Rays Attendance 2009 (Here We Go Again)

So, with the Phillies in town and the first 2 games of a 3-game series being attended to the tune of 19,000-20,000, the debate about Rays attendance is back on. We've written about this before (click here for our analysis of attendance back in 2008) and will probably write about it again (that's so unfortunate). But, let's also not lose sight of some of the facts that were nicely outlined in an article in today's St. Pete Times):

"Through 34 home games (not including Wednesday's game against the Phillies), attendance at Tropicana Field had increased 23.3 percent from the first 34 games of last season. The spike translates to an extra 4,284 people per game. Only the Kansas City Royals, who completed a $250 million stadium renovation, have seen a higher per-game increase.

At the same time, the rest of baseball is struggling.

Attendance has dropped nearly 5 percent across the sport in 2009. Excluding new smaller stadiums for the New York Mets and New York Yankees, baseball attendance has decreased 3.7 percent.

So while the rest of baseball is trending fewer sales, the Rays are selling more.

To summarize, after posting the largest increase in attendance in all of MLB in 2008, the Rays are near the top in % increase once again in 2009. Yet, management is complaining about the market and the fans.

The biggest issue, in my opinion, is expectations. For one thing, the Rays have only been a good product for 1 season. I am a believer in the new regime and see all of the very positive things they are doing for this team (which is why I am investing in this team as well as a full season tickerholder). I was a little ticked at Matt Silverman's comments the other night and took personal offense to them as a fan and long time member of the Tampa Bay community. But, he did seek to clarify his dumb comments a day later when he said, "I may have said things about the market but not our fans — we love the fans that come to the games." Frankly, I'm still a little offended that he is not backing down from his comments about the Tampa Bay area. As a native, I love this area and I know we have a passionate sports fan base. The fact that he only loves the folks that pay him money does not really cool my jets all that much (but, I digress)....

CONTINUE TO PUT A GOOD AND COMPETITIVE PRODUCT ON THE FIELD AND PEOPLE WILL SPEND THE MONEY TO SEE IT!!!

But, it takes time to build a fan base and dissing on the community is not a helpful tactic. I see lots of kids wearing Rays gear while their parents wear Yankees or Red Sox gear. These kids will drag their parents to some games, but they don't control the purse strings just yet. Rays management needs to be focused on the product and stop venting to the media about attendance and the market. It's obviously not productive to do this (note the DECLINE in attendance from Tuesday to Wednesday).

If the Tampa Bay Bucs can go from the least valuable franchise in the NFL to one of the most valuable franchises in this lovely place I call home, the Rays can climb the franchise value ladder also. But, it takes a bit of time and investment! Continue to invest in this team as you have been and you will see the rewards (including a possible new venue down the line). If you threaten, belittle and otherwise hate on this market, you are going to lose the support of your most loyal fans such as myself (caveat: winning cures a lot of these hard feelings).

Tampa Bay Rays Regular Season Home Opener Now Sold Out!

It's great to see so much excitement around the Rays 2009 season. In fact, I was looking into some extra tickets to the home opener today (using my season ticket password) and it is [UPDATED] sold out before tickets go on sale to the general public tomorrow! It'll be a great way to start 2009 for the Rays (with a sellout). Does it really get much better than hoisting the American League Champion banner in front of the half-billion dollar Yankees? Of course, you can still get tickets to the home opener by purchasing a season ticket packages. For example, half season (weekend plan) Lower Box seats are available in Section 121 and 122. Or, if you are feeling adventurous, Full Season Tickets are available in 103, Row J (Home Plate Club) or Lower Box seats in Sections 107-Wheel Chair, 118-Row EE, 120-X or 122-L. Those are some pretty good seats still available!!!

StubHub now has 1500+ tickets available (so it appears as though there are some entrepreneurs in the Tampa Bay area) from $27 (upper deck) to $1,500+ (home plate club). I'm not sure why anyone would pay $1,500 when that would buy you half of the season in the Lower Box.

Some great seats are still available for the Tuesday and Wednesday Yankee games, but the good seats are likely to sell pretty quickly once the sale is opened to the public. Wouldn't it be great to start the season off with 3 sellouts? Come on, Rays Fans, let's pack the Trop!!!

Let's pack the TROP and show the Yankees we aren't messing around this year!!!

Rays Raise Ticket Prices for 2009 (A Little)

Not a terribly big surprise, the Rays have raised the single game ticket prices for 2009 on the heals of their historic playoff and World Series run. But, before you go screaming bloody murder, there are lots of details that should be considered. Joe Smith of the St. Pete Times does a nice job of running through the details of the price increase as well as a number of other pricing changes. Here is a summary from The Heater:

Rays president Matt Silverman said Monday that about 70-percent of the single-game tickets will increase by $1 (for example, upper deck goes from $9 to $10 for regular game, from $14-16 for prime pricing). But in an effort to bolster their season-ticket base - the "lifeblood" of any baseball team - Silverman said the club is also increasing the discount for season ticket holders (up to 35 percent). So, the Lower Level tickets that cost $44 (face value) would likely be somewhere around $29 each (roughly in line with last year's season ticketholder price).

Most everything else at Tropicana Field will remain the same; vehicles with four or more passengers can park for free, you can still bring in your food and drink, the upper-deck tarp will remain.

