**** OFFICIAL 20120820 ROYALS @ RAYS GAMETHREAD ****

[DaKCMan AP]

Originally Posted by Canofbier

Honest question: why is it that nobody goes to Rays games? They've put a good team on the field pretty routinely for at least the last few years, and the park seems nice enough. You hardly EVER see stands this empty.

I think it's a combination of reasons.

1. The Trop is a shithole.

2. It's located in downtown St. Pete instead of Tampa where the Bucs and Lightning reside.

3. Many people who live here aren't from here. People from New York, Boston, Chicago, Ohio aren't going to dump their teams. Attendance is high whenever the Yanks or Sox come to town.

[Canofbier]

Originally Posted by DaKCMan AP

I think it's a combination of reasons.

1. The Trop is a shithole.

2. It's located in downtown St. Pete instead of Tampa where the Bucs and Lightning reside.

3. Many people who live here aren't from here. People from New York, Boston, Chicago, Ohio aren't going to dump their teams. Attendance is high whenever the Yanks or Sox come to town.

That's too bad. I like the Rays for proving that the small-market model can have success.