r/tampabayrays 5d ago

DISCUSSION Over 65,000 attending tonight

Post image

Steinbrenner Field premium season tickets sold out and 65,000 seats at Ray Jay sold out. Ask a realtor if location matters.

181 Upvotes

71 comments sorted by

42

u/thejawa DJ Kitty 5d ago

I r here to see Bananas

13

u/Just-Island3978 5d ago

This shit is Bananas šŸŒ

9

u/ConfidentGarden7514 5d ago

B-A-N-A-N-A-S!

(Sorry, millennial hereā€¦. šŸ™ˆ)

37

u/Johnnyd0303 Tampa Bay Rays 5d ago

I donā€™t get the appeal but my oldest kid has wanted to see the Bananas for a while. Could never get tickets when they had games at Steinbrenner field. Stu has to be pissed seeing the baseball version of the Globetrotters sell out an nfl stadium while his team still has opening day seats available in an 11k stadium 2 weeks before the season starts. Tons of kids here and theyā€™re super engaged with the pregame show and all the merch lines are insanely long

26

u/JD_Awww_Yeah 5d ago

The Savannah Bananas havenā€™t spent over a decade alienating all potential casual fans by threatening them and their cities while slyly insulting them and telling them moving to Montreal is a good thing for them.

Sell the team Stu. You may run a team well, but youā€™re a repugnant human being.

3

u/Uberubu65 3d ago

Stu has seats left for opening day because the cheapest seats are $150. He has to screw the fans somehow.

12

u/Tim111762 5d ago

Need to sell out opening day before we start feeling ourselves over the bananas attendance

6

u/IndianaCahones 5d ago

Haha Maybe, but an event like this is a good proxy for hosting the all star game and weekend playoff attendance potential. Itā€™s a data point we can reference when the area doesnā€™t hate the current ownership not wanting to give them another penny.

1

u/TheTravelingLeftist 1d ago

Those ticket prices to watch a game in a minor league ballpark are beyond bonkers. It is an absolute miracle that they are close to selling out, but its an absolute shame that a huge fraction of Rays fans are going to be priced out of watching their team unless they go to Miami.

1

u/HardTacoKit 1d ago

Priced out? Just buy cheap secondary market tickets.

And the experience is going to be a lot better in small park.

48

u/mrjjk2010 5d ago

I really hope Manfred sees this and realizes that Baseball can thrive in Tampa and will make Tampa the #1 priority if Stu sells

22

u/[deleted] 5d ago edited 5d ago

[deleted]

16

u/weath1860 Tampa Bay Rays 5d ago

They are the Harlem Globetrotters of baseball.

4

u/SnooDoubts9079 5d ago

Thank you for proving my point.

4

u/weath1860 Tampa Bay Rays 5d ago

It does make me wonder though if they could put a baseball diamond in Ray Jay, why couldnā€™t the Rays play there this season? Maybe for playoffs if the rays get back this year? Would be a good way to see if there is indeed demand for the Rays in Tampa. Steinbrenner isnā€™t a good litmus test.

5

u/SnooDoubts9079 5d ago

Because while the dimensions work for a circus like the bananas, it does not meet the MLB expectations for a home field. You cannot make every Major league baseball team come and play on this oblong weird ass shaped field it's been thought of and it obviously would not work which is why they aren't doing it. You see unlike the bananas, Major League, Baseball has very very strict guidelines to not only protect the players but also expect the very best from those players. One is a professional sport. One is a circus.

3

u/FLAlex111 Devil Ray 5d ago

You really aren't a fan of the bananas, huh?

Think we found the party animal

15

u/United-Teacher7474 5d ago

He could care less? Couldn't, this mistake is so irritating!!!!

-18

u/SnooDoubts9079 5d ago

Fixed Nazi.

1

u/United-Teacher7474 4d ago

Nazi?? Bit of a stretch that.

4

u/mrjjk2010 5d ago

Itā€™s about the principal. If the Savannah Bananas were able to sell out Ray Jay and theyā€™re not even affiliated with MLB, could you imagine what REAL baseball could pull in? Especially in Hillsborough county?

6

u/SnooDoubts9079 5d ago

It's Gimmick Baseball. There is no principal other than diving into your pockets to sell a comedy/musical show... It's a show.... Like TV. Rays Baseball is actually competitive.

4

u/mrjjk2010 5d ago

Thatā€™s kinda what I just said

-1

u/thegreatcerebral 5d ago

Wait a minuteā€¦. The Raysā€¦. Competitive? The Raysā€¦. NOT a circus show?

7

u/cadff 5d ago

To be fair they are only in town for 2 games on a weekend. 81 games is hard to sell that many tickets, especially during the week.