But here are some of the changes:
The club added a "marquee" pricing category for the 11 Saturday night games (which will either feature a post-game concert or premium giveaway). The pricing for those is between the regular and "prime" pricing (games with Yankees, Red Sox and Phillies). These games were extremely popular last year with each Saturday game selling 30,000 or more during the summer (hey, where else can you spend $15 or less on a ticket and get a free concert along with it?).

Vehicles with less than four passengers will be charged $15 to park in the main Trop lot, $10 for the remote lots. There will also be an increase in the surcharge for those tickets bought within five hours of game time (now $3-$5). So, plan ahead! Or, just shop on StubHub for your last minute tickets (it's riskier, but you might just find some great seats!).

Here is the 2009 pricing by ticket level:

REGULAR GAMES
TBT Party Deck - $10
Upper Deck - $10
Outfield - $17
Loge box - $22
Press Level - $27
Baseline Box - $22
Lower box - $44
Lower infield box - $55
Fieldside box - $85
Whitney Bank Club - $115
Home Plate Club - $210

MARQUEE GAMES (11 Saturday night games)
TBT Party Deck - $13
Upper Deck - $13
Outfield - $20
Loge box - $31
Press Level - $38
Baseline Box - $31
Lower box - $52
Lower infield box - $65
Fieldside box - $95
Whitney Bank Club - $130
Home Plate Club - $240

PRIME GAMES (vs Yankees, Red Sox, Phillies)
TBT Party Deck - $16
Upper Deck - $16
Outfield - $24
Loge box - $38
Press Level - $47
Baseline Box - $38
Lower box - $60
Lower infield box - $75
Fieldside box - $120
Whitney Bank Club - $150
Home Plate Club - $270

BUT - as we did last year, 9=8.com will be giving away some FREE TICKETS to lucky Rays fans, so join our email list and have a chance to win. GO RAYS!!!

Rays vs. Red Sox (9/15-9/17): GREAT SEATS STILL AVAILABLE!

RAYS TICKETS ON STUBHUB - CLICK HERE!

Check back when the Rays vs. Red Sox series nears for great seats.

Go Rays!

Rays Attendance Discussion Continues: 9=8's Response

Lack of attendance at recent Rays games has garnered much media attention including:

The Heater: Where are the fans?

Tampa Tribune: Rays Churn Through Empty Seat of Blue

St. Pete Times: Pennant Fevor? Not Around Here

I recently wrote an article trying to put some context on the Rays attendance issue that has been much discussed recently (especially in light of the 13,000 and 12,000 "strong" crowds for the currently ongoing home stand - I'm proud to say I was one of the 13,000 and will be going tonight as well with my son). The piece was called "Understanding Attendance: Tampa Bay Rays and the Trop 2008" and I tried to explain why our attendance figures are not all that great (or why they are actually pretty good, all things considered). In short, there are a number of reasons discussed and data shared to put things into context. One that I did not discuss was the impact of school starting (August 18th in Hillsborough Cuunty and August 19th in Pinellas County). Below is a comment I made on The Heater blog earlier today. I'll track attendance and post an update at the end of the season.

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Since everyone keeps saying "other cities have school, too" here are the actual facts (not sound bites with no backup)

Boston 1st day of school: Sept. 4, 2008
http://www.bostonpublicschools.org/node/797

New York 1st day of school: Sept. 2, 2008
http://schools.nyc.gov/default.htm?mo=9&yr=2008

Chicago 1st day of school: Sept. 2, 2008
http://www.cps.k12.il.us/calendar.html

Tampa/St. Pete 1st day of school: Aug. 18-19, 2008

The fact is most schools in the US start after Labor Day, but TB area schools started Aug 18-19th. It's too easy to say stuff without backing it with the facts (a common thing on this board). Our attendance is still really low, but this is a big factor as the data show. More data for you to solidify the point:

Last weekday home stand BEFORE school started (vs. Cleveland Aug 4-6th)

• Monday Att ~ 17,000
• Tuesday Att ~ 20,000
• Wednesday Att ~ 27,500
• TOTAL Att ~ 64,500

Still not great, but you can see that school has a 5,000-10,000 PER GAME difference in attendance.

Last Weekend homestand (vs. Detroit Aug 1-3rd):

• Friday Att ~ 26,400
• Saturday Att ~ 36,000
• Sunday Att ~ 33,400
• TOTAL Att ~ 95,800

The fans are here (check out our TV ratings and 75%-100% increase in merchandise sales), school being in session makes a difference as does location and lackluster 10 years of building no fan base. Watch attendance grow substantially beginning Friday vs. Baltimore and continue strong throughout the year as the race heats up and kids settle into their school routines (25,000+ avg. for the last 13 home games is my prediction). This Toronto series will prove to be a blip, in my opinion, and the Angels series was the first 3 days of school, so it's also a bit of a special case (again, just my opinion). We shall see. I will post this on my blog so it's easy to track and will report back at end of season.

Finally, all this talk about moving the team is way too premature. I venture to guess that if you had told "Stu and the Crew" they'd achieve the 2nd best attendance in Rays franchise history in less than 3 years from when they started, I think they might have been pretty happy with that prospect.