Wrapping up the season

Ballpark Frankness caught up with Rays team president Matt Silverman in the Tampa Bay Rays clubhouse Thursday afternoon. He talked about a new stadium and some plans for the Trop next year. Here's some of what he had to say.

On a new stadium
"With the love this team has fostered, the discussion of a new ballpark takes on new meaning. It makes the new ballpark less of a sell. Through this postseason run, the community has been been able to recognize the economic impact of baseball firsthand."

On the team's financial take from the postseason
"The dollars generated during the postseason run are minor compared to what this can mean for the team going forward. The key for sustainability is adding to the season ticket base and creating a recurring revenue stream."

On the contiunity heading into the 2009 season
"Fans won't have to get to know 15 new faces next year like it was when we were the Devil Rays."

A couple of other notes: Silverman said fans should expect ticket prices to increase next year (it's been two offseasons without an increase), but that those increases would not be dramatic. No major physical changes are planned for the Trop next year. Silverman also said the team is largely going to stay out of the stadium discussions this offseason, leaving the work to Mayor Rick Baker's ABC Baseball coalition. And the Rays are considering adding a third, alternate jersey for next season.

World Series stadium talk

ST. PETERSBURG — Standing on the turf of Tropicana Field, marveling at the historic turnaround of the Tampa Bay Rays, principal owner Stu Sternberg acknowledged one major regret.

"Part of me wishes that I'd be playing this game on the waterfront tonight,'' Sternberg said moments before Wednesday's Game 1. "How unbelievable would downtown be? And how unbelievable would the city of St. Petersburg be … with all the parking, and all the walking, and all the stores, and all the restaurants, and the views, and the weather?"

Read the rest here.

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Wall Street Journal on Rays' financial situation

The Tampa Bay Rays have slain the big-market bullies from New York, Chicago and Boston, but the team will soon face a much greater foe.

"The economy could kill us," says Stuart Sternberg, the team's principal owner and a former partner at Goldman Sachs.

For years, Mr. Sternberg's franchise was the doormat of baseball, a money-losing team that few thought would ever prove successful. But tonight, the Rays will begin the World Series at home in St. Petersburg, playing the Philadelphia Phillies.

Playing with Major League Baseball's second lowest payroll, the Rays owe much of their success to the long-term contracts given to their core of talented young players. The deals will allow the team to keep its top players for several more years, leading many to predict that the Rays could become a dominant force in the game.

But Mr. Sternberg has a problem: The Rays, he says, can barely afford their $44-million payroll with their current attendance, and that payroll is going up. Once the glamor of October baseball fades, the Rays will need to build a stable fan base in a region that has never truly embraced them -- and it must do so during an economic crisis that is worse in Florida than nearly anywhere else.

Read the rest here.

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So is this playoffs thing good or bad for a new stadium?

It's a question I've been pondering lately. Does the team's success help or hurt the Rays' chances at getting a new ballpark any time soon?

On one hand, the city seems to be more excited about the Rays than ever before. And perhaps people are more willing now to help the team out.

But on the other hand, anyone who has been to one of the two playoff home games so far probably has noticed the great home-field advantage Tropicana Field presents -- and just how fun the place can be when it's filled up.

What do you think? Help or hurt?

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ESPN's take on the dome

Believe it or not, they don't insult the stadium once.

Silverman on a stadium (2006 style)

I'm doing research on a story about the Rays' stadium pursuit and came across this quote from team president Matt Silverman. It's from a Q&A with Baseball Prospectus from April 2006. I thought some folks might be interested in seeing it.

Q: Are there any plans to build a new stadium closer to Tampa? What is the team’s viability in its current facility?

A: The stadium is not a hindrance to creating a successful business. The empty seats are opportunities for us. We’re confident that once the marketplace latches on to our team and the players, that Tropicana Field will be full of energy and excitement. It’s a great place to watch a game. Will we be there 22 years from now, when the lease expires? Probably not. Between years five and 22, we will need to discuss an alternative, but for now we’re proud to have Tropicana Field as our home.

We put a lot of capital into the park - about $10-million -making it cleaner, more comfortable, bringing history in with the addition of the Ted Williams Museum. We built a club level on the first-base line, renovated the bathrooms, did a big cleanup job. We’re putting in a tank filled with live rays in right-center field that will be completed in July. The clubhouse has been renovated, we have new TVs throughout the concourse, and there’s also a new sound system.

We want to turn it into a real home-field advantage. We already have great speed, and the turf creates an advantage there. The white roof is something that our opponents may have trouble getting used to. When we get over 20,000 people here, it’s extremely loud. We’re urging people to come out and be the 10th Man. The more people that come, the more that can have an impact on the outcome of the game.

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A little more on Sunday's stories

A lot of good reaction to Sunday's story. But I want to focus on a comment made by Jay:

"The bottom line is that the Rays are going to have to open up their books if they expect to get any kind of public support or funding for a new stadium. It's foolish to think otherwise, so why is there such resistance to the idea?"

Like we said Sunday, we have a pretty good idea how much in revenues the Rays are taking in. And we also feel pretty confident that they're among the lowest earning teams in all of baseball. So what's the big deal in sharing? And perhaps more important, will Jeff Lyash's baseball commission ask to see the Rays' figures?

Stay tuned on that one.

