Trop's time running short?

Comments made by Rays principal owner Stuart Sternberg in a New York Times story published today raised questions about the future of the Rays at Tropicana Field. Although he made no threats to move the team or suggestions for a new stadium, Sternberg said,“We recognize (the Trop) has a shelf life of five years.”

"How do we make the best of this thing?'' Sternberg said in the article, which appeared one week before the Rays are scheduled to play three games against the Texas Rangers at Disney's Wide World of Sports complex in Orlando. "It wasn't built to last 30 to 40 years'

Sternberg added, "Baseball does not feel right indoors.''

Check out the story here, and tell us what you think:

Comments

[Greg H.]

Again, most games are played @7pm; the temp is manageable and most of the time, no rain to be found. We need an open air stadium to bring the true baseball enthusiasts in.

I4 and I75 does make sense for driveability, but I like the idea of a park on the water, either at the Al Lang site or in Tampa at Channelside. The Giants park on San Fran bay, IMO is the sweetest park in the league.

[Frank]

Just for the sake of info, the Tampa-St.Pete-Clearwater metropolitan area numbers about 2.7 million residents. The Orlando area is around 1.9 million. If you really wanted to cash in on both, build it in Lakeland.

[JT]

I think the Devil Rays should do the following 5 things and success might happen.

1. Drop the Devil. It offends some people and some internet filters like mine at work will not let me access their Web site. I can access every team except my own.

2. Increase the Payroll. Yes, spend some money even for a solid bullpen $40 - 50 million and maybe a good pitcher. This current team would be above .500 if we had some decent pitching cause this team can hit the ball.

3. Show more games on TV. Why is it so hard to watch games. They are hard to find this year. Show the games, so people get interested.

4. Forget about the Trop's problems. It is what it is. The excitement of baseball is the sights and sounds not blue empty seats. I can't imagine funding for baseball stadiums anytime soon, maybe in 7-10 years. By that time we might have new technology for faster opening retractable roofs or find a way to keep fans cool in their seats by using misters, fans, A/C who knows.

5. Continue to market to the kids and be involved in their lives. The Rays should be involved somehow at the Little Leaguw level by making donations and providing an interesting gametime experience. Open one of those playground things at the Trop that is now open at the International Mall. What a stroke of genius!! I saw kids singing "Take me out to the Rays game" to their parents since the music was pumping out of the playground. Okay maybe its brainwashing, but at least they sounded excited!!

[barryisbackonroids]

I think Orlando would work better, a much younger demographic compared to st. pete. Even though St. Pete is considered bigger(I don't know how, I lived in Orlando and it definitely has a bigger city feel to it than tampa or st. pete), it is filled w/ so many retired people that eat dinner at 4pm and are in bed by 9. Build a ballpark near Downtown Orlando and the Rays attendance would be better especially w/o a Pro football team there.

[Randy]

Bottom line... if the team wins, the fans come, no matter where the stadium is. We saw it with the Bucs, Lightning, and the same goes for the Devil Rays. And if they start losing the again (the Bucs), the fans disappear. As far as a new stadium goes, St. Pete is the place to be. And whoever said the traffic Westbound into Pinellas is terrible in the early evening should take a ride from the Ulmerton area to downtown Tampa around 6pm. Nuff said.

[Kenny]

everyone is talking about the heat. think about it baseball fans, when are 90% of our home games? 7:15 at night. the heat is not an issue then. a retractible roof is a great idea though for sunday games and the rainy days. St. pete is the place to stay. im sure it would be alot cheaper to build a stadium there and traffic is much much better. population is no concern, there are millions and millions of people here. all it takes is a winner. were only 3 games under .500 right now. if they can keep that up this year with our new relief staff, next year im sure we will see a jump in attendence. you know what i noticed? what happened to all of our televised games and avertising? sternberg is letting everyone forget about the rays. they need to get the word out and make kids beg their parents to take them to games.

