I’m saying it’s reasonable think that they could hit 20th.

“Suck” might be too strong, but it’s not an appealing place to see a game. It is inconvenient unless you do live “right down the street.” It is a bit too small for baseball (If you need ground rules for what happens when you hit the catwalks, it’s too small). Yes, you need domed or retractable roof facility to play baseball in Florida in the summer (95 degrees with 90% chance of afternoon showers, and violent thunderstorms that can appear in 20 minutes.). But the trop is not aesthetically pleasing, and that does matter.

Look, baseball, like any sport, is entertainment. And when marketing entertainment, you not only have to make it appealling to watch, you have to make it as convenient to your audience as possible, while balancing that with your profit motive. I’m fine with the team staying in the Tampa/St. Pete area, but I think the long term solution is a new park on the Tampa side of the bay. That would draw more weekday fans from Tampa and more weekend fans from the metro Orlando area, maybe even Disney tourists (Disney to Tampa Amphitheater (for example) is right about an hour drive, to Raymond James about 15 minutes more).

And I never understood why Disney would not want to get involved with a sports team. There might be TV rights issues seeing as how they own ABC and ESPN, but Disney has a built-in marketing machine with very loyal fans.

I think a reasonable goal, for a team as good and entertaining as the Rays, playing in a new and smallish market, is to be in the bottom 10 teams in attendance. That would require another 6 thousand fans a game. But it’s better to think of the half million fans as mostly showing up on weekends and against marquis opponents, which is what happens everywhere (except in the very best markets when the team is winning).

http://espn.go.com/mlb/attendance

I find it amazing that the Commissioner is giving a pass to the dumps in Chicago and Boston while calling for the demolition of a facility (the Trop) that is at least 50 years newer than either of those places.

Oh wait… the Miami Blow Fish do have a brand new stadium (although it has no fan parking places) and the fans still won’t go to the games – even though they did build it at the urging of Uncle Bud.

No thank you to a new stadium in the Tampa Bay area!

Unless Stu and Uncle Bud are kicking in ALL of their money to get it done. At least that way, those 2 will be on the hook for the whole debacle when it turns into the same situation (minus that outfield monstrosity of ugliness) as the new Blow Hole in Miami.

As long as those dumps named Wrigley and Fenway stand, the Trop will always be a great baseball venue!

Much the same could be said for the brand new Blow Hole down in Feeshville – maybe more fans would actually show up (even tho they have no where to park)?

And paying for bait to feed those whales filling the new Blow Hole may be cheaper than actually putting a quality baseball team on the field too.

1. The Trop does NOT suck… that is a fallacy created by Uncle Bud Selig, the Rays owner and all those Tampa based fans who refuse to drive across a bridge to watch a game. The venue has a roof (never been a rain out there) and air conditioning that is necessary from mid April to mid October. To me, the location is also perfect – right down the street from my house.
2. Sternberg knew the particulars of the team financing and the current lease before he bought the team. Maybe a better location would be on the Toy Town dump site, IF they NEEDED a new stadium which they don’t, just because Uncle Bud says they do.
3. As evidenced by the new Blow Hole in Miami – just because they build it, that does not mean the new park will be consistently filled for weeknight games or weekend games.
4. Staying put and not selling the community soul (St Pete or Tampa) because a greedy owner and an idiot commissioner say we should is a much better plan than building a second “Blow Hole” like facility in this area – only to have the same or less attendance numbers.

With Sternberg’s comment, this interview, and Selig’s recent comment, MLB is turning up the heat on the mayor to get him to name his price to break the lease. So far, that’s more than has been done publicly for the A’s.

Having lived in that are for 5 years and having been to the Trop for several games, I really think:

1. The Trop does suck… the venue and the location.
2. Regardless of the particulars on financing and current lease, the most logical location to have a stadium must have easy access to 4 and to I-75.
3. There is no park that can be built in St. Pete that will be consistantly filled for weeknight games.