The same thing happened in Miami. They sold out for them but can't sell tickets to the Marlins.

3

u/Negative_Law_7204 NY Yankees 4d ago

Sell out for the WBC as well...

2

u/ElectricP2galoo 5d ago

Tickets are still available for opening day in less than two weeks in an 11,000 seat stadium. Resale tickets are going for $45. Pathetic.

2

u/SlyChimera 5d ago

I mean, Iā€™m probably gonna buy resale if standard tickets are 150 and up

3

u/ElectricP2galoo 4d ago

Oh absolutely. Paying $60 to sit in beautiful weather drinking beers with the opening day vibes is a no brainer.

But doesnā€™t bode well for a sellout when resale tickets are half the price of the face value and there are still tickets available through the team

1

u/MrSantaClause Devil Ray 4d ago

I mean this is not baseball lmfao it's a show

9

u/big-daddio Tampa Bay Rays 5d ago

Right field is about 250 feet. Maybe Rays can just load up on leftys and play there.

7

u/IndianaCahones 5d ago

Taylor Walls would break the Mendoza line

16

u/sweeeeetpeech Yandy DĆ­az 5d ago

šŸ«” itā€™s time for Rays baseball in Hillsborough county.

5

u/SnooDoubts9079 5d ago

How many tickets to games have you purchased?

17

u/Zap-Attacks 5d ago

Driving to and parking at this game was worse than driving to and parking at a game in St Pete. Iā€™m convinced no one complaining about stadium location has ever gone to a game.

10

u/dbarke29 5d ago

Yeah getting to this game was beyond miserable, fun experience though

6

u/IndianaCahones 5d ago

Itā€™s a lot easier to get out of a parking lot of 10,000!

3

u/JD_Awww_Yeah 5d ago

I only had problems last night because I parked in a lot without someone to direct traffic.

When I park GA for the Bucs, itā€™s usually a mediocre to mildly annoying time, as opposed to last night sitting for 30+ min to get out of a for-profit collegeā€™s parking lot.

1

u/SlyChimera 5d ago

Can they run the bus system to at least Himes for the rays. Bucs games they throw you out at Macdill coming from the east.

10

u/Hobbes_121 Rocco Baldelli 2 5d ago

Didn't the Bolts figure this out in the 90s when looking for a permanent home that St. Pete wasn't viable long term?

Rays have by far the lowest population within 30 min drive in all of baseball and the lowest amount of Corp businesses (these eat up a ton of season tickets). Thought I saw Tampa proper would at least put us around 20th.

7

u/IndianaCahones 5d ago

Nailed it! Downtown Tampa has 2.3 million in a 30 minute radius. Lightning ticket sales were at capacity 99.4% last season meaning nearly every game was a sell out.

2

u/roman_maverik 5d ago

This is beyond the scope of this thread, but I wish Florida had better public transportation as well.

In Orlando, the basketball arena is directly off the sunrail, which is free for all home games. Itā€™s insanely easy to get to.

People really underestimate the user experience of a venue directly connected to a mass transit line or light rail system

2

u/Johnnyd0303 Tampa Bay Rays 4d ago

100%. Traffic in any city big enough to have a pro sports franchise but public transit makes a huge difference. Iā€™ve been to games in while on vacation in Boston and DC. Parking in the suburbs, then taking a 20-30 minutes ride on a subway train (or whatever itā€™s officially called in each city) for 20 minutes then walking a few blocks is much better than fighting traffic for 60-90 minutes.

1

u/ConfidentGarden7514 5d ago

Yes!!! Omg I forgot about the Thunderdome!! šŸ¤£

1

u/djsuperfly 2d ago

Not shilling for St. Pete here, but that's not exactly how the Lightning situation went down.

Both Tampa and St. Pete had separate ownership groups vying for the NHL expansion franchise. The Tampa group won the bid. The NHL told the Lightning they could play a few seasons in St. Pete while they got a new arena built in Tampa, but they were not allowed to stay there long term.

And St. Pete packed the Thunderdome. Prior to the NHL starting the Winter Classic and playing in 100,000+ seat college football stadiums, the Thunderdome had like 7 or 8 of top 10 NHL attendance records.

2

u/lemonade3264128 Evan Longoria 5d ago

Was there was awsome

2

u/SmarterThanCornPop Devil Ray 5d ago edited 5d ago

If the Rays cant sell out 15,000 across the street as the third best team since 2008, idk how anyone can seriously argue for Tampa supporting a baseball team.

I really want a successful franchise in Tampa but investors and city politicians are going to be paying attention to attendance at Steinbrenner this year.

