Rays new park, attendance only x2 dnf

[TheLostDawg]

https://www.si.com/mlb/rays-proposed-ballpark-approved-st-petersburg-city-council

[Tbonewannabe]

I went to opening day at the Rays stadium. It is a cool stadium. Not sure why they need a new one. I got two tickets pretty close to the dugout when Braves ticket price would be upper deck. I think I paid about $40 for the Saturday and you can't get Braves lower level on a Saturday below around $80 most of the time.

[viverlibre]

Average attendance is 16k? Don't we average like 10-11k? I'm sure for both that's tickets sold, not butts in seats.

[Todd4State]

If they didn't build a stadium MLB was probably going to move them to Nashville.

It's a shame that Oakland couldn't come up with something.

[viverlibre]

If they didn't build a stadium MLB was probably going to move them to Nashville.

It's a shame that Oakland couldn't come up with something.

I'm sure the local chamber comes up with all these rosy projections of how much income the Rays generate to the local economy. Especially for a 3rd rate organization in a smaller market, I bet those projections are vastly overstated. Probably a net drain on the local economy.

[Todd4State]

I'm sure the local chamber comes up with all these rosy projections of how much income the Rays generate to the local economy. Especially for a 3rd rate organization in a smaller market, I bet those projections are vastly overstated. Probably a net drain on the local economy.

Well it's partially up to them to help make the product viable and profitable. And yes the Rays organization needs to do their part as well.

[Johnson85]

I'm sure the local chamber comes up with all these rosy projections of how much income the Rays generate to the local economy. Especially for a 3rd rate organization in a smaller market, I bet those projections are vastly overstated. Probably a net drain on the local economy.

There are firms you hire to tell you that. I'm sure there are some firms that actually give you an objective answer, but I think mostly they give the answer that the people paying for the study want to hear. The people hiring firms to justify incentives for sports teams are usually local players that want to offer incentives for the sports teams or people being paid by the leagues to justify all the incentives the teams make. If I recall, independent studies show that they are just about all losers, but that multipurpose venues do ok (I think basketball venues tended to be the best, as they were the most versatile as far as hosting concerts or conventions, with football being the worst and most underutilized option).