opponent: Clearwater Threshers
• Opponent Starting Pitcher: Elniery Garcia
• Avg Attendance to Date: 1,553
• Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 2,339
• Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 2,220
• Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 1,199
• Promotions (if any): Bark in the Park/ Service Member Saturday

Dunedin Blue Jays:

• Team Home Game #: 19
• Attendance: 770
• Starting Pitcher: Justin Shafer
• Opponent: Brevard County Manatees
• Opponent Starting Pitcher: Brandon Woodruff
• Avg Attendance to Date: 723
• Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 614
• Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 949
• Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 682
• Promotions (if any): Bark in the Park / Food Truck Rally

No other local games scheduled.

Lightning fans #BoycottBradenton due to Spring Training ties

This website has often discussed the self-interest of local areas of Tampa Bay and how sometimes they clash with regional sports interests. This happens quite often as Tampa, Clearwater, Dunedin, and Bradenton all host Spring Training and attempt to increase local and tourism revenue. As I have said plenty of times, any local dollar spent on those teams is a dollar not spent on the Tampa Bay Rays.

Normally, I am a lone voice. But on Friday night, opposition to one community's local interest became a roar.

According to many tweets, the Bradenton Area Convention & Visitors Bureau supplied local Pittsburgh Penguins fans with rally towels similar to those handed out in Pittsburgh. These towels stated "Let's Go Pens" and listed the names of Bradenton area communities. This marketing campaign did not sit well with regional Tampa Bay Lightning fans who started the hashtag #BoycottBradenton and flooded the Bradenton Facebook page with comments opposing the campaign.

In response, the Bradenton Area Convention & Visitors Bureau issued a statement and tried to save face by wishing both the Lightning and the Penguins luck in their playoff games, adding ..

"Throughout the state of Florida, it is common for destination marketing organizations to have out-of-state partnerships through sports marketing initiatives, including major league teams."

This is a sad example of trying to play both sides of the fence. This happens far too often in the Tampa Bay area, and the Bradenton Visitors Bureau got called out on it. This is no different than when Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn wears a Yankees jersey or the Tampa Sports Authority works out a deal with the Yankees while attempting to negotiate with the Rays.

The Bradenton Visitor Center's statement that

we have and will continue to support the Tampa Bay Lightning through our annual marketing initiatives and wish both teams the best of luck in the Eastern Conference Finals

sounds a lot like when I called out the Twitter account of Hillsborough County for their support of the Yankees.

@TBBaseballMkt Proud to support baseball in #TampaBay! Many teams call our area home in the spring. Summer's a different ballgame... #RaysUp

— ⚡️ #Boltsborough ⚡️ (@HillsboroughFL) June 20, 2015

Unfortunately for the Bradenton Area Convention & Visitors Bureau, they weren't campaigning against the Rays, but against the popular local hockey team. By doing so, they stepped in a big pile of conflicted local interest.

This marketing misstep revealed some interesting facts about the Bradenton Visitors Bureau. A quick google of Elliott Falcione, their executive director, reveals he used to be the Assistant Director of Operations for the Pittsburgh Pirates. He assumed his current position in June 2011. There is little doubt this move was to solidify the bond between the Pirates and the City of Bradenton. It is not coincidence the next year, Bradenton city officials approved renovations for McKechnie Field, spring home of the Pirates.

According to the Bradenton Herald,

As part of the deal, the Pittsburgh Pirates plan to increase the amount they spend on marketing from $150,000 to $400,000 annually. The money will be used to promote tourism in Manatee County.

Perhaps this is where the money for the towels came from.

The close relationship between Bradenton and the Pirates was also evident when Falcione threw out the first pitch at PNC Park in Pittsburgh in August 2013 on "Bradenton Day". There is little doubt where Falcione's interests lie.

Despite these ties, the Pittsburgh area is only seventh among the origin of Bradenton tourists, behind Orlando, Tampa/St.Pete, New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Boston.

Now we have to wonder about the fallout of #BoycottBradenton. Will it affect the Bradenton Marauders in any way? Could they lose sponsors? Could they lose attendance?

Currently, through Game 16 of their season, the Marauders are averaging 1,384 fans per game. This is already 553 fans per game lower than their 2015 per game average at the same point in the season.

