Comments on: Stuart Sternberg claims that MLB “no longer believes in the Tampa Bay area”

By: kicksave1980

kicksave1980 — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 08:22:01 +0000

I wasn’t saying there’s anything wrong with it, I’m just saying that it must’ve been weird to go to a hockey game in such a venue.

By: chuckleberry1974

chuckleberry1974 — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 21:26:42 +0000

I think there are too many teams in Florida if you consider all pro sports. Maybe too many options?

By: troy10

troy10 — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 16:58:39 +0000

DCFAN4LIFE

You mention Green Bay fans, Redskins fans and New Yorkers.. but those are all football games. That are ONCE a week. And sometimes not even that if their team is playing an away game.
We’re talking baseball.. where you can have a game EVERYDAY for 10 consecutive games.
I just don’t see how you can compare 8 home football games to 81 home baseball games.

By: Rockie D. Bull

Rockie D. Bull — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 14:57:32 +0000

Its folks in Hillsborough county not wanting to cross a bridge to watch baseball that is the problem. You forgot the Skyway bridge and anyone taking the Courtney Campbell is asking to sit in traffic for a very long time.

By: Rockie D. Bull

Rockie D. Bull — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 14:54:01 +0000

You should have gone to the Blow Hole in Miami instead. Then when you finally got there, you could have turned around and gone back home because there is no where to park.

Try Google maps if you ever come back to a game, there are plenty of ways to get to the stadium from 2 miles away that don’t involve sitting in traffic for 2 hours.

By: Rockie D. Bull

Rockie D. Bull — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 14:50:58 +0000

I had season tickets for 3 years when the Lightening played at the Trop (Thunderdome then) and loved every minute of it. They averaged 19,000 a game and set the hockey indoor playoff attendance record. Then they moved to a new arena in an area that is hard to get to and that place won’t hold 19,000, plus the team sucked so bad they couldn’t give the seats away until the Stanley Cup in 2003.

There was nothing wrong with the Trop when the Lightening played there and there still isn’t now that the Rays are in residence.

By: Rockie D. Bull

Rockie D. Bull — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 14:44:13 +0000

The only “causeway” heading into Pinellas county is the Courtney Campbell. Anyone taking that to the game is going way out of their way – the main arteries feeding the Trop are the Howard-Franklin bridge (4 lanes into Pinellas/St Pete), the Gandy bridge (2 lanes into Pinellas/St Pete) and the Skyway bridge (2 lanes heading into Pinellas/St Pete).

If I am going the other direction to Jesse James stadium (Bucs) or to whatever the hockey arena is named this week – the traffic issues are the same if not worse going to Tampa, especially on a week night. Moving the baseball stadium to Tampa will, in my opinion, increase the traffic issue getting to a game before the first inning.

And say by some miracle a new stadium gets built – how long until the luster wears off like it did with the Blow Hole in Miami that is less than a year old and the fans still won’t turn out?

By: Rockie D. Bull

Rockie D. Bull — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 14:35:06 +0000

There are 2 dumps in MLB – they are in Boston and Chicago, there will never be anything wrong with the Trop as long as those places still stand; not to mention – there has NEVER been a rain out there since the Rays took up residence.

By: Rockie D. Bull

Rockie D. Bull — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 14:29:44 +0000

There is nothing wrong with the Trop, location or otherwise. As long as those twin dumps stand in Boston and Chicago, there will never be anything wrong with the Trop; not to mention – there has NEVER been a rain out there since the Rays took up residence.

Now that the south Florida experiment with the new “Blow Hole” has not worked out, all Uncle Bud accomplished with that disaster was to forever poison the stadium building waters with tax payer money. Stu can bluster and complain all he wants about the deal he has at the Trop but the bottom line is – if it was such a bad deal/stadium – why not buy the Mets instead?

Thanks to former ownership, the Rays also have one of worst TV deals in all of baseball that can only be relieved by moving to a new stadium. Piss poor management in the early years of the franchise and non-existent marketing today are both great contributors to the lack of attendance. The idiot owner has publicly dogged the fans in the press for not going to the games yet he attends more Met games than Ray games.

The biggest problem with attendance at the Trop is all those Buc and Lightening fans from Tampa that are not willing to cross the same bridges that Pinellas county residents have crossed for years in the other direction to see those teams play.

By: bh0673

bh0673 — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 12:25:57 +0000

dcfan4life unless you have been there yourself, YOU HAVE NO CLUE!!!!!
I have been there and I have to admit as much as I love baseball that trip in would make me think twice. What you fail to understand is places like the Meadowlands (which is football), Arlington Texas, DC, New York, Philly Baltimore you have several ways in from Tampa to St Pete all you have are very long bridges. Even going to Yankee games there have been a few times I screwed up and ended up sitting on the George Washington Bridge for hours but that is not the norm. If it was and that was the only way in I would not go to Yankees games as often.

