Rays winning, but attendance woes continue

The Tampa Bay Rays entered Sunday with the second best record among the 12 Major League Baseball teams hosting a Mother's Day match-up. But the Rays, who defeated the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 8-5, drew a Major League low 13,010 fans for the afternoon contest.

Ouch.

The Rays drew 5,625 fans less than the next lowest club, the Kansas City Royals. The San Diego Padres, who were 13-24 entering Sunday, drew 28,624 fans. The Seattle Mariners, who played during a 48 degree drizzle, drew 30,346 fans.

Even Saturday, when the Rays drew a more respectable 25,512 fans, the team had more fans than only two Major League clubs - the Royals and the Texas Rangers. The New York Mets, who played a doubleheader at Shea Stadium, drew more than 102,000 fans in total.

The Rays, despite the American League's third best record, now rank 13th out of 14th in paid attendance. Thank those Royals that the Rays are not last.

Comments

[Matt]

Hey knucklehead... IT WAS MOTHER'S DAY! How many people go to a baseball game on Mother's Day?!? Also consider the Angels have NEVER been a big draw, gas is near $4 a gallon, and the $10 parking for parties under four (Rays going "green" as in more green in their coffers) and you're not going to have a big crowd. Now calm down and stick to writing about the game!

[RayF]

Rediculous. Don't blame me. I was there. A professional sports team deserves better than this. They kept their end of the bargain by putting together a winning club and this is the thanks they get? Sad. Go Rays!

[Rich]

Hillsborough/Pinellas is loaded with people who love the baseball teams from the towns up north that they came from.

The natives don't watch baseball, they're all hovering around their kitchen sinks making meth.

Who's left to go to an indoor baseball game in a bad part of town? 13,010.

[James]

Remember that there's 80+ home games every year and many people simply see a plethra of opportunities to go to a game. Personally, I'm all in favor for a new stadium and will vote YES! when asked but it really blows that they have to build it in St. Pete. It sucks for people living in New Tampa and Brandon and it sucks for people living in Palm Harbour who have to fight the horrid US-19 traffic to get there. We need to build a new park closer to the middle of the Bay Area to get the 20,000 a night crowd that they deserve. People who can afford to go to more games consistantly just live too far away from The Trop. The Bradenton area and Southern Pinellas County has had 10 years of close proximity to the Rays and haven't shown an ability to produce a consistant showing of larger crowds. It's time to move the team to the center of the Bay Area. Btw, I live in Seminole and I too find it hard to be motivated to drive to St. Pete and watch baseball in that dump. Buy out the slumping WestShore Mall property and build a park on top of it. It already has plenty of parking and easy Interstate access. That would be the very best place for the Rays new stadium. Too bad greedy St. Pete won't allow the team to do what's best for them.

[James]

First of all if I didn't live 600 miles away I would have been there but I think the fans will come along soon. It takes more then 2 months to build up a fan base that suffered thru the first 10 years but of course with the Yankee's coming to town the place will be packed.

[Pete]

It's also important to remember that Little League is nearing an end and All-Stars are coming up, so there are a LOT of baseball fans stuck at Little League fields as many as five nights a week. When LL ends and school gets out, the stands will start filling up, I'm sure.

[Pete]

Matt....there are probably many good reasons why the Rays don't draw, but your arguments are not good. Wasn't it Mother's Day in New York, Washington D.C., Milwaukee, San Diego, and every other city that hosted a baseball game on Sunday? It's not purely a Florida holiday.

[Rays Fans]

Did you just move here or are you really that ignorant ? Compare this years attendance with last year at this time and you will find it has grown.
We (the fans)have been put through 10 years of humiliation so EXCUSE us if we are a little weary and jaded. To compare Tampa Bay to anywhere else is just nonsense. If the Rays keep winning you will see attendance grow. Let's see how many show up this week for New York, a bunch I bet. Troll elsewhere double a-ron.

[mumbles]

maybe they're waiting for the new open-air stadium on the bay

[Go Rays]

Everybody I talk to is excited by the Rays & the future!! I was at the game Sat can say without question the organization as a whole is going in the right direction. Keep up the good work!! Build the Stadium!!

[Scott]

In time, people will come. However, the first poster had some great points: it was Mother's Day, parking costs an arm and a leg, and gas to get to the stadium all adds up. It's a money crunch right now to attend. Reinstitute the free parking and you'll see more people attend the games.

[JB]

Sad, but true. The Fans just are not here to fill the place up night after night with 25-30,000 people. Plus I have heard from the people who did go that it was nice to get inside out of the HEAT!! so much for a new stadium.. that will be shot down.

[Ricky Ricardo]

James: That is the BEST idea I've heard yet! There is open land owned by private citizens and also owned by the county ALL OVER PINELLAS. Why can't this new stadium be built in a more centralized location? Here is something else to consider James, we DO NOT, no matter what they've tried to tell you, have the parking nor do we have the infrastructure to support all of you and your vehicles down town St. Pete. You'll be stuck in lines and lines of traffic every time you come down here for a game AND not only that, but you'll almost definately have to park at least 6-10 blocks away and walk to the stadium for each game. There simply isn't the parking here in downtown S.P. So, shoot! Someone please build somewhere else!

[Aaron Sharockman]

Rays Fans at 11:33 is right.

Attendance is up from last year. The team averaged 17,131 fans last year (last in the American League). So far this year, the Rays are averaging 18,565 fans (next to last in the American League).