[Jim]

This makes no sense. The stadium, while not Fenway, is great for its purpose. The main problem here is not if the stadium can last 5 years (despite his insistance, it "was" built for 30-40 years), but if Stuart will open his wallet to build a winning team. Of course people won't drive from Orlando, Ft. Myers, Ocala, or even Tampa or Bradenton, to a game, but not because it's St. Pete; it's because no one wants to drive 45+ mins to see a losing team. I'm a die-hard Rays fan, but let's face the facts: until they start proving their worth, they'll never pack a stadium, even if it's moved to Tampa on the apparently "mystical" corner everyone below's clammering about: I-75/I-4. The "Field of Dreams" approach won't work in this case.

Besides, St. Pete has a much better after-the-game array of things to do than the outskirts of Tampa, or even downtown Tampa itself, so that makes for less of an attraction. So, think before you try to move it to the middle of BFE. Rebuild the team, have them win for a few seasons, then dump more money into making the Trop look as good as it can, if aesthetics is what everyone wants, though I would perfer a ticket to a game in October myself.

As also stated below, this is Central Florida, and this is a sport played in the dead of summer. As die-hard as I am, I would never go to a day game nor one where rain would be a factor, so that basically accounts for about 70 of the 81 home games. Retractable roof? Sure, but you should realize it takes an hour for one of those to close, and since storms come out of nowhere in the summer, either it wouldn't close in time or it's always be closed. Either way, it's a waste of money and we're back to complaining about the "roof on an outdoor game".

Oh, and moving them to O-town? Bigger city? Not in this lifetime. St. Pete's the 4th largest in the state, only behind Jacksonville, Miami, and Tampa (Orlando has less than 1/2 the people of St. Pete), and one of the largest 100 cities in the US (#72, to be exact, Orlando's not even on that lost), as well as the 2nd largest media market in the State and 5th in the Southeast, so we have the potential fanbase, we just need the wins to prove ourselves to the fairweather fans of Tampa Bay.

So, for the team we have and the region in which we have them, the Trop in St. Pete is probably the best stadium we can viably sustain. Say what you will about it, but it's our home for years to come!

[Phil J.]

Get a decent bullpen, start beating the Red Sox and Yankees on a CONSISTANT basis, increase the payroll and get some players who will put butts in the seats and they could build a sandlot to play on in Gibsonton and people would go see them. Stop being a hostage to these billionaire owners too damn cheap to build their own stadiums. Sternberg wants a new stadium? Let him open his own damn wallet. We have overcrowded schools, budget cuts to our Police and Fire Departments, cuts to our city budget, and UNDERPAID TEACHERS! New stadium? Let them move to Orlando. Maybe Rich DeVos and Sternberg could go dutch and build a retractable roof multi purpose baseball and basketball stadium right off of Church street and give it some dumb name like the Amway Brighthouse.com stadium at Microsoft Field!

[jim]

I am so tired of hearing people from Up North saying baseball was meant to be played outdoors.

A retractable roof sounds nice, but doesn't make financial sense. By May, St Petersburg--or Tampa for that matter--is just too hot and humid. September is still full summer so forget an open roof then, too. Somehow, I don't see the Rays playing too many October games, ever.

And putting an open roof stadium at Malfunction Junction is INSANE.

[Frank]

This is an absolute joke. Sternberg refuses to increase payroll for good players (like Aubrey Huff, Julio Lugo, Toby Hall), but then he complains about the stadium. This guy is bad news. He's lied about upgrading the team and it's only a matter of time until he talks about a move to some place like Nashville or Las Vegas.

He's right that baseball doesn't feel right indoors, but it also doesn't feel right with an awful team year after year (indoors or outdoors).

[Irene]

Traffic in rush hour from STP to TAMPA is soooooo much worse than the reverse, so this is a perplexing excuse.

Tampa is already on the track to being a mini-Atlanta (and strangely enough, it seems to think this is something to aim for), so I can't quite understand why people living in Tampa aren't aching to be in a prettier, calmer, altogether nicer environment to see a baseball game where they can walk to a gorgeous bayfront and great restaurants, rather than piling everyone back in the SUV and sitting in traffic for an hour to go home to frozen pizzas.

The Trop is pretty ugly, but it isn't the worst place possible. People here just don't support the team and it isn't just the field or how bad the team is...it is LAZINESS on the part of supposed sports fans.