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What's wrong with the Trop?

First of two Sunday's worth of stories looking at Tropicana is available first here.

What's wrong with Tropicana Field?

Are the Tampa Bay Rays turning a profit?

We'll talk more about the stories here next week.

Tropicana Field gets football makeover

The City Council approved $45,000 worth of renovations Thursday to get Tropicana Field ready for the new ESPN St. Petersburg Bowl.

The repairs will allow for a regulation football field to fit into the turf area of the stadium. An existing concrete wall and seat riser will be demolished. In its place will go a portable wall and seat riser system, allowing the Tampa Bay Rays to easily convert the field to accommodate both baseball and football games.

The money comes from the $1.5-million Capital Repair, Renewal, and Replacement Sinking Fund, which can only be used for modifications to Tropicana Field.

So what does this mean for the ongoing stadium debate? Not much.

Council Chairman Jamie Bennett said some community leaders have talked about adding a retractable roof to the Trop, but no one knows yet how much that would cost.

Silverman: Trop attendance 'disheartening'

Rays president Matt Silverman had some interesting comments in Thursday's paper, as reported by sports columnist John Romano.

You should read the column here. But I wanted to point out this paragraph in particular:

• Already, there are people in the organization who are suggesting it was a blessing in disguise for the waterfront stadium proposal to fall through. Already, there is talk that downtown St. Petersburg is hopeless as a major-league market and that a location in Hillsborough County might be the answer.

One more vote to keep the Rays downtown

First, Mayor Rick Baker gave a new downtown baseball stadium his seal of approval.

Now, City Council Member Leslie Curran is coming out in support of a downtown stadium, that is as long as the Tampa Bay Rays stay exactly where there are now.

Curran, who was in Europe two weeks ago when Baker and team officials announced they were indefinitely delaying a waterfront stadium proposal, said Tropicana Field is her number one choice for a new ball park.

"They completely underestimated this community and their love for the waterfront," said Curran of team executives in a phone interview Tuesday. "We really need to look at the possibility of rebuilding at the site that we already have."

She added, "But I'm open to see what other possibilities are out there."

Curran, who first asked the Rays to delay their stadium proposal in June, said she was thrilled by the team's recent announcement that Progress Energy CEO Jeff Lyash would head up a community-based coalition charged with figuring out where the new stadium should go.

"That’s how we should have done it to begin with," she said.

New stadium? Karl Nurse says no.

With the November referendum no longer an issue, it seems like nearly every local politician came out in support of a new stadium for the Rays this week.

But City Council Member Karl Nurse is not jumping on that bandwagon.

"Winning cures a whole lot of problems," he said while chatting about the stadium with a reporter. "The premise is they needed a new stadium to attract the fans, and they are proving that is not true."

Selig's tough Trop talk

Baseball commissioner Bud Selig has only attended one game at Tropicana Field as far as anyone knows, and that was in June 2004, before all the improvements by the Stuart Sternberg-led ownership group.
But that didn't stop Selig from bashing the Trop, in his bid to push the importance of the new stadium, in an interview with ESPN's Howard Bryant, which is excerpted below. And the way Selig answered the St. Pete/Tampa question is interesting, especially since the Rays have a lease with St. Petersburg through 2027.

Tampa Bay has been the league's success story in the first half, but it has not translated to better attendance. What is your level of concern for the future of baseball in Tampa?
Look, they're really pushing on a new ballpark. I think if they can get it done, it will really help them, no question about it. They've got a good club. They've done a great job scouting and drafting. Their attendance is up 4,500, but it's not enough. They can't make it in that ballpark. Have you been there?

Many times.
Do I need to tell you any more than that? And so, they need a new stadium. The demographics of the Tampa-St. Pete area are good enough for baseball.

On the St. Pete side, though?
Well, they're going to have to make that judgment. If they can get rights … I know there are people who think it needs to be on the Tampa side, but I'm going to leave that to (principal owner) Stu Sternberg. If they can get a new ballpark built, yes, I think they can be a very successful franchise.

- MARC TOPKIN

Baseball commissioner Bud Selig has only attended one game at Tropicana Field as far as anyone knows, and that was in June 2004, before all the improvements by the Stuart Sternberg-led ownership group.
But that didn't stop Selig from bashing the Trop, in his bid to push the importance of the new stadium, in an interview with ESPN's Howard Bryant, which is excerpted below. And the way Selig answered the St. Pete/Tampa question is interesting, especially since the Rays have a lease with St. Petersburg through 2027.

Tampa Bay has been the league's success story in the first half, but it has not translated to better attendance. What is your level of concern for the future of baseball in Tampa?
Look, they're really pushing on a new ballpark. I think if they can get it done, it will really help them, no question about it. They've got a good club. They've done a great job scouting and drafting. Their attendance is up 4,500, but it's not enough. They can't make it in that ballpark. Have you been there?

Many times.
Do I need to tell you any more than that? And so, they need a new stadium. The demographics of the Tampa-St. Pete area are good enough for baseball.

On the St. Pete side, though?
Well, they're going to have to make that judgment. If they can get rights … I know there are people who think it needs to be on the Tampa side, but I'm going to leave that to (principal owner) Stu Sternberg. If they can get a new ballpark built, yes, I think they can be a very successful franchise.

- MARC TOPKIN