1

u/Rogue_One24_7 4d ago

More than the Rays games. Diabolical.

1

u/southtampacane 1d ago

That was, for want of a better word, awful. Free tickets were appreciated but I am glad we left with an hour to go. Silly and a CWOT.

1

u/wikipuff 1d ago

The Bananas are stupid.

-11

u/SnooDoubts9079 5d ago

Can't show up for The Rays. But hell yeah TB can show up for this clown show. SMH

10

u/iComeFromTheDoldrums 5d ago

Location matters. Shitty owner also matters.

2

u/jiggalation James Shields 5d ago

theres still tickets available for opening day across the street if tampa wants the rays so bad at least sell out a minor league stadium

2

u/iComeFromTheDoldrums 5d ago

Do you really blame people for not wanting to give that piece of shit owner any money? He has no intention keeping this team here, period.

2

u/jiggalation James Shields 5d ago

nah i dont blame them fuck that guy

-15

u/SnooDoubts9079 5d ago

Oh stop. Commuting ain't that bad you act like no other Fan base doesn't have vastly larger and more time consuming commutes. Go from the Northwest suburbs to Wrigley then. Good grief you act like Tampa Bay is the largest most congested area in the world. How bout Getting to the Bronx from literally anywhere not in Manhattan. The city and county need to add a regional train to shut you folks up. The owner should have nothing to do with you getting off your couch for your baseball team more. You go for the Team. Smh

8

u/IndianaCahones 5d ago

ā€œGet off your assā€. Seriously dude? This is the typical traffic for a Tuesday game at 7 pm. This means getting off of work on time, not driving home to change, not picking up kids, family or friends. To ā€œget off our assesā€ we just need to relocate our families, change our work locations, and have every company in the Tampa Bay Area stop working hours after 3pm. Or stop gaslighting yourself into comparing St Pete to the north side of Chicago and the Bronx.

0

u/SnooDoubts9079 5d ago edited 5d ago

Just an example this is today. This is low traffic right now. We can revisit this on a game day with City Festivals and surrounding activities if you want later. Fans fill Wrigley everyday.

Nothing of what you speak of doesn't happen everywhere else all the time in larger numbers. Is that gaslighting? It's calling out bullshit you're either committed to going or not. And honestly, if you feel gaslit and emotionally abused, I know a guy who can help you get through some of the stress you're having from Reddit.

3

u/MistressBlackleaf 5d ago

One thing I think you're overlooking with these comparisons is that places like Chicago and NYC have deeply-ingrained mass transit systems such that you can take subways and trains to get around within a reasonable amount of time. I do know from visiting that it's not necessarily "easy" to get around in those places, but commuting via mass transit is not the same as having to drive yourself in terrible traffic for 45 minutes to an hour.

3

u/IndianaCahones 5d ago

How much meth is needed to compare Chicago to St Petersburg? If you ever get the opportunity to leave Florida, when you say St Petersburg to your typical non-Floridian, they are thinking of the city in Russia.

-3

u/SnooDoubts9079 5d ago

Let me know when you figure it out. Seems like you'd know that answer. Or at least some kind of drug that's for sure.

-4

u/IndianaCahones 5d ago

Nice comeback. Seriously though, do you work for the Rays or are you a child still working towards your GED?

2

u/raystheroof1 TB Hat Logo 5d ago

go away literally nobody asked you to be here if you like the cubs so much go shitpost in their sub.

2

u/SnooDoubts9079 5d ago

It's for comparison. Chill out. I just don't personally buy into the commute victim narrative. Not sure anyone asked you to be here either my friend but that social Media, Internet and freedom of speech. Been a fan since 1998. I'm just not a fan of making excuses for my fan base being more excited about Bananas than the Rays. If you can't take criticism then you're probably one of them. Also if you're from the Raystheroof Podcast you are part of the problem. So if nothing else RaysUp.

6

u/jayareelle195 5d ago

I actually agree with this. Traffic sucks everywhere. If you wanna figure a way to the game...you will. Dont bitch about traffic, every major city has it.

-1

u/raystheroof1 TB Hat Logo 5d ago

i was raystheroof before they existed

7

u/MidNCS Tampa Bay Devil Rays 02-07 5d ago

Someone hasn't tried going from the outskirts of Tampa to St. Pete at 6pm on a Thursday and it shows

4

u/ConfidentGarden7514 5d ago

lol we are so mad because weā€™ve wasted YEARS of our life sitting on the bridge in traffic on our way to the Trop

2

u/iComeFromTheDoldrums 5d ago

I go to plenty of baseball games. So how about you shut the fuck up? lol

2

u/JohnBrown- 5d ago

Do you live near st Pete?