I agree, put the new park on the bayfront in St. Pete. That is a gorgeous site! Or, just roll over and move the team to Generic Ville--Orlando.

[Julian]

Oh and Davey the attendance wouldn't double by simply putting them were Legends Field is. Look at the Bucs. When they were bad no one went to the games and that is the exact same location.

[Julian]

I to am tired of people complaining about coming across the bridge to go to a game. What do you think we do for Bucs games? Just go ahead and admit the truth which is you are a fair weather fan and use that as your excuse not to go to the games.

Also they would obviously have a retractable roof if they built a new stadium. If you think otherwise attend a Marilns game in the middle of the summer if it doesn't get rained out.

Finally the best idea is putting a new stadium were Al Lang is. A friend of mine mentioned that a couple of years ago to me and I think it would be great. Just as the other post said it would be cool to have water over the fence like SF.

[Davey Wright]

perhaps by playing some games in Orlando this year, they are "testing the market" to move the team from Tampa/St. Pete to Orlando. It does make sense... Bigger city (I think), WAY more tourists, better facilities / amenities / airport is bigger and still tap into current fans from Tampa / Saint Pete (wouldn't totally alienate everybody. It would stink for St. Pete (I live there and love it), but Sternberg is a businessman first and doesn't have any loyalty to this area.

[Chris]

I moved from NJ 15 years ago. Gradually became a Devil Rays fan (previously rooted for the Yankees). The single biggest thing that keeps me from going to games is the location of the Trop and the rush hour traffic towards STP. If the stadium were where Legends field is now, attendace would probably double. Crossing my fingers that they move the team to the Tampa side of the bay...

[john]

I'd preffer a Tampa location, but St. Pete works too. But if you want an open air stadium, it had better a have retractable roof. The heat will be more of a reason for fringe fans not to attend, not just the location.

[James]

C'mon..St Pete is a craphole only good for the rich or upper-middle class people...the team prbably does need to move.. cuz this city is going nowhere....

[Chris]

I grew up in St. Pete, and moved to Orlando 12 years ago. My mom still lives in STP. I have mixed feelings about the park's location. I have Bucs season tickets and going to those games is a non-issue for me, yet I only go to about 2-3 Rays games a year for some reason. While I like the growth it has given downtown STP, I can say that a stadium near I-4 and I-75 would allow me to even go to a Friday night game. Fighting Tampa traffic all the way into South STP, just is a bit much from Orlando.

I know someone in Orlando is not the main target audience, but I4 and I75 versus 275 in South STP would really open up more markets in all directions.

[Benny]

I once thought that moving the team to Tampa was the answer, but that has changed. The entire bay area should get behind a new stadium to be erected on the site of Al Lang Field. Progress Energy can still purchase the naming rights, but this park could be nicer than the one in San Francisco, with our own left field cove for homers to drop in. As for Al Lang's historic value, they tore down Al Lopez field which was older with more significance. This site is special. What a view, and forget the heat, lets play ball!

[Jimbo]

Open air stadium? Are they really that stupid? Over the summer it's either 125 degrees or it's raining. Tell people who want an open air stadium to stand in an asphault parking lot around 3 p.m. in July. No way!!!

[skeals]

Steve, I like that idea. Retractable roof is a huge +. I like the idea of not having the sun beating down on you but still having the option.

[Sean]

I disagree with Steve's comments above. Only the people in Tampa complain that they have to drive to St. Pete to see a game. No one from Pinellas County complains that they have to drive over the bridge to see the Bucs play...The average Cardinal fan has just less than a 2 hour drive into St. Louis to see the Redbirds. Bottom line is, if they win, they will come. The Bucs and Lightning have proved that. I agree baseball is on outdoor sport, but with these weather conditions (high heat and humidity)an indoor facility makes perfect sense.

[Steve]

Mark my words...if they want to attract a larger fan base and get more people to games, it makes perfect sense to get the team out of St. Pete and into Tampa. Steinberg will park them right at the intersection of 75 and 4 in an open air stadium with retractable roof. He gets his fans from O-Town, Ocala, and Sarasota as well as Tampa/St. Pete. That maybe his 5 year plan.