April 28th, 2010.
A sparse crowd at Wednesday’s Rays-Oakland A’s game at Tropicana Field have some pointing to attendance problems.
Here’s an excellent comment from tampabay.com: “My family goes to many Rays games here in St. Pete but if the Rays leave my city, we will stop going to games and purchasing Rays gear. We did the same thing when the Lightning left. We haven’t been to a hockey game since. We are sick of people whining about the drive to St. Pete. What do they think people in St. Pete have to do if they want to see the Bucs or the Lightning. Give me a break. People in Tampa are just spoiled by not having to drive more than a half hour to see their teams play in addition to being greedy and want the tax revenue. Rays management better think twice about kissing the loyal fans from St. Pete good-bye. It may just backfire on them.”
While I think it’s a bit extreme to totally disown your team if they were to move, I can see how passionate this person is about the Rays. I feel the same way. I want them to stay here and, like I mentioned in prior posts, I just went to five games in a row. If I were not working tonight, it would be six. I do my part, right? I just really hate the idea of the Rays going to Tampa. I really dislike that city, and it’s not fun to drive around in, and, above all, a bit scary.
I hate even talking about getting a new stadium, as it really would be a horrible day for the city of St. Petersburg. To be honest, I don’t get the big hype over the Trop being such a “horrible” ballfriend. Yeah, it’s a bit different but I actually like that it is indoors. While I have been to Turner Field many times, I think there’s been at least once or twice it has gotten rained out and I have been upset over that. That would never happen at the Trop. Just sayin’
Another thought: they charge WAY too much for parking. It’s about $20 a pop each car if you park in the main parking lot. That’s more expensive than a ticket itself. So maybe they should reevaluate something like that.
All of you should stop whining because I have to drive from Sarasota to see the Rays. You should all be thankful that the team is so close to you, whether you’re in St. Pete or Tampa. If relocating to Tampa to a nice, new stadium is what’s best for the team, then I think that’s great. If staying in St. Pete is what’s best, that’s fine, too. What is really stupid is this rivalry between St. Pete and Tampa when you root for the same team. Come on, people.
It makes me so mad every time I watch one of our games and see crowds like this. THIS IS THE BEST TEAM IN BASEBALL RIGHT NOW, and only 10,000 (announced) show up? That’s just awful. If people want to see this team continue to succeed, they’re going to need people to buy tickets. This team deserves the support.