To the Marauders advantage, they are on a road trip until May 20th, which is the date of Game 4 of the Lightning-Penguins series. It is possible the series could end that night and #BoycottBradenton might not have to time to gain momentum.

If #BoycottBradenton builds, however, it may be possible Lightning fans in the Bradenton area refuse to spend their dollars at McKechnie Field. If that happens, Marauders attendance could drop severely. Minor League attendance doesn't rely on tourists like Spring Training does.

Of course, the Bradenton Visitors Bureau will still have to the Pirates coming in February 2017 and if that is where they are focusing their marketing effort - on the 15 games and two months of Spring Training - then appealing to the Pittsburgh market is a smart move, even if it is counter to the rooting interests of the rest of the Tampa Bay region.

But we have to wonder what would happen if the skate was on the other foot. What if the Rays trained in the suburbs of Pittsburgh, would those municipalities root for the Lightning instead of the Penguins?

Probably not.

Only in Tampa Bay do we have this problem.

Tampa Bay Baseball Attendance Report - May 13, 2016

Tampa Bay baseball attendance for Friday, May 13, 2016:

Total Attendance: 16,038

Tampa Bay Rays:

• Team Home Game #: 19
• Attendance: 14,604
• Starting Pitcher: Jake Odorizzi
• Opponent: Oakland A's
• Opponent Starting Pitcher: Rich Hill
• Avg Attendance to Date: 16,157
• Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 16,157
• Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 15,028
• Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 16,475
• Promotions (if any): $15 Student Tickets
• Other events: None

Tampa Yankees:

• Team Home Game #: 21
• Attendance: 2,152
• Starting Pitcher: Chance Adams
• Opponent: Clearwater Threshers
• Opponent Starting Pitcher: Ranfi Casimiro
• Avg Attendance to Date: 1,536
• Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 2,150
• Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 1,251
• Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 1,498
• Promotions (if any): Wing Deal Friday

Dunedin Blue Jays:

• Team Home Game #: 17 / 18
• Attendance: 458
• Starting Pitcher: Kyle Westwood / Chris Rowley
• Opponent: Brevard County Manatees
• Opponent Starting Pitcher: Bubba Derby / Angel Ventura
• Avg Attendance to Date: 720
• Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 458
• Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 594
• Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 647 / 458
• Promotions (if any): BOGO Margaritas

No other local games scheduled.

Tampa Bay Baseball Attendance Report - May 12, 2016

Tampa Bay baseball attendance for Thursday, May 12, 2016:

Total Attendance: 2,152

Clearwater Threshers:

• Team Home Game #: 17
• Attendance: 2,152
• Starting Pitcher: Matt Imhof
• Opponent: Dunedin Blue Jays
• Opponent Starting Pitcher: Francisco Rios
• Avg Attendance to Date: 3,125
• Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 4,013
• Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 2,012
• Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 2,738
• Promotions (if any): Taps and Tacos Thursday
• Other events: None

No other local games scheduled.

Tampa Bay Baseball Attendance Report - May 11, 2016

Tampa Bay baseball attendance for Wednesday, May 11, 2016:

Total Attendance: 1,128

Dunedin Blue Jays:

• Team Home Game #: 16
• Attendance: 530
• Starting Pitcher: Brad Allen
• Opponent: Clearwater Threshers
• Opponent Starting Pitcher: Tom Eschelman
• Avg Attendance to Date: 737
• Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 844
• Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 545
• Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 602
• Promotions (if any): None
• Other events: None

Bradenton Marauders:

• Team Home Game #: 16
• Attendance: 598
• Starting Pitcher: Colten Brewer
• Opponent: Fort Myers Miracle
• Opponent Starting Pitcher: Tyler Jay
• Avg Attendance to Date: 1,384
• Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 1,986
• Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 573
• Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 2,442
• Promotions (if any): None

No other local games scheduled.

Monthly Baseball Attendance Trends in Tampa Bay by Team 2007-2015

This post is an update to a post I wrote in July 2015.

Previously, we looked at the total monthly attendance trends of Minor League Baseball in Tampa Bay and compared it to the monthly attendance trends of the Tampa Bay Rays. We found attendance trends for Minor League Baseball and Major League Baseball in Tampa Bay are very different.

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.

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:

2015 was unique to the Threshers as it was the first time April was their month of highest attendance. June remained a difficult month and July remained a good month for Threshers attendance.

