The Tampa Bay Rays entered Major League Baseball as an expansion team in 1998. For the first ten years of their existence they were a miserable franchise. They finished in last place every season except for one and the year the managed to finish fourth was a losing season too. They were always among the worst teams in the league, usually the very worst. It was not really a surprise that a team with no history and no success was always toward the bottom of the attendance list.
The one and only bright spot of so many miserable seasons was the Rays were always in a good position for the draft. After a decade of high draft picks the Rays built themselves a pretty good team. In 2008 the Rays shocked the baseball world and made it to the World Series. They have had a winning season every year since then and have made it back to the playoffs three more times. You would think this recent success would draw more fans to the ballpark. You would be wrong. The Rays are still toward the bottom of the attendance list every year and finished dead last this year despite making it to the playoffs. What more does a team have to do to get the fans to come out and support them?
Maybe a new stadium would help. Tropicana Field is an eyesore and is by far the ugliest stadium in the league. Over the past twenty years just about every team has gotten a beautiful new state of the art stadium. They all provide a great atmosphere. Tropicana Field looks terrible not only in comparison to all the other newer stadiums but in my opinion looks worse then all the old stadiums that every teams new stadium replaced. Ill take the old cookie cutter stadiums over the Trop any day.
A new stadium probably wouldnt make much difference anyway. For whatever reason Florida is just not a good market for baseball. There are plenty of other cities Id like to see get a major league franchise. Indianapolis and New Orleans come to mind. 25 years ago there were no professional sports franchises in North Carolina or Tennessee. Now both places have an NFL, NBA, and NHL team but no MLB team. I wouldnt mind seeing the Rays move to either of those places.
Just to be clear I have not heard any talk at all about the Rays leaving Tampa. This is just something I've thought about. I dont know the legalities of whats involved in relocating a professional sports franchise. Im sure the Rays have a lease with the city of Tampa and they would need approval from the commissioners office before just packing up and skipping town. Forget what can happen. Would you like to see the Rays get out of Tampa and if so where would you like to see them go?
The one and only bright spot of so many miserable seasons was the Rays were always in a good position for the draft. After a decade of high draft picks the Rays built themselves a pretty good team. In 2008 the Rays shocked the baseball world and made it to the World Series. They have had a winning season every year since then and have made it back to the playoffs three more times. You would think this recent success would draw more fans to the ballpark. You would be wrong. The Rays are still toward the bottom of the attendance list every year and finished dead last this year despite making it to the playoffs. What more does a team have to do to get the fans to come out and support them?
Maybe a new stadium would help. Tropicana Field is an eyesore and is by far the ugliest stadium in the league. Over the past twenty years just about every team has gotten a beautiful new state of the art stadium. They all provide a great atmosphere. Tropicana Field looks terrible not only in comparison to all the other newer stadiums but in my opinion looks worse then all the old stadiums that every teams new stadium replaced. Ill take the old cookie cutter stadiums over the Trop any day.
A new stadium probably wouldnt make much difference anyway. For whatever reason Florida is just not a good market for baseball. There are plenty of other cities Id like to see get a major league franchise. Indianapolis and New Orleans come to mind. 25 years ago there were no professional sports franchises in North Carolina or Tennessee. Now both places have an NFL, NBA, and NHL team but no MLB team. I wouldnt mind seeing the Rays move to either of those places.
Just to be clear I have not heard any talk at all about the Rays leaving Tampa. This is just something I've thought about. I dont know the legalities of whats involved in relocating a professional sports franchise. Im sure the Rays have a lease with the city of Tampa and they would need approval from the commissioners office before just packing up and skipping town. Forget what can happen. Would you like to see the Rays get out of Tampa and if so where would you like to see them go?