But to say you cannot compare Tampa Bay to any other franchise just doesn't make sense. The lowly Pittsburgh Pirates, for instance, have averaged 600,000 more fans a year than the Rays. At $17 a ticket (average ticket price) that's $10.37-million more in annual revenue the Pirates have than the Rays.

[Cali S]

James: what has the City of Tampa done lately for the Rays? The City of St. Pete supports them, but in most nationally-televised games, the announcers refer to the Rays' home as "tampa". so shut up and call your mayor.

[Truth Be Told]

Has any of you even bothered to take a drive down the two or three main roads in and out of downtown St. Pete and tried to imagine what it's going to be like when there are thousands of cars trying to get in and out on the day or evening of a game? If not, for crying out loud, you should! There are only 1 or 2 roads downtown that are more than 2 lanes wide! There is NO OTHER CITY that hosts a major league baseball team that has the antequated inefficiency of the roads here in downtown St. Pete! Yes, if it's REALLY up to the people, the stadium will get voted down. Take a real good, hard look around and be honest with yourself while you do that. There are only a very few who want this stadium built on the waterfront, and there are alot of good reasons for it, dating back to the late 1980's.

The people who want it are either uninformed and selfish or they've fallen for the propaganda that has been fed to them about how it's going to miraculously help their failing businesses operate in the black! Just with the wave of their magic wands.

HA!

Go ahead and build it on the waterfront and see what happens in about 15-20 years. And while it's still coming out of your bank accounts 20 years from now, you can pat yourselves on the back for being complacent and uninformed. But heck! At least you'll be roasting in your nice big stadium with it's 13,000 people in attendance (more than half the stadium empty) cause once people realize how uncomfortable it is to sit out in 75% humidity for 3 or 4 hours while tossing back Bud Lights and passing out from being completely dehydrated, they won't be back more than twice.

[Jeff]

Duh!!! The Rays ownership spent 10 years driving fans away. Reallistically, how long do you think it will take to undo the damage? A few weeks? Get real! It took a Super Bowl and a Stanley cup to rev up attendance at the Bus and Lightening games. Like the Bucs before them, the Rays FIRST have to overcome the well earned roll of being the laughing stock of their entire sport. Logically it would be reasonable to assume that it would take 10 years of play that is as good as it was bad the past 10 years just to even things out, but no team has ever been that good 10 years in a row in the history of baseball! This would mean winning the Division title 9 of the next 10 years and the World Series most every year for a decade. No team has ever been that good and no team should have to be, but the Rays WERE THAT BAD and NO TEAM should ever have been for a solid decade. Pinela said it best: if they win, they will come (eventually). And, the distance argument is Bull!!! There are more Bucs season ticket holders in Pinellas than in Hillsborough! The Trop (and the proposed waterfront site) have better Interstate access than Ray-J or the Forum (although adequate waterfront parking would still has to materialize). And, we all know US 19 has been a nightmare (second worse Florida highway) for 40 YEARS! and needs to be fixed, period!!! Of course, the I-275 from downtown Tampa to the Bay is now worse that ever! So, much for the Westshore idea, James.

[John]

It was Mother's Day , lol.

I bet T.V. ratings of Rays games are skyrocketing this year.

[kristin]

we normally go to tons of games. this year however has been a little harder- moneys tight, gas is expensive. not exactly a short drive coming from sp. hill. On another note though: Go Rays! You guys are doing great! Keep it up!

[kristin]

we normally go to tons of games. this year however has been a little harder- moneys tight, gas is expensive. not exactly a short drive coming from sp. hill. On another note though: Go Rays! You guys are doing great! Keep it up!

[#1 Red Sox Fan]

Mmmm...Bud Light

[john]

face it,,baseball stinks,,me and hundreds of thousands of folks in the area would't cross the street for a free baseball game ,,much less drive and pay...take that crap somewhere else,,i'm going fishing

[Tim]

Most people who complain about Tropicana Field hardly go to the games anyway. They are just looking for excuses. I will give you the gas issue right now, but enough with the stadium excuse. Fenway Park and Wrigley Field are dumps compared to today’s stadiums, but people go there in droves. People will find a way to get to the games if they are still in the hunt after the All Star break. It is hard to get an area excited after having to deal with 10 years of futility and former owners that were only in it for the money.

[josh]

HAHAHA! $10 parking is an arm and a leg now? That hilarious. Why dont you try asking fans of other teams what they pay for parking and tickets? Without a doubt, seeing a Rays game may be the most affordable option in all of pro sports.

All of you who "plan on seeing a game sometime" or "wanted to gom but it was to expensive, blah blah blah" will have no one to blame but yourselves when this team leaves us. I'd hate to see it happen, but this new ownerships has done NOTHING but impress, and make good on their promises. Think they'll put up with another 2-3 years or lowest attendance in the Majors? Think again. Bye Bye Tampa Bay Rays, hello, San Antonio! I'll be p*ssed, but that wont stop me from supporting them.

[Brad]

The Rays are for real this year and anyone who doesn't see that is naive. It is in fact pretty sad that only 13,000+ showed up at Sunday's game. People in the Bay area need to support this team and I believe they gradually will as the Rays continue to improve and show that they can compete with the Red Sox and Yankees of the world. And as they get better, attendance will improve because the Bay area is full of front-running fans. Once people become true believers, they'lll show up whether the stadium is in Tampa or St. Pete.