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

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

Here are the monthly attendance trends for the Tampa Yankees:

In 2015, Tampa Yankees monthly trends were almost identical to 2013 and 2014 trends.

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:

In 2015, Dunedin Blue Jays monthly trends were very similar to 2014 trends. It is interesting to see how August has switched from their best month to their worst month.

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

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

Here are the monthly attendance trends for the Bradenton Marauders:

2015 was the first year Marauders attendance in April paced the year. It was also the first year June attendance was the lowest of the year, the year after it was the best month. Unlike the other regional teams, there isn't much of a pattern to the Marauders monthly trends.

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 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 previous post when we concluded May was a good month for Minor League teams while a bad month for the Rays.

Weather might also 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, good promotions, 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.

Tampa Bay Baseball Attendance Report - May 10, 2016

Tampa Bay baseball attendance for Tuesday, May 10, 2016:

Total Attendance: 4,857

Tampa Yankees:

• Team Home Game #: 20
• Attendance: 754
• Starting Pitcher: Joey Maher
• Opponent: Lakeland Flying Tigers
• Opponent Starting Pitcher: Endrys Briceno
• Avg Attendance to Date: 1,565
• Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 1,147
• Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 784
• Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 856
• Promotions (if any): None
• Other events: None

Clearwater Threshers:

• Team Home Game #: 16
• Attendance: 4,103
• Starting Pitcher: Will Morris
• Opponent: Dunedin Blue Jays
• Opponent Starting Pitcher: Conner Green
• Avg Attendance to Date: 3,186
• Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 4,943
• Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 3,691
• Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 3,154
• Promotions (if any): $1 Tuesday

No other local games scheduled.

Tampa Bay Baseball Attendance Report - May 9, 2016

Tampa Bay baseball attendance for Monday, May 9, 2016:

Total Attendance: 1,963

Tampa Yankees:

• Team Home Game #: 19
• Attendance: 823
• Starting Pitcher: Josh Rogers
• Opponent: Lakeland Flying Tigers
• Opponent Starting Pitcher: Jeff Thompson
• Avg Attendance to Date: 1,610
• Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 1,343
• Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 784
• Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 856
• Promotions (if any): 1/2 Price Monday
• Other events: None

Bradenton Marauders:

• Team Home Game #: 15
• Attendance: 680
• Starting Pitcher: Alex McRae
• Opponent: Fort Myers Miracle
• Opponent Starting Pitcher: Stephan Gonsalves
• Avg Attendance to Date: 1,436
• Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 2,449
• Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 581
• Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 760
• Promotions (if any): Get a Plan Night

Dunedin Blue Jays:

• Team Home Game #: 15
• Attendance: 460
• Starting Pitcher: Justin Schafer
• Opponent: Daytona Tortugas
• Opponent Starting Pitcher: Tyler Viza
• Avg Attendance to Date: 751
• Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 922
• Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 537
• Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 891
• Promotions (if any): None

No other local games scheduled.

Tampa Bay Baseball Monthly Attendance Trends 2007-2015

This post is an update to a previous post I did last year with added 2015 data.

In this post, I will 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 2015. 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 every year. 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

Here are the total monthly attendance patterns for the four Minor League Baseball teams in Tampa Bay from 2007 to 2015 – 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. April / Aug/Sept
4. June

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

Here are a few facts we can derive from this graph:

• 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. 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?

May is also when Minor League teams do "School Days". These promotions usually draw thousands of local kids. The Rays, on the other hand, hold a Camp Day in the summer where they invite thousands of kids from local organizations. So that might explain the May spike for the Minor League teams.

I would be curious to see how other Major and Minor League teams trend. Are Tampa Bay ticket buyers unique in their behavior?

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 - May 8, 2016

Tampa Bay baseball attendance for Sunday, May 8, 2016:

Total Attendance: 504

Dunedin Blue Jays:

• Team Home Game #: 14
• Attendance: 504
• Starting Pitcher: Kyle Westwood
• Opponent: Daytona Tortugas
• Opponent Starting Pitcher: Tejay Antone
• Avg Attendance to Date: 772
• Avg Attendance vs Opponent: 664
• Avg Attendance per Day of the Week: 642
• Avg Attendance for Starting Pitcher: 710
• Promotions (if any): Kids Free Sunday
• Other local events
  
  • Tampa Bay Lightning Playoff game @ Amalie Arena (Attendance: 19,092)

No other local games scheduled.