By: themagicfanguy

themagicfanguy — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 04:11:16 +0000

The stadium isn’t the problem, its the location. Nobody from the Orlando/Kissimmee area wants to travel there because of how much of a pain in the neck it is. They’d double their crowd if the Trop was on the other side of town.

By: historiophiliac

historiophiliac — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 03:58:36 +0000

the Snow Rays?

By: historiophiliac

historiophiliac — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 03:56:44 +0000

Maybe the Cards could do a riverboat ballpark…

By: indaburg

indaburg — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 03:50:57 +0000

I’ve lived in the Tampa Bay area for more than a decade and I don’t think it’s a terrible idea. It would be a lovely ride and far more pleasant than being stuck in traffic. A couple of years ago, I heard some murmurings of a possible ferry between Tampa and St. Pete but I have no idea what became of the idea. I know it’s a long distance to span. I don’t know if there are environmental considerations.

By: indaburg

indaburg — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 03:41:10 +0000

Montreal?

By: jashton11

jashton11 — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 03:31:20 +0000

Don’t laugh too hard at the floating ballpark idea. Seattle thought it might work back in the ’60s.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/seattlemunicipalarchives/2301211286/

By: dcfan4life

dcfan4life — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 01:56:03 +0000

Dead last in attendance last year among all MLB clubs at 19,255 people per game. That means more people went to see the God awful Astros over the Rays. That says something right there, regardless of location. New Yorkers go to the meadowlands, Redksins fans go to landover, Rangers fans go to Arlington, Packers fans come from all over to go to Green Bay. Location is a terrible excuse as to not to go see a good team play a great game. If that improves to middle of the pact, i bet a new stadium becomes way more likely.

By: indaburg

indaburg — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 01:44:06 +0000

The team isn’t the Tampa Rays. They’re the Tampa Bay Rays. What he said made no sense because his geography was off.

By: canadabaseball

canadabaseball — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 01:23:53 +0000

If they were to move where would they move to?

By: zacksdad

zacksdad — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 01:23:12 +0000

Wow, how many sentences is that? Hard to read your statement(s).

By: American of African Descent

American of African Descent — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 00:17:46 +0000

I don’t know the area at all. But is it possible to do a high speed ferry across the bay? Fans can park at a ferry slip, get to the stadium timely, and not have to deal with traffic across the bridge. Anyone here think that would be a good idea?

By: caeser12

caeser12 — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 23:26:43 +0000

There’s one in Miami that could use a good baseball team. You may have to do some renovations (center field), but other than that, it’s not being used.

By: bh0673

bh0673 — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 23:19:42 +0000

I have been there too, 1991 watched Giambi hit a walk off home run off Mike Stanton to beat the Yankees pissed off the Oakland fan sitting next to me when I looked at his gloating face and said “enjoy it Giambi will be in pinstripes next year” of course after Giambi’s tenure in New York don’t know who made out on that one. The Oakland Colosseum or whatever it is call now is also a dingy dump.

By: brianabbe

brianabbe — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 22:54:09 +0000

Unless they have a second team (Oakland), there is zero chance for contraction. If the A’s figure out their stadium mess (All bets are off there), you can bet that kills any idea of contraction, because every other team in the majors has at least a halfway viable stadium situation. The game has changed since the idea was proposed over a decade ago. I highly doubt the owners want to lose money to get rid of two teams, TV contracts, 324 games. Not to mention, I’m sure the players are all in favor of getting rid of at least 50 union jobs. Plan on relocation as the best case scenario.

By: bh0673

bh0673 — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 22:53:41 +0000

Maybe Bud does but how would contraction play out after moving Houston to the American League to even up both leagues, why would you get rid of a franchiise and be back in the same spot you were just in. I have to believe moving the team would be MLB’s only option other then leaving them there to flounder.

By: bh0673

bh0673 — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 22:46:33 +0000

I knew what he meant even if his Geography was off

By: bh0673

bh0673 — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 22:45:33 +0000

I agree or MLB should consider moving it to another city, it did work for the Expos since they moved to Washington. Maybe Florida can’t support two teams viably. I would like to think the fans do care but maybe from a finacial standpoint it doesn’t work down there.

By: vanmorrissey

vanmorrissey — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 22:39:31 +0000

Exactly. He doesn’t like it then sell the team and get out of the business, period.

By: bh0673

bh0673 — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 22:38:58 +0000

And where is George M Steinbrenner Field, that’s right it is in Tampa.

By: bh0673

bh0673 — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 22:38:09 +0000

I still think the difference everyone forgets is the guy did take a shot he invested in the team did increase payroll from what it was and made an effort to lure fans to a game. I will give him a pass he wasn’t a sc*mbag like Jeff Loria who invested in the team to get a new stadium and then fire sale’d everyone off.He took a shot made an effort and it didn’t work out.