Last night, the Tampa Bay Rays, who are tied for the best record in all of baseball, had a home game against the Toronto Blue Jays, another good team despite being forth in their own division. They're almost for surely a lock to get either the Divisional title or the Wild Card title, and have had success as of late, even making the World Series just two years ago. However, here's a daunting number to show you:
23,438; 11,968
That is the attendance for the playoff bound Rays for the past two games. The two days before that, Friday and Saturday vs. rival Red Sox, they were marginally higher then the Sunday night game, but it still wasn't even 75% of the stadium's capacity filled. While some of these numbers aren't even close to as poor as what the Montreal Expos were doing in the early 00's, they aren't drawing a whole lot of fans to the games, which makes me beg the question:
Should the Tampa Bay Rays be relocated?
While I know this question may sound a bit crazy, consider this:
-Out of the 12 teams in first or second place in their division, Tampa finishes last in both average attendance and % of attendance filled for this season, currently being 23rd out of the 30 teams. San Diego is the only other playoff-bound team in the bottom 10, at number 20.
-The two years before this, in 09 where they were coming off of a WS berth and 08 when they were making their playoff push, they finished 23rd and 26th in average attendance totals, respectively.
-The team has only been around since 98, and there is a team in Florida that's had more success, the Marlins, and are receiving a new stadium sometime in the near future. Add that into the fact that the Braves are also nearby and draw somewhere near the middle of the pack.
Yes, you could say that they could just relocate the Marlins, but I'm pretty positive it's clear that they wouldn't considering they are getting a new stadium within the next 2-3 years, despite finishing even worse in the attendance figures consistently.
If the Rays were to relocate, some possible destinations could be:
Canada Many Canadians have been upset over the fact that the MLB took the Expos away from them, and this could be their chance to give it back to them. The Expos were having talks of receiving a new stadium before they were suddenly shut down, and if a winning team like the Rays were moved there they would be able to make a new stadium and their attendance would be better then what they're receiving in Tampa. I didn't specify a certain city in Canada, because there's a few places you could go with them. Montreal, Ottowa, Edmonton, or even Vancouver. However, if they were to move to one of these cities like Vancouver, realignment among the divisions would be necessary as Vancouver is, obviously, is far out west while the Rays play in the East. One setback to this would be the transition rates from US to Canadian money, but it hasn't broken the Blue Jays yet.
New Jersey Again, I'm not specifying a city, but since they do play in the East, moving up to New Jersey, just south of the Yankees and Red Sox, would help them, more then likely, sell out those games whenever they faced off with each other. The Jets and Giants are located in NJ and normally do well in attendance, and I don't think it'd be any different with the Rays.
North Carolina Carolina already has 3 of the 4 pro league teams, with the Panthers, Bobcats, and Hurricanes, and again wouldn't force the need of realignment. Carolina hasn't ever had a professional baseball team, but with both the Hurricanes and Bobcats, who also play many regular season games, their attendance averages reaches over 75% for teams that haven't had a lot of success in the past 5 years. Probably not a favorite, should they move, but Carolina is a decent sports state.
There would be other candidates, as well, like Las Vegas, who always seems to be in consideration although they'll never get a city, and Virginia, although with the nearby Orioles and Nationals not doing a whole lot in drawing that could be questionable.
However, like I said, do you think the Rays should relocate? If so, where? If no, why? Judging by their poor attendance and lack of history, I wouldn't put it out of question. There's certainly a lot of cities that are baseball hungry and would welcome them in with open arms. It's just sad to see a great, young team like these Rays draw numbers that the Mariners would laugh at.
23,438; 11,968
That is the attendance for the playoff bound Rays for the past two games. The two days before that, Friday and Saturday vs. rival Red Sox, they were marginally higher then the Sunday night game, but it still wasn't even 75% of the stadium's capacity filled. While some of these numbers aren't even close to as poor as what the Montreal Expos were doing in the early 00's, they aren't drawing a whole lot of fans to the games, which makes me beg the question:
Should the Tampa Bay Rays be relocated?
While I know this question may sound a bit crazy, consider this:
-Out of the 12 teams in first or second place in their division, Tampa finishes last in both average attendance and % of attendance filled for this season, currently being 23rd out of the 30 teams. San Diego is the only other playoff-bound team in the bottom 10, at number 20.
-The two years before this, in 09 where they were coming off of a WS berth and 08 when they were making their playoff push, they finished 23rd and 26th in average attendance totals, respectively.
-The team has only been around since 98, and there is a team in Florida that's had more success, the Marlins, and are receiving a new stadium sometime in the near future. Add that into the fact that the Braves are also nearby and draw somewhere near the middle of the pack.
Yes, you could say that they could just relocate the Marlins, but I'm pretty positive it's clear that they wouldn't considering they are getting a new stadium within the next 2-3 years, despite finishing even worse in the attendance figures consistently.
If the Rays were to relocate, some possible destinations could be:
Canada Many Canadians have been upset over the fact that the MLB took the Expos away from them, and this could be their chance to give it back to them. The Expos were having talks of receiving a new stadium before they were suddenly shut down, and if a winning team like the Rays were moved there they would be able to make a new stadium and their attendance would be better then what they're receiving in Tampa. I didn't specify a certain city in Canada, because there's a few places you could go with them. Montreal, Ottowa, Edmonton, or even Vancouver. However, if they were to move to one of these cities like Vancouver, realignment among the divisions would be necessary as Vancouver is, obviously, is far out west while the Rays play in the East. One setback to this would be the transition rates from US to Canadian money, but it hasn't broken the Blue Jays yet.
New Jersey Again, I'm not specifying a city, but since they do play in the East, moving up to New Jersey, just south of the Yankees and Red Sox, would help them, more then likely, sell out those games whenever they faced off with each other. The Jets and Giants are located in NJ and normally do well in attendance, and I don't think it'd be any different with the Rays.
North Carolina Carolina already has 3 of the 4 pro league teams, with the Panthers, Bobcats, and Hurricanes, and again wouldn't force the need of realignment. Carolina hasn't ever had a professional baseball team, but with both the Hurricanes and Bobcats, who also play many regular season games, their attendance averages reaches over 75% for teams that haven't had a lot of success in the past 5 years. Probably not a favorite, should they move, but Carolina is a decent sports state.
There would be other candidates, as well, like Las Vegas, who always seems to be in consideration although they'll never get a city, and Virginia, although with the nearby Orioles and Nationals not doing a whole lot in drawing that could be questionable.
However, like I said, do you think the Rays should relocate? If so, where? If no, why? Judging by their poor attendance and lack of history, I wouldn't put it out of question. There's certainly a lot of cities that are baseball hungry and would welcome them in with open arms. It's just sad to see a great, young team like these Rays draw numbers that the Mariners would laugh at.
And it doesn't appear that the MLB is itching to get the Rays a new stadium anytime soon.